WEBCommentary(tm) - What has become of our Independence?

As every branch of federal government seems determined to lead the charge away from Constitutional governance, we are in a race toward the tyranny of federal despotism. Our Supreme Court no longer regards its obligations to our Constitution as primary, instead putting social desires ahead of the clear fundamental law of our nation. Our President, either ignorant of or antagonistic toward our Constitution, routinely ignores the limits to executive power. Our Congress no longer abides by their oath of office either. They simply legislate what they want to in order to curry favor with blocks of voters and please the ever-increasing radicalism of our national news media. What is there to celebrate on July 4^th today?

"For the support of this declaration, with firm reliance on the protection of the divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other, our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor."

This was the pledge made by signers of the Declaration of Independence. The independence these signers sacrificed for is what we celebrate on Independence Day, July 4^th, 2015.

That independence was secured by our Constitution, the defining document of our form of government and its very limited powers over the people. How strange that seems today, when federal power is wielded far beyond its Constitutional borders.

As we celebrate this day, a day that should be filled with happiness and joy, it is sad to contemplate our current condition and just how little we seem to appreciate the Constitution that the founders left us. Under the guise of "doing the people's business" our Congress has usurped vast powers not given it to build a powerful federal government whose ever-growing rules, regulations, and heavy taxes have rendered most citizens little more than slaves to an all-powerful government -- all in the name of our own good! Elitist members of each branch of our government have come to believe it is their lot to take care of those who they view as "little people" who cannot take care of their own affairs. The consequence to the people is ever-diminishing freedom and ever-increasing mandates.

On threat of penalties most would never agree to, we are mandated to (1) join Social Security, (2) join Medicare, (3) join HealthCare and (4) pay taxes to support unconstitutional governmental overreach. Basically, we are taxed to pay for the chains that bind us. And we're celebrating freedom?

Congressional abuse of our Constitution's "General Welfare" phrase (whose purpose was to limit the scope of specifically enumerated powers of government) to curry favor with voting blocks has become routine. What purpose is served by Article X of the Bill of Rights if the Constitution is designed to grant Carte Blanche to Congress by allowing them to justify virtually any domestic intrusion through a broad and inappropriate view of the "General Welfare" clause?

Worse still, the institution of our Supreme Court has been turned into a judicial legislating agency for social change. This is unacceptable to a people who are dedicated to a government limited by constitutional dictates so that the rule of law supercedes the desires of men. Our current path leads straight to tyranny. Not just one tyrant issuing dictatorial commands, but an entire federal bureaucracy creating massive rules and regulations by which every activity of the people is governed. It is virtually impossible to live a normal life today without violating some federal regulation. It is also impossible for anyone to understand the totality of federal laws and regulations. Our Constitution prohibits such a condition, yet we have Supreme Court justices promoting precisely what they have sworn an oath to prohibit!

Politicians, whether legislative, executive, or judicial activists, care little about Constitutional limitations, ethics, integrity, character, honesty, or honorable service to the people. These charlatans realize that most citizens will either empower them more so that greater largesse will come their way, or they are too busy trying to make ends meet to survive in our heavily regulated and taxed nation.

Rather than celebrate something we no longer have, true liberty and independence, perhaps it would be best to use this day to reflect on the sacrifices that were made to create this nation.

It is a certainty that indifference to congressional abuse of power will destroy the fruits of those great sacrifices.

Author of "Looking Out the Window", an evidence-based examination of the "climate change" issue, Bob Webster, is a 12th-generation descendent of both the Darte family (Connecticut, 1630s) and the Webster family (Massachusetts, 1630s). He is a descendant of Daniel Webster's father, Revolutionary War patriot Ebenezer Webster, who served with General Washington. Bob has always had a strong interest in early American history, our Constitution, U.S. politics, and law. Politically he is a constitutional republican with objectivist and libertarian roots. He has faith in the ultimate triumph of truth and reason over deception and emotion. He is a strong believer in our Constitution as written and views the abandonment of constitutional restraint by the regressive Progressive movement as a great danger to our Republic. His favorite novel is Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand and believes it should be required reading for all high school students so they can appreciate the cost of tolerating the growth of unconstitutional crushingly powerful central government. He strongly believes, as our Constitution enshrines, that the interests of the individual should be held superior to the interests of the state.

A lifelong interest in meteorology and climatology spurred his strong interest in science. Bob earned his degree in Mathematics at Virginia Tech, graduating in 1964.