"Mr. Lincoln, I wish you were here. Things have changed a lot in 100 years. I don't think it's working out like you planned."
I FIRMLY believe Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and all of our forefathers and founding fathers of this nation would roll over in their graves if they knew what this country has become.
While this song does not specifically speak to the topic that I am blogging about today, it does speak to how things have gone so far away from the original intent of our forefathers for this nation.
"Well at least we're right, all we've gotta do is tell the truth. He said You're living in the past you romantic fool. You've got that right- I lean toward the older ways."
While Abraham Lincoln was not one of the signers of The Constitution, this is what I want to focus on in this blog.
To quote Wikipedia,
The United States Constitution is THE SUPREME LAW of this country. It is the foundation and source of the legal authority underlying the existence of the United States of America and the federal government of the United States. It provides the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government to the states, to citizens, and to all people within the United States.
The Constitution defines the three main branches of government: a legislature, the bicameral Congress; an executive branch led by the President; and a judicial branch headed by the Supreme Court. The Constitution specifies the powers and duties of each branch. The Constitution reserves all unenumerated powers for the respective states and the people, thereby establishing the federal system of government.
The United States Constitution was adopted on September 17, 1787, by the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and ratified by conventions in each U.S. state in the name of "The People". The Constitution has been amended twenty-seven times; the first ten amendments are known as the Bill of Rights.
The United States Constitution is the shortest and oldest written constitution still in use by any nation in the world today.
The Constitution has a central place in United States law and political culture. The handwritten original document penned by Jacob Shallus is on display at the National Archives and Records Administration in Washington, D.C.
As the Supreme Law of our Nation, The Constitution addresses a Census. While yes, the government can conduct a census every 10 years to get a HEADCOUNT, The Constitution DOES NOT allow them the right to know all of your personal information, such as how much you pay on your utilities, how much income you make and from what sources (this is what the IRS is for!)
If you are comfortable giving your personal information to strangers, then feel free! For me, I am going to show them a copy of The United States Constitution and ask the government official to show me where in The Constitution it says that they are given the right to demand my private information. They do not have a court order for a search warrant to collect personal information from me, as the 4th Amendment gives me the right. They violate my rights when they demand personal information from me.
If you trust The United States Government and are willing to give up your 4th Amendment Right, then go ahead and tell them everything they are asking. In my home, we will list the number of people that live here. They don't need to know the race of ANYONE living here! For a country who is the melting pot, where Civil Rights for ALL people have been the fight for most of our country's history, the government certainly likes putting up the racial divisions all the time. We teach our children to live by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s words, "judge a man by the content of his character, not the color of his skin." And we LIVE by these words, we do not simply throw them out every February for Black History Month out of obligation!
The citizens of this nation have been complacent for too many years. We have allowed our freedoms to slowly be taken away from us bit by bit. Now this country is not at all the country I grew up in. My children do not know the freedoms I knew.
"Mr. Lincoln, I wish you were here. The Republic's changed a lot in 100 years. I don't think it's working out like you planned. Mr. Lincoln, we sure could use a hand."
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"Mr. Lincoln" by Hank Williams, Jr.
Respondent confidentiality, Historical FBI use of data, a lot more information
The Census and The Constitution- Cato Institute
Video: The Census Is Getting Personal
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The LORD spoke to Moses in the Tent of Meeting in the Desert of Sinai on the first day of the second month of the second year after the Israelites came out of Egypt. He said: "Take a census of the whole Israelite community by their clans and families, listing every man by name, one by one. You and Aaron are to number by their divisions all the men in Israel twenty years old or more who are able to serve in the army. One man from each tribe, each the head of his family, is to help you. Numbers 1:1-4
