AT WHAT POINT?

By Tom Shaw

During my twenty years of service in the U.S. Navy I lived in and visited many foreign nations. I was stationed in the Philippines during the “People’s Power” revolution and participated in a historic port visit to Shanghai, China in May, 1989, during which the Chinese took to the streets to protest the communist regime (remember Tiananmen Square?). In both cases, I always wondered, at what point did the people risk their lives to stand up against their tyrannical government. More specifically, at what point did the military and police decide to side with the people and rebel against the government.

Searching for an answer to this question is not just an academic exercise for me. Although I am retired from active duty, I am still obligated in my oath to support and defend the Constitution. In my current capacity as a Police Chief, I am sworn to uphold the law. So, at what point would I, and all others in my position, determine that the assault on our Constitution is so severe it would warrant us from disobeying laws and regulations that are clearly in violation of the powers granted by the United States Constitution?

The principles upon which our Nation was founded have been slowly eroding over time. Due in part to changing social values and a diffusion of personal responsibility, the words and philosophies of our Founding Fathers do not ring true to many of today’s citizens. Apathy, which has replaced the natural fear of government, and the ever increasing reliance upon government institutions have created a ripe environment for the growth of abusive power by our elected officials. The power of “We the People” has slowly been ceded to elected officials, which in turn, emboldens them to slowly usurp the Constitutional principles and move towards a socialist approach.

Smugness and arrogance seem to rule the political scene today. Just look at how the Tea Party protesters, who merely exercised their right to assemble and redress their grievances, were ridiculed. Recently, the Department of Homeland Security released an intelligence assessment which demonized veterans as potential domestic terrorists. The huge amount of federal borrowing in the effort to create an economic stimulus has just enslaved our grandchildren to the government. The Iowa Supreme Court recently created a “right”, where none such existed, when it proclaimed Iowa’s law limiting marriage to one man and one woman unconstitutional.

Although it is not recognized by most, tyranny, in the form of increasing government intrusion into the citizen’s private lives eerily marches on. One day we will wake up and say, “Where have our freedoms gone?” Freedom lost will not be regained. So again, at what point during the slow transformation from a republic to a socialist state we will say, “Enough is enough.”
Abraham Lincoln had the following to say during his First Inaugural Address, March 4th 1861, “This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing Government, they can exercise their “constitutional” right of amending it or their “revolutionary” right to dismember or overthrow it.”

It is my greatest desire that I should never have to face the decision that our forefather’s had to make. One cannot comprehend the gut-wrenching choice that was laid before them when they had finally reached “their point.” What courage and bravery they showed when they risked life and property to stand against tyranny. With the growing fear and distrust of government at all levels, will there be an incident which sparks a nationwide rebellion? If so, at what point does the military and police side with “We the People” and determine that defending the Constitution overrides protecting the sitting government? I pray that America continues to use the peaceful political process to work out its differences and that I may never have to determine “At What Point.”