The Supreme Court violated both the letter and the spirit of the Constitution in validating the Affordable Care Act, a.k.a. Obamacare. Conjured out of thin air by five, robed advocates of unlimited government power, the Obamacare ruling reflected an arrogant elite's contempt for our nation's founding principles of individual liberty and limited consensual government.
Absent from its ruling was an awareness that the states transferred only limited powers to the federal government in ratifying the Constitution. Also missing was a recognition that the states conditioned their consent upon a clear understanding about the scope of the government's legitimate authority. The historical record affirms that the government's use of its limited powers was restricted to defending the newly-formed union from its enemies, and to protecting its citizens from fraud and internal oppression.
These distortions led many to assert that the Obamacare ruling represented the triumph of politics over the honest and impartial administration of justice. A growing chorus of dissenters saw it as an assassin's bullet fired into the heart of the rule of law.
These outraged citizens accused the court of lawlessly transforming the Constitution from a security pact among the states into an instrument of surrender to an omnipotent national authority. They charged it with willfully destroying the confining cage designed by James Madison to limit the federal government's opportunites for "irresponsible action" against its citizens.
Opportunistic politicians and self-interested bureaucrats in the government's executive and legislative branches followed the lead of their renegade comrades in the judiciary. Like a predator escaping confinement, they bolted from the ruins of their constitutional cage.
As worshippers at the altar of limitless government power, they set about crushing their idol's mortal enemy: Freedom. They engaged in the repeated theft of powers belonging solely to the states and to we the people.
They collaborated to deprive ordinary, law-abiding citizens of our rights to keep and bear arms, to speak our minds freely, and to practice our faiths without interference. They piled up enormous debt to shackle future generations with a ponderous ball and chain.
They sought to control every aspect of our lives. Their forces invaded and plundered the sanctuaries of our homes, schools, and churches. They bound us with countless rules, regulations, and red tape. They imposed arbitrary burdens to disable our businesses and handicap our private-sector economy.
They were not content to remain public servants. Driven by ambition and corrupted by power, they aspired to become our masters. Not coincidentally, they reaped huge personal rewards while expanding the federal government's power.
They became rich by selling favors to special interests. They gave themselves fat pensions while raiding public and private retirement funds for the benefit of their cronies. They bought votes with taxpayer dollars. They rigged elections using inelligible, illegal, and phantom voters to retain their offices.
Needless to say, they exempted themselves from their endless directives. They built walls, both literal and figurative, in the hope of sheltering themselves from the disastrous social and economic consequences of their actions.
With their focus on benefitting themselves and controlling the lives of others, they ceased defending America from enemies foreign and domestic. They eviscerated our military. They left our borders undefended and our immigration laws unenforced. They betrayed allies and bowed to enemies. They even armed terrorists and aided rabid nations to acquire nuclear weapons.
In these and untold other ways, they have undermined the very foundation of our democratic republic. Our vital social institutions - our families, churches and schools, our civic associations and professions - teeter on the verge of collapse. Structural failure seems imminent.
All is not lost, however. Nothing is written. Yet. We the people can avert this looming disaster. We can shore up our foundation. We can secure the blessings of liberty for future generations. We can rescue America.