Many of our favorite websites or videos get knocked off, for supposedly violating community guidelines. Nobody seems to know which “community” has set the guidelines. I am going to set some here.
I shan’t comment on things like racism or sexism, much less the old-fashioned naughties like obscenity. Rather, I am interested in how people get canceled for being “far-right extremists.”
I’m a far-right extremist myself — though you wouldn’t guess it just by watching me walk down the street. But I have beliefs as to when violence should be used. I am deeply trained in the US Constitution, and I’m a happy reader of the Ratification debates.
Say what? What the Sam Hill are the Ratification debates? Ah, if you’re not familiar with them, you need to be. They are a significant part of the authority of the United States government.
I mean, they assert the people’s authority in government. There ain’t no government without us People. We are it. Together we are the sovereign. This was a huge advance in Western history. Before that, bosses were accepted as the rightful bosses. “Whatever is, is.”
So, I am a conservative. Politically, the conservative type is associated with the Republican Party, though that need not be the case. Any American who wishes to conserve the federal Constitution of 1787 deserves the title of “conservative” — or “extremist,” though the hurlers of that latter title mean it as an accusation of being criminal or being mentally off.
Oath Keepers
What caused me to write this today was a list I came across concerning the latest developments in the January 6 Select Committee. The list was written by an organization called “Oath Keepers.” I’ll print it here now, and then we can get back to the matter of community guidelines.
The oath keepers are a few thousand Americans who are veterans or are currently serving in the military, including reservists and National Guard, plus some sheriffs and peace officers. The “oath” that they want to keep is the one they took when they joined. In that oath, they undertook to preserve and defend the Constitution. Here are their modern promises:
Orders We Will Not Obey (Says the Oath Keeper)
-
- We will NOT obey orders to disarm the American people.
- We will NOT obey orders to conduct warrantless searches of the American people
- We will NOT obey orders to detain American citizens as “unlawful enemy combatants” or to subject them to military tribunal.
- We will NOT obey orders to impose martial law or a “state of emergency” on a state.
- We will NOT obey orders to invade and subjugate any state that asserts its sovereignty.
- We will NOT obey any order to blockade American cities, thus turning them into giant concentration camps.
- We will NOT obey any order to force American citizens into any form of detention camps under any pretext.
- We will NOT obey orders to assist or support the use of any foreign troops on U.S. soil against the American people to “keep the peace” or to “maintain control.”
- We will NOT obey any orders to confiscate the property of the American people, including food and other essential supplies.
- We will NOT obey any orders which infringe on the right of the people to free speech, to peaceably assemble, and to petition their government for a redress of grievances.
In my opinion [MM], these are all proper promises by anyone who has taken an oath to support the Constitution. (I am assuming that number 4 means they will not impose a FEDERAL emergency on a state that does not want it.)
My Community Guidelines for Soldiers and Police
I said I would offer a ‘corrective’ set of community guidelines in cases where a person is being labeled a far-right extremist. My community guidelines are as above! That is to say, the Oath Keepers’ promises are the guidance when it comes to official violence. I endorse all ten of their promises.
Now let me quickly show why. I will refer to the US Constitution, which includes the ten amendments in the Bill of Rights and a further 17 amendments. I claim:
Promise 1 — the Second Amendment of the Bill of Rights forbids disarming the people.
Promise 2 — the Fourth Amendment requires that a search be preceded by a warrant from a judge.
Promise 3 — the Fifth amendment gives every civilian the right to a trial by a jury of his peers (not a military tribunal).
Promise 4 — (I will have to come back to this one.)*
Promise 5 — The Constitution as a whole did not squelch the sovereignty of the 13 states, except for matters enumerated in Article I, section 8.
Promise 6 — I can’t find any part of the Constitution that would permit the government to blockade a city.
Promise 7 — The Sixth Amendment protects every person from imprisonment except those who were convicted of a crime via due process of law.
Promise 8 — (I almost don’t want to dignify this one with a response): The US, being a sovereign nation, is not subjectable to the authority of any foreign nation or any alliance of nations.
Promise 9 — The Fifth Amendment says property may not be seized except by due process, and fair compensation must be given.
Promise 10 — The First Amendment protects free speech, the right to assemble, and to present grievances to the government.
*My hesitance over # 4 has to do with the fact that jurists and scholars have read into Article I, section 9 of the Constitution that suspending habeas corpus — which Congress can constitutionally do — is equatable with martial law. But as to the right to impose a state of emergency, the US Supreme Court in the 1931 Blaisdell case, said emphatically that an emergency does not change any provision of the Constitution.
Old and New
At this point, you may laugh at my boast in the title of this article that “I am setting new community guidelines.” Let’s face it; these are very old community guidelines. I endorse them but I did not set them. The people did, when they ratified the parchment in 1788 and when the first Congress, in 1789, amended it by adding the Bill of Rights.
Those rights had been promised when each state voted whether to accept the Constitution. Imagine it — a promise that got kept! But in the 21st century, Americans stopped being so aware of their power, and their duty. We had a bunch of bullies in Washington (and hanging around in secret places somewhere) dishing out bad orders.
Finally, in 2009, a veteran named Stewart Rhodes, who is also a lawyer, said Eeenuf! I say this too, every chance I get. Eeenuf with pretending the Constitution has been outvoted. (If you want to change the parchment, fine. Just follow the instructions for amending, in Article V.) Eeenuf with the UN, the WHO, the CFR and other claimants to the throne. Get the hell outta here. We the People are in Full Charge. Got it?
A Word about January 6, 2021
On January 6, 2021, many people stormed the Capitol. Or at least some appeared to be in storming mode, climbing the outer walls and breaking glass, but actually the “doormen” let folks in. I don’t understand what really transpired and can’t even attempt to research it, as the “regime” in power won’t give a bit of honest information.
In other January 6th discussions, particularly about the Electoral College, I have said that there was no role for violent protestation of the apparently fake vote count in the November 2020 presidential election. That’s because the Constitution, at Amendment 12, and federal law, at 3 USC 15, do a reasonable job of instructing Congress how to handle such a problem. (And they did so: 138 reps and a few senators voted to reject the electoral ballots from two states.)
Did Oath Keepers act illegally on January 6? I don’t know and I also don’t want my “setting of community guidelines” thing to be debated along the lines of “Are Oath Keepers bad guys?” Probably most of their members are heavily committed to acting constitutionally. If some aren’t, they could well be plants. (Boy, am I sick of plants.)
You may have heard that some Oath Keepers who were arrested at the January 6th “riot” took a plea bargain, which means they had to “admit” guilt. Our disgusting Department of Justice is in the habit of keeping a person for several months in solitary confinement, after which the person is likely to agree to a plea, as he/she needs to go home (or go mental). Thus, in regard to such a controversial issue as Oath Keepers and the stolen election, I place no credence in a guilty plea.
Conclusion
We all need to understand that the label “far-right extremist” is intended pejoratively and that it pays to read the ten “Orders we will not obey” by members of Oath Keepers. There’s well-established law that law enforcers, as well as soldiers, must not obey illegal orders from their superiors.
The oath keepers’ statement is a community guideline par excellence. I can’t emphasize enough the responsibility of every citizen to maintain the parchment. Please join me in some dutiful far-right extremism.
Here’s a link to a fantastic C-Span presentation by the late Pauline Maier, about her 2010 book “Ratification.” You can become an expert in 3 hours. (Thanks to the antique shop on 321 Elm St, Manchester, for selling me a copy of that book): https://www.c-span.org/video/?298016-1/depth-pauline-maier
