CALL FOR A FEDERAL CONSTITUTIONAL CLEAN-UP CONVENTION
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THE FUNDAMENTAL FREEDOMS ACTION COMMITTEE DECLARATION
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In the presence and under the blessings of the enlightened Supreme Being, we, the representatives of the Fundamental Freedom Action Committee, believing that the ignorance, neglect, and contempt of our internationally recognized fundmental freeoms and duties are the sole causes of public calamities and of the corruption of governments, have determined to set forth in a solemn declaration four of our natural, unalienable, and sacred fundamental freedoms which our 55 constitutional "delegates" founding fathers have forgotten to enshrine. HISTORY: THE STARTING POINT: MAY 15, 1776 WHEREAS, on May 15, 1776, the Second Continental Congress, meeting in Independence Hall, Philadelphia, issued "A Resolve" to the thirteen colonies: "Adopt such a government as shall, in the opinion of the representatives of the people, best conduce to the safety and happiness of their constituents in particular and America in general.", wherein the primary purpose of the future Constitutional Convention was to outline the objectives of government: to secure the rights to life, liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness, WHEREAS, by 1786, Americans recognized that the Articles of Confederation, the foundation document for the new United States adopted in 1777, had to be substantially modified, that the Articles gave Congress virtually no power to regulate domestic affairs (no power to tax, no power to regulate commerce), that without coercive power, Congress had to depend on financial contributions from the states, (and they often time turned down requests), whereas Congress had neither the money to pay soldiers for their service in the Revolutionary War or to repay foreign loans granted to support the war effort. (In 1786, the United States was bankrupt, moreover, the young nation faced many other challenges and threats, states engaged in an endless war of economic discrimination against commerce from other states, Southern states battled northern states for economic advantage etc. The country was ill-equipped to fight a war and other nations wondered whether treaties with the United States were worth the paper they were written on, European nations dismissed the United States as "a third-rate republic and American peasants were hungry, the final straw for many came in western Massachusetts where angry farmers, led by Daniel Shays, took up arms and engaged in active rebellion in an effort to gain debt relief, across the country, the cry "Liberty!" filled the air. WHEREAS in February 1787, the People were ready to call for a convention of delegates to meet in May in Philadelphia "to devise such further provisions as shall appear to them necessary to render the constitution of the Federal Government adequate to the exigencies of the Union." WHEREAS, Congress was denied the power to limit the slave trade for a minimum of twenty years and slaves were denied the vote and not recognized as citizens (except that they were allowed to be counted as 3/5 persons for the purpose of apportioning representatives and determining electoral votes), whereas a Declaration of Individual and social rights was absent from consideration, WHEREAS on on September 17, 1789, after Ben Franklin's compromising words, the delegates signed the Federal Constitution and thereafter went to the City Tavern on Second Street (right near Walnut Street) where, according to George Washington, they "dined together and took cordial leave of each other,
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"Humanity has won its battle. Liberty now has a country".
"An enlightened citizenry is indispensable for the proper functioning of a Republic." Thomas Jefferson“The continued existence of a free and democratic society depends upon recognition of the concept that justice is based upon the rule of law grounded in respect for the dignity of the individual and the capacity through reason for enlightened self-government. Law so grounded makes justice possible, for only through such law does the dignity of the individual attain respect and protection. Without it, individual rights become subject to unrestrained power, respect for law is destroyed, and rational self-government is impossible”. Fundamental Principles of Professional Conduct. Rules as adopted by Washington Supreme Court (2006).
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The year was 1787. The place: the State House in Philadelphia, the same location where the Declaration of Independence had been signed 11 years earlier. For four months, 55 delegates from the several states met to frame a Constitution for a federal republic that would last into "remote futurity." . James Madison James Madison believed that protection for liberty lay in the structure of government, not in a listing of "parchment" guarantees. As he saw it, the primary threat to liberty in the past had come from oppressive majorities capturing the reigns of power. Madison's solution, as he proposed it in Philadelphia, was to "enlarge the sphere" by transferring much power to the federal government. Because the nation is comprised of many more and more diverse communities of interests than are individual states, it becomes much more difficult for any one interest group to become a majority and capture control of power. Rather than see competing factions as a danger, Madison saw the saving multiplicity of interests as a protection for liberty: "Ambition must be made to counteract ambition." Madison further aimed to block the ability of an oppressive majority from working its will against minorities by dividing power within the national government into three relatively co-equal branches, each of which would be given weapons to fight the other. Even if a majority were to capture one branch, Madison reasoned, it could only do limited harm if the other branches remained out of its domination.
Battle for Ratification: The Federalists vs the Anti-Federalists Ratification came only after a hard-fought battle between those favoring adoption of the new Constitution (the Federalists) and those opposed (the Anti-Federalists). The Anti-Federalists had many complaints. They argued that the national government, and especially the president, had too much power. They complained that the six-year terms of senators were far too long. They demanded to know why delegates failed to include a declaration of individual rights. The Federalists tried to answer each of these objections, and one such attempt to do so, The Federalists Papers, stands as major work of political philosophy. After easy victories in a few states, the Federalists carried the day by winning close votes for ratification in Massachusetts (187-168) with the able assistance of Samuel Adams, in Virginia (88-80) over the strenuous arguments of Patrick Henry, and in New York (30-27).
SOME CIVIC RESOURCES
BELOW: A HUMOROUS FUN EDUCATION GAME Who Wants to Click here for the Declaration of Independence CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION MINUTES THE CONSTITUTION AS PROPOSED IN PHILADELPHIA "Give me Liberty or give me Death" FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE HISTORY OF THE LAST CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION, PLEASE CLICK HERE Click here for the history of the Constitutional Convention The Virginia Declaration of Rights Virginia's Declaration of Rights was drawn upon by Thomas Jefferson for the opening paragraphs of the Declaration of Independence. It was widely copied by the other colonies and became the basis of the Bill of Rights. Written by George Mason, it was adopted by the Virginia Constitutional Convention on June 12, 1776.A DECLARATION OF RIGHTS made by the representatives of the good people of Virginia, assembled in full and free convention which rights do pertain to them and their posterity, as the basis and foundation of government . Section 1. That all men are by nature equally free and independent and have certain inherent rights, of which, when they enter into a state of society, they cannot, by any compact, deprive or divest their posterity; namely, the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring and possessing property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety. Section 2. That all power is vested in, and consequently derived from, the people; that magistrates are their trustees and servants and at all times amenable to them. Section 3. That government is, or ought to be, instituted for the common benefit, protection, and security of the people, nation, or community; of all the various modes and forms of government, that is best which is capable of producing the greatest degree of happiness and safety and is most effectually secured against the danger of maladministration. And that, when any government shall be found inadequate or contrary to these purposes, a majority of the community has an indubitable, inalienable, and indefeasible right to reform, alter, or abolish it, in such manner as shall be judged most conducive to the public weal. Section 4. That no man, or set of men, is entitled to exclusive or separate emoluments or privileges from the community, but in consideration of public services; which, nor being descendible, neither ought the offices of magistrate, legislator, or judge to be hereditary. Section 5. That the legislative and executive powers of the state should be separate and distinct from the judiciary; and that the members of the two first may be restrained from oppression, by feeling and participating the burdens of the people, they should, at fixed periods, be reduced to a private station, return into that body from which they were originally taken, and the vacancies be supplied by frequent, certain, and regular elections, in which all, or any part, of the former members, to be again eligible, or ineligible, as the laws shall direct. Section 6. That elections of members to serve as representatives of the people, in assembly ought to be free; and that all men, having sufficient evidence of permanent common interest with, and attachment to, the community, have the right of suffrage and cannot be taxed or deprived of their property for public uses without their own consent or that of their representatives so elected, nor bound by any law to which they have not, in like manner, assembled for the public good. Section 7. That all power of suspending laws, or the execution of laws, by any authority, without consent of the representatives of the people, is injurious to their rights and ought not to be exercised. Section 8. That in all capital or criminal prosecutions a man has a right to demand the cause and nature of his accusation, to be confronted with the accusers and witnesses, to call for evidence in his favor, and to a speedy trial by an impartial jury of twelve men of his vicinage, without whose unanimous consent he cannot be found guilty; nor can he be compelled to give evidence against himself; that no man be deprived of his liberty except by the law of the land or the judgment of his peers. Section 9. That excessive bail ought not to be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. Section 10. That general warrants, whereby an officer or messenger may be commanded to search suspected places without evidence of a fact committed, or to seize any person or persons not named, or whose offense is not particularly described and supported by evidence, are grievous and oppressive and ought not to be granted. Section 11. That in controversies respecting property, and in suits between man and man, the ancient trial by jury is preferable to any other and ought to be held sacred. Section 12. That the freedom of the press is one of the great bulwarks of liberty, and can never be restrained but by despotic governments. Section 13. That a well-regulated militia, composed of the body of the people, trained to arms, is the proper, natural, and safe defense of a free state; that standing armies, in time of peace, should be avoided as dangerous to liberty; and that in all cases the military should be under strict subordination to, and governed by, the civil power. Section 14. That the people have a right to uniform government; and, therefore, that no government separate from or independent of the government of Virginia ought to be erected or established within the limits thereof. Section 15. That no free government, or the blessings of liberty, can be preserved to any people but by a firm adherence to justice, moderation, temperance, frugality, and virtue and by frequent recurrence to fundamental principles. Section 16. That religion, or the duty which we owe to our Creator, and the manner of discharging it, can be directed only by reason and conviction, not by force or violence; and therefore all men are equally entitled to the free exercise of religion, according to the dictates of conscience; and that it is the mutual duty of all to practise Christian forbearance, love, and charity toward each other.
QUOTES FROM THE 18TH PROTAGONISTS
"After 200 years . . . [America's] still a beacon, still a magnet for all who must have freedom, for all the pilgrims from all the lost places who are hurtling through the darkness, toward home." Ronald Reagan, reflected on the current state of the American Dream:
Expansion of rights “It was we, the people, not we, the white male citizens, nor yet we, the male citizens, but we, the whole people, who formed this Union” Susan B. Anthony, 1873, “Is it a crime for a U.S citizen to vote ?”, speech delivered following her arrest for voting in the election of 1872. When the Constitution took effect in 1789, it did not “secure the blessings of liberty” to all people (Blacks and women) George Washington spoke of it on April 30, 1789, moments after taking the oath of office as first President of the United States. "The preservation of the sacred fire of liberty, and the destiny of the Republican model of Government, are justly considered as deeply, perhaps as finally staked, on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people." The success of their experiment, these early Americans hoped, would hasten the spread of liberty around the globe. “When the last dutiful and humble petition from Congress received no other Answer than declaring us rebels, and out of the Kint’s protection, I from that moment looked forward to a Revolution and Independence, as the only means of salvation and will risqué that last penny of my fortune nd the last drop of my blood upon the issue” Goerge Mason, October 2, 1778
"We have it in our power to begin the world over again. A situation, similar to the resent, hath not happened since the days of Noah until now. The birthday of a new world is at hand” Thomas Paine, February 14, 1776 “The bosom of America is open to receive not only the Opulent and respectable stranger, but the oppressed and persecuted of all Nations and religions, whom we shall welcome to a participation of all our rights and privileges” George Washington, address to Irish immigrants, December 2, 1783. Firearms are second only to the Constitution in importance; they are the peoples' liberty's teeth.” George Washington Abraham Lincoln Patrick Henry "The Constitution only gives people the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself.” Ben Franklin
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THE FACTS: THE REPUBLIC IS BROKEN AND MANY OF ITS PEOPLE ARE NOT HAPPY
WHEREAS, in 2008, according to the "happiness map" (via the "general well being" indicators), the Danish, the Swiss, the Dutch, most Europeans and many other peoples of the world are on the top list of people saying they are"happy" and "safe", while the Americans are in 29th rank (out of 38) in one university study to worse in others (CLICK HERE, for the evidence), WHEREAS, the evidence of American unhappiness, suffering and the American Society's decomposition is estabished beyond a reasonable doubt via health, education, safety, decent shelter, access to civil justice, leisure, wages, clean air, the environment, art and other indicators (See the website's section on "mission and history" for the university scientific measurement of "unhappiness"), WHEREAS, one third of Americans are in the poverty category (much via medical bankruptcies, since 1981, there has been a 22 fold increase), over one third of their income is engulfed in taxation, two thirds are suffering from chronic diseases and acute stress, 80 percent of the modest income Americans have no equal access to Justice, over half have no equal access to higher university or relevant "knowledge" education, much of the federal budget is devoted to un-neccesary wars and the accumulation of weapons of mass destruction while not enough is done to lock down loose nuclear weapons, over 90 percent of the Big Five Wall Street investment banks have diverted fresh capital from the productive economy of working Americans to the high-profits of financial speculation for the benefit of a small minority of Humanity, of Americans who control self-servingly and often recklessly the financial and banking system and most of the major institutions, the resources and the wealth of the Nation, WHEREAS the evidence does show that "71 percent of the private Wealth of the United States remains in the hands of fewer than 10 percent of Americans, 1 percent own 47.7 percent of all stocks" (click on the blue for the evidence) , whereas “ The top tenth of U.S. households now earn an average of 11.2 times what those in the bottom tenth make, according to the Census Bureau. (That's up from a ratio of 8.7 three decades ago. The wealthiest fifth of U.S. households now take in 50 percent of all income, up from 44 percent in 1977. The differences are even more pronounced in analyses of incomes for the top 1 percent of households”), AOL news, October 25, 2008 (Click here for the complete article)., WHEREAS most of the accredited lobbyists in Washington D.C. represent 1500 mega-corporations, many of which have a predatory nature, whose multiple millionaire shareholders use and abuse fiscal loopholes with the complicity of too many (not all, just too many) unethical lawmakers who accept campaign donations from these mega corporations, including but not limited to tobacco companies, WHEREAS, those in the present federal Executive and many in the US Congress have transfered additional wealth from the working Americans to the wealthiests powerholders via close to one trillion dollars of bail-outs and financial assistance in less than one year while having willingly restricted the People's labor rights (Taft-Hartley Act), civil rights (Patriot "FISA" Act) and health rights (FDA imposing pharmaceutical standards, medical State boards imposing allopathic (drugs) medicine and questionable standards of care, from which hundreds of thousands of Americans die each year, see the iatrogenic prescription drugs holocaust by Clicking here), WHEREAS, the Federal Reserve Bank and the Federal Government have accumulated over 12 trillion dollars of debts and disassociated the dollar from silver and gold contrarily to a Constitutional provision, whereas in 1999, investment banks, insurance companies and real estate companies (lobbyists) together gave 200 million dollars to US politicians to repeal the Glass-Seagal Act and to better control public finance, thanks to US Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson's ministry, (Hank Paulson's came from the Wall Street Goldman Sachs bank), WHEREAS most of these 12 trillions of "debt" dollars has been used to finance undeclared wars, the financial speculations of the Power elite, the industrial military complex and prisons (over 2 million in the country = over 25 percent in the world), the oil barons' quest to control more foreign oil (while there is over two trillion barrels of shale oil on Amerircan land) mismanagement in insurance, banking and mortgage compaines, while the middle class is being more and more squeezed into poverty, more stressed with insufficiently represented taxation and more devitalized via expensive and dogmatic unscientific standards (e.g., the "sad" or standard american diet epidemic, the medical allopathic model "standard of care" catastrophe, the mainstream "politically correct" education standard and most tests that quantify (measure) just about everything except that which is essential, characterized by too many (not all, just too many) scientific dogmas (i.e ideology) and idolatry of the corporate welfare model, the unworthy submission to arbitrary authoritarianism, too much paranoid fear of critical thought, the lack of creative imagination and the deficiency of intuitive knowledge practice), WHEREAS the recent 700 billions dollars "bail-out" is not used as planned (See the evidence), WHEREAS agri-business controled food prices, oil baron controled gas prices, pharmaceutical controled health products prices are increasing substantially more than most wages whose purchasing power has been eroding to inflation for over 20 years (6.55 $ to 10.50/hr for over fifty million American workers versus 10,000 $/hr for corporate executive officers) while the Nation's water, air, soil and resources (including but not limited to trees, seeds and flowers) are getting more depleted and polluted with persistent bioaccumulative toxins, industrial toxic chemicals and cosmetic personal care toxins, the havoc of which is un-controled, (not being a food or drug), and leads to chronic diseases and to big time bankruptcies, WHEREAS many corporation shareholders are outsourcing American jobs to foreign countries where labor unions and environmental and health standards and children labor protection are virtually non existing, without decent compensation plans for the laid off American worker, let alone to the host State, while too many of these predatory corporations (not all, just too many) collaborate with financial systems whose direction operates predatory lending techniques which drive millions of homeowners to default on their mortgages, that which increases homelessness, bankuptcy, crime, prisons, chronic disease, more homelessness, chronic stress and the popular will to legalize pharmaceutically assisted suicide of the most vulnerable, the most depressed, the most dis-eased, the most destroyed,
OPINION OF LEARNED LEADERS
WHEREBY President Eisenhower warned: " In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist......We cannot mortgage the material assets of our grandchildren without risking the loss also of their political and spiritual heritage. We want democracy to survive for all generations to come, not to become the insolvent phantom of tomorrow". GENERAL EISENHOWER, COMMANDER IN CHIEF OF THE EUROPEAN THEATER DURING HITLER'S & KRUPP'S MILITARO-INDUSTRIAL WAR, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENT OF THE U.S.A. WHEREBY, Justice Frankfurter witnesses: "The real rulers in Washington are invisible, and exercise power from behind the scenes". US Supreme Court Justice Felix FRANKFURTER WHEREBY President Wilson admits: " Since I entered politics, I have chiefly had men's views confided to me privately. Some of the biggest men in the United States, in the field of commerce and manufacture, are afraid of somebody, are afraid of something. They know that there is a power somewhere so organized, so subtle, so watchful, so interlocked, so complete, so pervasive, that they had better not speak above their breath when they speak in condemnation of it.". US President Woodroow Wilson, The New Freedom: A Call For The Emancipation Of The Generous Energies Of A People (quote found in his book's preface). WHEREBY many respected scientists testified, as Dr Moss: “I'm angry that in the land of freedom, Americans are still denied access to dozens of effective cancer treatments that are available in other countries around the world (…) I'm angry that the Food and Drug Administration denies people's rights to choose their own treatments (…) I'm angry that the Federal Government has failed to test a single alternative cancer treatment, despite years of efforts (…) I'm angry about the Mafia-like control of the cancer field by the drug industry, through their domination of virtually every single cancer research and treatment institution (…) I'm angry that the "scientific" studies of new drugs, funded by huge companies, almost always turn in favorable results and are approved by the FDA”. Dr Ralph W. Moss, Director of Cancer decisions, formerly from the Sloan Kettering cancer institute. WHEREBY ABRAHAM LINCOLN, GOT ASSASSINATED A SHORT TIME AFTER HAVING RESISTED BANKERS' HEGEMONY, "It is an old maxim and a very sound one, that he that dances should always pay the fiddler. Now, sir, in the present case, if any gentlemen, whose money is a burden to them, choose to lead off a dance, I am decidedly opposed to the people's money being used to pay the fiddler...all this to settle a question in which the people have no interest, and about which they care nothing. These capitalists generally act harmoniously, and in concert, to fleece the people, and now, that they have got into a quarrel with themselves, we are called upon to appropriate the people's money to settle the quarrel." Abraham LINCOLN January 11, 1837 WHEREBY, by signing Executive Order 1110, Kennedy retransfered the power to issue currency back to the US Treasury. This transfer ended fifty year of monopoly over the US currency system, a monopoly usurped by the large private bankers and the Federal Reserve Bank who based their currency system on credit backed money issued by itself and bypassing Congress. Kennedy's currency was to backed by a tangible exchange medium, that which would better protect the US financial system from over-speculation crises that led to the Big Crash of the 1930s. Six t months after the signing of this document, the president was shot . Click here for the evidence WHEREBY, Madison warned that liberty was often oppressed by the forces of the Majority, BUT WHEREBY today liberty has been bought and bruised by the tyranny of a reckless caste-like Minority, WHEREBY, definition number two of the Webster dictionary (the one the Supreme Court uses) defines a caste to be a : "A division of society based on difference of wealth, inherited rank or privilege". WHEREBY, the Nation belongs to no one, a finance caste included, cannot be bought and the purpose of Government is to protect and promote our fundamental freedoms, including but not limited to liberty, life, property and the pursuit of Happiness, WHEREBY, more and more People are finally "getting it" realizing that GDP (gross domestic product) is less important than SWB ("subjective well being" the sociological term for happiness) or GWB ("general well being" a second sociological concept focused on the measurement of happiness). WHEREBY David Cameron, House Member Leader of the Opposition in the United Kingdom, put happiness firmly on the political agenda by arguing that “It’s time we admitted that there’s more to life than money, and it’s time we focused not just on GDP (gross domestic product), but on GWB , general well-being", that which remains difficult without the freedom to meet our basic needs, WHEREBY, Madison speaks about Ben's keen observation on the last day of the Constitutional Convention right after the signing of the Constitution on Sept 17, 1887: "Doctor Franklin, looking toward the President's chair, at the back of which a rising sun happened to be painted, observed to a few members near him, that painters had found it difficult to distinguish in their art a rising sun from a setting sun. "I have", said he, "often in the course of this session, and the vissitudes of my hopes and fears as to its issue, looked at that behind the President, without being able to tell whether it was rising or setting; but at length I have the happiness to know that it is a rising and not a setting sun." Ben Franklin's Comments on the Signing, As Reported in the Notes of James Madison THE FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES Considering the American Declaration of Independence, the Federal Constitution and its Bill of Rights, Washington State's Constitution, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights proclaimed by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 10th December 1948 of which the United States was a signatory, Considering that this Declaration and other similar human rights treaties signed and ratified by the U.S. have ripened into customary and codified norms, the penetration of which has timidly reached the United States's jurisdictions via Article 6 of the US Constitution, thereby becoming the "supreme law of the land", by virtue of which all Americans are entitled thereto and because of which they prevail and supersede over State statutes, Considering the most relevant yet the least respected of these fundamental freedoms and duties are as follows: Article 1. Article 7. All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination. Article 8. Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by law. Article 10. Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him. Article 21. (1) Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives. Article 22.
Article 24. Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay. Article 25. (1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control. (2) Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection. Article 26. (1) Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit. (2) Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace. (3) Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children. Article 27. (1) Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.
(2) Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author. Article 28. Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized. Article 29. (1) Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full development of his personality is possible. Considering that the entire International Community of close to 200 Nations has signed this Universal Bill of human rights and fundamental freedoms (e.g. Universal Declaration of human rights), that most have domestic legislative provisions to translate these rights into positive law and that most learned jurist have generated the opinio juris seve necessitatis that a country which neglects and scorns these rights deviates from Reason, mis-treats its People and endangers world peace and prosperity, Considering that the aim of the founders of the Republic of the United States of America is the achievement of greater unity between its People and that one of the methods by which this aim is to be pursued is the maintenance and further realisation of human rights and fundamental freedoms and duties, the ignorance of which is responsible for public calamities and the unhappiness of the People, Reaffirming The Fundamental Freedom Action Committee's profound belief in these above-mentioned fundamental freedoms and basic duties which are the foundation of justice, prosperity and peace in the world and are best maintained on the one hand by an effective democratic Republic and on the other by a common understanding and observance of the human rights upon which they depend; Remembering that the original US Constitution led to a bloody civil war and deprived the black man (until 1870), all women (until 1920) and the native American indian (until 1924) of the right to vote and that this same Constitution presently favors the social exclusion of over one hundred million Americans from equal access holistic health, from equal access civil justice, from equal and affordalbe access to higher and relevant education and from affordable access to sustainability living,
FIXING A BROKEN REPUBLIC
THE MOTION: FIVE PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO BE SOLEMNLY INCORPORATED WITHIN THE 51 CONSTITUTIONS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
NOW THEREFORE, WE, THE FUNDAMENTAL FREEDOMS ACTION COMMITTEE ACTIVISTS AND SUPPORTERS, under the guidance and the blessings of the Great Spirit, solemnly publish and declare that the American People in general and Washingtonians in particular, like all Peoples of Humanity, have the basic right to be free from all forms of slaveries, the most nefarious of which is the slavery of an oppressive militaro-mercantile system which generates chronic diseases and unreasonable and avoidable stress and hardship for over 100,000,000 (one million) of its own People while a small minority self-servingly and abusively controls too much of the world and most of the Nation's wealth and Governance systems (not all, there are some good governors and lawmakers of course), WHEREAS, this basic right to be free from the chains of ignorance, disease and hardship implies that the People have the right and the duty to choose, without any electoral fraud, a legitimate Republican form of government under which they shall live and meet their basic needs, that the People have the right to secure liberty, security, and happiness and to contribute in restoring and healing our bleeding and misguided Republic by choosing to narrow the gap between the ideal of liberty and the reality of four fundamental freedoms here and now, WHEREAS, we the People solemnly declare and propose the following constitutional amendments to first the People, second the Nation's Governors and fifty Legislatures, third to the two thirds of the US Congress (both houses) and to the U.S. President, so that our broken but reparable Republic will withstand the passage of time for generations and generations for at least another 221 years,
1. FEDERAL AMENDMENT 28: The Federal Government and Washington State Government have the paramount duty to make ample provision, to protect and to promote equal access to holistic health to all under their jurisdiction without distinction or preference on account of race, color, social origin or sex", 2. FEDERAL AMENDMENT 29: The Federal Government and Washington State Government have the paramount duty to make ample provision, to protect and to promote equal access to Justice (including, but not limited to civil Justice) to all under their jurisdiction without distinction on account of race, color, social origin or sex. 3. FEDERAL AMENDMENT 30: The Federal Government and Washington State Government have the paramount duty to make ample provision, to protect and to promote affordable access to relevant and higher education, including but not limited in "human rights and duties light-house clinics" to all under their jurisdiction without distinction or preference on account of race, color, social origin or sex. 4. FEDERAL AMENDMENT 31: The Federal Government and Washington State Government have the paramount duty to make ample provision, to protect and to promote meaningful and affordable access, without disctinction on amount of race, color, social origin or sex, to sustainability living, including but not limited to renewable and clean energy, affordable housing, organic agriculture, living wages pegged to inflation, a clean environment with as few persistent bioaccumulative chemical toxins as will determine an independent expert panel under congressional oversight, and a well financed & living economy structured more for the satisfaction of the People's basic needs and happiness (general well-being-ness, or GWB)) than for the gross domestic product (GDP) or the accumulation of concentrated wealth and military over-kill, 5. FEDERAL REVISION OF THE US CONSTITUTION'S PREAMBLE: Lastly, we, a piece of the People, hereby declare the following revision of part of the U.S. Constitution's preamble (THE REVISED AND ADDED WORDS ARE HIGHLIGHTED IN THE SECOND VERSION): THE ORIGINAL VERSION. We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America ”. (Preamble of the Federal Constitution). THE CORRECTED VERSION. We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish EQUAL ACCESS TO Justice (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO CIVIL JUSTICE), insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, (GUARD AGAINST IMPERIAL RECKLESSNESS) promote the general Welfare (IN LIGHT OF THE U.N.'S UNIVERSAL HUMAN RIGHTS DECLARATION'S ENSHRINED AND UNIVERSALLY RECOGNIZED PROVISONS AND STANDARDS and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity WHILE SALUTING THE STATUE OF RESPONSIBLITY do ordain and establish this SACRED AND REVISED Constitution for the United States of America FOR GENERATIONS AND GENERATIONS”. (Preamble of the Federal Constitution). 6. Furthermore, it is hereby declared that this Declaration should be dispatched as a press release to the major media of each of our fifty States starting 4 days before the election of the President of the United States, that each newspaper civically responsible more to the interests of the People than special interest would spread the sacred message to organize Constitutional "clean-up" conventions in all of the towns of the Union, so that all of the 50 States of the Nation can better determine if the five proposed amendments have the People's consent and trust and if there are any other provisions or corrections the People and their representatives want to make. 7. It is additionally proposed that should the People massively support these proposals, that they should be ratified by either two thirds of the States or two thirds of both Houses of the U.S. Congress (for the Federal Constitution) and by popular majority in the 50 States. 8. Lastly, these amendments should be inserted in Article IX, Section 1 of Washington State's Constitution (with an introducion in its preamble).
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The founders bestowed upon "we the People" the fundamental right to revise and amend our Constitutions. Americans have done this successfully 27 times for the Federal Constitution. Article V provides: "The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or on the Application of two thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of this Constitution....". Thus, to get a constitutional amendement into the Federal Constitution, we need either two thirds of both houses of the US Congress or two thirds of the fifty states.Under the second method, two-thirds of the state legislatures may convene and "apply" to Congress to hold a national convention, whereupon Congress must call such a convention for the purpose of considering amendments. To date, only the first method (proposal by Congress) has been used.Once proposed (whether submitted by Congress or by a national convention) amendments must then be ratified by three-fourths of the states to take effect. The starting point must therefore be first the "court" of public opinion and second, enlightened decisioning making and advocacy from Governors and the President. If a the national momentum is strong enough, then two thirds of the state legislatures can convene and apply to Congress to hold a national convention whereupon the revision or amendment must be ratified by three fourth of the States. The Declaration below is the Fundamental freedom action committee's contribution to educate and initiate a National movement to revise the Federal Constitution and, secondarily, also amending Washington State's Constitution so that they are in conformity with internationally recognized fundamental freedoms and duties. Thereafter, the other States of the Union could follow suit. Once the country's working Constitutions are "cleaned up" the People's basic needs and fundamental freedoms will be better guaranteed.
and recklessnessmuch of which has been proven to be reckless beyond a reasonable doubt as being damaging to the health and vitality of the People and detrimental to the resources and the Peace of the Planet.
"After 200 years . . . [America's] still a beacon, still a magnet for all who must have freedom, for all the pilgrims from all the lost places who are hurtling through the darkness, toward home." Ronald Reagan, reflected on the current state of the American Dream:
“The continued existence of a free and democratic society depends upon recognition of the concept that justice is based upon the rule of law grounded in respect for the dignity of the individual and the capacity through reason for enlightened self-government. Law so grounded makes justice possible, for only through such law does the dignity of the individual attain respect and protection. Without it, individual rights become subject to unrestrained power, respect for law is destroyed, and rational self-government is impossible”. Fundamental Principles of Professional Conduct. Rules as adopted by Washington Supreme Court to be effective 9/1/06. Rule 1.8(e) amended effective 4/24/07
ON THE ORIGINALITY OF THE AMERICAN 232 YEARS LONG EXPERIENCE: THE THIRST TO EXPAND FUNDAMENTAL FREEDOMS AND BASIC LIBERTIES "The preservation of the sacred fire of liberty, and the destiny of the Republican model of Government, are justly considered as deeply, perhaps as finally staked, on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people." George Washington spoke on Liberty on April 30, 1789, moments after taking the oath of office as first President of the United States.The success of the American "experiment" or adventure, these early Americans hoped, would hasten the spread of liberty around the globe. The 21st results tho, may not be what the 18th century political philosophers thought. “It was we, the people, not we, the white male citizens, nor yet we, the male citizens, but we, the whole people, who formed this Union” Susan B. Anthony, 1873, “Is it a crime for a U.S citizen to vote ?”, speech delivered following her arrest for voting in the election of 1872. When the Constitution took effect in 1789, it did not “secure the blessings of liberty” to all people (Blacks, women and Native Americans who had to wait until 1924 to vote)
“The bosom of America is open to receive not only the Opulent and respectable stranger, but the oppressed and persecuted of all Nations and religions, whom we shall welcome to a participation of all our rights and privileges” George Washington, address to Irish immigrants, December 2, 1783.
THE Conventions of a number of the States, having at the time of their adopting the Constitution, expressed a desire, in order to prevent misconstruction or abuse of its powers, that further declaratory and restrictive clauses should be added: And as extending the ground of public confidence in the Government, will best ensure the beneficent ends of its institution. (Preamble of the Bills of Rights)
Give me liberty, or give me death". Patrick Henry (18th century revolutionary patriot
DO CHRISTIANS HAVE DUTIES WHEN IT COMES TO THE IMPROVEMENT OF THEIR SOCIETY ? "To the distinguished character of Patriot, it should be our highest glory to laud the more distinguished character of Christian (....) I attribute my success in life to the moral, intellectual and physical education which I received from my mother ". George Washington 1732-1799 (George is talking about Mary who as a single mother and homeschooler widow, at 35 years, managed a 600 acres farm with nothing more than the necessities of life to satisfy the five children family's basic needs). "The preservation of the sacred fire of liberty, and the destiny of the Republican model of Government, are justly considered as deeply, perhaps as finally staked, on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people." George Washington spoke of it on April 30, 1789, moments after taking the oath of office as first President of the United States.The success of their experiment, these early Americans hoped, would hasten the spread of liberty around the globe.
"But history shows that when an army of citizens, supported by even a vestige of civil society, believes in liberty -- in the psychological space that is "America" -- no power on earth can ultimately suppress them. The Preamble to the Bill of Rights: Congress of the United States begun and held at the City of New-York, on Wednesday the fourth of March, one thousand seven hundred and eighty nine. THE Conventions of a number of the States, having at the time of their adopting the Constitution, expressed a desire, in order to prevent misconstruction or abuse of its powers, that further declaratory and restrictive clauses should be added: And as extending the ground of public confidence in the Government, will best ensure the beneficent ends of its institution. RESOLVED by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, two thirds of both Houses concurring, that the following Articles be proposed to the Legislatures of the several States, as amendments to the Constitution of the United States, all, or any of which Articles, when ratified by three fourths of the said Legislatures, to be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of the said Constitution; viz. ARTICLES in addition to, and Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America, proposed by Congress, and ratified by the Legislatures of the several States, pursuant to the fifth Article of the original Constitution.
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Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776 When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. Drafted by Thomas Jefferson between June 11 and june 28, 1776. And signed by the following: JOHN HANCOCK [President] New HampshireJOSIAH BARTLETT, WM. WHIPPLE, MATTHEW THORNTON. Massachusetts Bay SAML. ADAMS, JOHN ADAMS, ROBT. TREAT PAINE, ELBRIDGE GERRY Rhode Island STEP. HOPKINS, WILLIAM ELLERY. Connecticut ROGER SHERMAN, SAM'EL HUNTINGTON, WM. WILLIAMS, OLIVER WOLCOTT. New York WM. FLOYD, PHIL. LIVINGSTON, FRANS. LEWIS, LEWIS MORRIS. New Jersey RICHD. STOCKTON, JNO. WITHERSPOON, FRAS. HOPKINSON, JOHN HART, ABRA. CLARK. Pennsylvania ROBT. MORRIS BENJAMIN RUSH, BENJA. FRANKLIN, JOHN MORTON, GEO. CLYMER, JAS. SMITH, GEO. TAYLOR, JAMES WILSON, GEO. ROSS. Delaware CAESAR RODNEY, GEO. READ, THO. M'KEAN. Maryland SAMUEL CHASE, WM. PACA, THOS. STONE, CHARLES CARROLL of Carrollton. Virginia GEORGE WYTHE, RICHARD HENRY LEE, TH. JEFFERSON, BENJA. HARRISON, THS. NELSON, JR., FRANCIS LIGHTFOOT LEE, CARTER BRAXTON. North Carolina WM. HOOPER, JOSEPH HEWES, JOHN PENN. South Carolina EDWARD RUTLEDGE, THOS. HAYWARD, JUNR., THOMAS LYNCH, JUNR., ARTHUR MIDDLETON. Georgia BUTTON GWINNETT, LYMAN HALL, GEO. WALTON. JEFFERSON NOT ONLY DRAFTED THIS MOST CHERISHED LIBERTY AGAINST OPPRESSION DOCUMENT, BUT DOUBLED THE SIZE OF THE US THANKS TO THE FRENCH. "In 1803, with one bold move, President Thomas Jefferson's administration doubled the size of the United States. France's offer of the Louisiana Territory–828,000 square miles of land extending west of the Mississippi River, in exchange for $15 million–was simply too good to resist. The Treaty, dated April 30, 1803, was signed in Paris by Robert Livingston and James Monroe and ratified by Congress on October 20. Fifteen states or parts of states were carved from the vast territory, which was the single largest acquisition of land in U.S. history.Sixteen years earlier, critics of the Constitution had argued that the original thirteen states already covered too vast a territory to be under a single government. In 1803, some European powers predicted that the huge addition of land would be the death knell of the American experiment and would cause the Union to degenerate into competing and warring factions. Jefferson, however, believed it would provide "a wide-spread field for the blessings of freedom." The Louisiana Territory added to the United States a wealth of natural resources beyond anyone's calculations. Westward expansion was a disaster for the many indigenous peoples who had no say in the sale of lands they had inhabited for generations. But the Louisiana Purchase did not weaken the Union; it strengthened it. The transaction was more than a brilliant act of diplomacy or a shrewd real estate deal. It was a vote of confidence in the future of a fledgling nation" The Preamble to the Bill of Rights: Congress of the United States begun and held at the City of New-York, on Wednesday the fourth of March, one thousand seven hundred and eighty nine. THE Conventions of a number of the States, having at the time of their adopting the Constitution, expressed a desire, in order to prevent misconstruction or abuse of its powers, that further declaratory and restrictive clauses should be added: And as extending the ground of public confidence in the Government, will best ensure the beneficent ends of its institution. RESOLVED by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, two thirds of both Houses concurring, that the following Articles be proposed to the Legislatures of the several States, as amendments to the Constitution of the United States, all, or any of which Articles, when ratified by three fourths of the said Legislatures, to be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of the said Constitution; viz. ARTICLES in addition to, and Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America, proposed by Congress, and ratified by the Legislatures of the several States, pursuant to the fifth Article of the original Constitution. Establishment Clause, Free Exercise Clause; freedom of speech, of the press, and of assembly; right to petition Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. Second Amendment – Right to keep and bear arms. A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed. Third Amendment – Protection from quartering of troops. No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law. Fourth Amendment – Protection from unreasonable search and seizure. The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. Fifth Amendment – due process, double jeopardy, self-incrimination, eminent domain. No person shall be held to answer for any capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
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