Sunday, April 5, 2009

On Defending the Constitution: A Reader Writes

Here's the e-mail sent to me from Maj. Steven Givler, published by permission:

Sir,

Thank you for your blog. I’ve often wondered lately whether my more than 20 years of military service have been devoted to defending a constitution that is no longer recognized by the people who benefit from its protections.

Every once in a while something encourages me to believe that there are still Americans who understand what makes us different from other nations, and who are willing to preserve that difference. Your blog, which I found via RS McCain’s blog, is one of those things.

Thanks for the encouragement.

All the best,

Steven

STEVEN A. GIVLER, Maj, USAF
Assistant Air Attache
US EMBASSY Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Steven blogs at Steven Givler Online.

It's always nice to get letters from readers, and coming from a member of our armed forces, this one is extra special.

Thank you for your service, Steven.

19 comments:

  1. Yes, Thank you, Steven!
    And, what a treasure your blog is!

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  2. Major Givler clearly doesn't understand: our Constitution is a "living document," doesn't he realize, and means whatever the people in power want it to mean, at the time they want it to mean it.

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  3. Oh, and Dr Douglas: Major Givler's photograph, which you can find through his blog, is here.

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  4. Thanks for commenting, Flag Gazer!

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  5. Constitution is not a living document. The original intention of the founding fathers is very important. They designed it to protect us from tyrannical c entral government, much like the one being put into place now.

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  6. Yes, thank you Maj. Givler.

    This blog is a great find.

    And, you can trace our downfall (and the acceleration of the shredding of our constitution to this. Look for much more shredding from our 'Constitutional Scholar' in Chief. (He studied it so as to best find a way to dismantle it..)

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  7. I know this has already been addressed but, my DAVFW warrior blood is boiling angry right now. I will understand if this comment is deleted or edited. However:

    The idiot Dana said:
    "Major Givler clearly doesn't understand: our Constitution is a "living document," doesn't he realize, and means whatever the people in power want it to mean, at the time they want it to mean it."

    This is a prime example of stupid people saying really retarded things. Other idiots of the same caliber also seem to think that because CONgress has passed a law, it becomes part of the constitution.

    The document is a "living, breathing" document in the sense that there is an AMENDMENT process and legislating around the document is in fact unconstitutional.

    Morons like Dana piss me off.

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  8. One thing that is missing from most public schools is the teaching of basic republican principles; no one knows what it is to be a good American.

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  9. I have to admit that I thought Dana was being facetious and not a little sarcastic just by the way the "doesn't he......" is phrased. It was one of the problems that, James Madison and others, the framers were afraid would happen with the understanding of and the changing interpretation of language usage. That is why so many of them pushed for everyone to remember the historical perspective of the times when it was written and why it was written.

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  10. Douglas, Snooper, et al., Dana was indeed being sarcastic. He just returned from his daughter's graduation from basic training, so perhaps he forgot to notate his comment as "sarc"?

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  11. My apologies to Dana. Wasn't April Fool's Day LAST week?

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  12. Fear not, Major, as there are still plenty of us back home who actually do still appreciate the Constitution of the United States, and who very much appreciate the efforts of all of you currently serving our country overseas.

    And thank you for you service to all of us.

    -Dave

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  13. I wish to ask the Major a question, given the damage that Barry and his sycophantic adherants in the Congress/Senate have done in less than 3 months in office, what does he believe the choices are for America?

    Our next shot at the Ballot is 2 years out. How much of our constitution will be left after that? Already, Socialism is being forced down our throats in our private industries. If anyone thinks the banks and the auto makers are the only ones getting this treatment, think again. Very soon the Medical industry and other sectors will feel the cold touch of Socialism.

    So what is our recourse? Someone will snap off and either "try" to kill Obama, or actually get it accomplished and it would be a defacto race war from one side to the other of this nation.

    Or someone will twist off and start blowing up elected officials and then what? What if it's bigger than one person? What happens if it is a coordinated attempt at re-instatement of the Declaration of Independance?

    What will the Military do?

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  14. I certainly hope the authorities are keeping an eye on blogs such as this one. When I see people like Greywolfe getting excited over the possibility of domestic terrorism, it makes me think there might be some potential terrorists here. Didn't McVeigh go far enough for you guys?

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  15. DLB, where in my post do you see me calling for such attacks? I merely call it as I see it. When you listen to the Rage and Anger (Righteous anger and rage in my never-to-be-humble opinion) how else, other than open hostile action, can you think this will end? Many people are so angry at the damage being done to the Civil Society that they are seeing red. Communist red. Every where we look we're being inundated with socialism. Frankly, from my readers and the readers of other blogs that I patrol, I'd say that all it's going to take is one spark, to set the whole country in flames.

    It's not a call to arms that I'm sounding. It's more of a reading of the tea leaves. It's what I see as the road we're traveling and there are currently no off-ramps.

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  16. Greywolfe, I believe it was the line, "what is our recourse," followed by examples of violence against democratically elected officials. But, if I misread it, I apologize.

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  17. DLB, you did and it's accepted. What I was trying to put out there is the level of frustration and the things that it might engender. Not advocating, just prognosticating.

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