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A Clear And Present Danger - Part 1
Friday, May 28, 2004
By Albert Burns
Let's examine another clear and present danger which we, as Americans, face. For more than 200 years, Americans have viewed the U.S. Constitution as being fixed and unchanging, except as it has been modified by properly ratified amendments. A few people are vaguely aware that the Constitution has been changed in varying degrees by numerous Supreme Court decisions. What extremely few realize is that the Constitution has been (and is being) changed continuously by treaties into which this country has entered. These treaties are now a clear and present danger to the continued freedom of us all.
Article VI, paragraph 2 of the Constitution states: "This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof; and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding." (Emphasis added.)
The phrase: "...shall be the supreme Law of the Land", has been interpreted by the Supreme Court to mean that treaties supersede the Constitution itself - that our rights of freedom of speech, religion, assembly, press, right to keep and bear arms, etc. can be changed or even abolished by a treaty.
The first such Supreme Court "interpretation" took place in 1796! In that case, (Ware vs. Hylton), the Court upheld the taking of private property without "due process" because of a treaty with Great Britain.
In 1920, (Missouri vs. Holland), the Supreme Court decided that powers, reserved by Amendment 10 to the States or the people, could be transferred to the federal government by a treaty, in other words, a direct REVERSAL of the intent of the Tenth Amendment.
The Constitution expressly provides that the President can make treaties, ONLY with the advice and consent of two thirds of the Senators present at the time a vote on a treaty is taken. Theoretically, this provides some protection against the rights of the American people being bargained away. At least when the debate came before the Senate, the people would have an opportunity to make their wishes known to their Senators. Binding secret agreements would not be possible.
Unfortunately, in 1942, (United States vs. Pink), our (?) Supreme Court EXTENDED the concept that treaties over-ride the Constitution to include "executive agreements" made unilaterally by the President, or EVEN agreements made in the NAME of the President by someone else in the executive branch of the federal government. The Court held that an "agreement" between President Roosevelt and the Russian Foreign Minister over-rode the provisions of New York State law and of the U.S. Constitution itself. The dire consequences of that decision cannot be over-exaggerated!
The inspired men who wrote the Constitution provided that the Constitution could be amended solely with the consent of THREE FOURTHS of the States. Effectively, the earlier decisions of the Court meant that the necessary approval of changes to the Constitution had been changed from 3/4 of the STATES to only two thirds of the Senators present when a treaty ratification vote was to be made.
Under the 1942 decision, the requirement for oversight or approval of changes to the Constitution was REMOVED ENTIRELY! Now, one man, the President, or even someone representing him, can make an agreement with a foreign power or international body. According to the Supreme Court, such an agreement could modify or possibly even nullify our Constitution! This can be done without the approval or even the knowledge of the Senate or of the American people as a whole.
In 1954, the U.S. Senate held hearings on the "Bricker Amendment", a proposed amendment to the Constitution to close this "backdoor" method of changing the Constitution. During those hearings, it was disclosed that up until that time, 48 YEARS AGO, over 10,000 executive agreements had been negotiated with regard to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) alone! A large number of those agreement were, AND STILL ARE, secret from the American people, yet they all, potentially, have the power to negate the U.S. Constitution.
How many other secret executive agreements have been made, with other countries or international bodies, is information not available to American citizens. Obviously, the foreign powers and/or international bodies know about such agreements since they are party to them. The agreements are only kept from the knowledge of the American people! Every rational and reasonable
American should ask:
"WHY are they afraid to tell US?"NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, any copyrighted material herein is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. For further information please refer to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
