to disinform the people for political gain

a military perspective of deception

The wicked draw the sword and bend the bow to bring down the poor and needy, to slay those whose ways are upright. But their swords will pierce their own hearts, and their bows will be broken. (Psalm 37:14-15)

In the beginning was man. Alone, he was vulnerable to the forces of nature and those surrounding him. Although, in time, with progeny and bonding came strength in numbers, forming society. And through societal union, governments begat, including military force. Thus, societal control was through force. Those willing to surrender, or be controlled by greater strength, enriching those powerful enough to hold those weaker in submission. Then, as faction developed, division through war begat new governments, and in turn, new nations, some stronger and richer, gaining more power over the many by taxation thereof, to impose over time harsher sanctions until the American Revolution broke the bonds of tyrannical imprisonment by a king. The main difference being the structure of power: WE THE PEOPLE. With three branches of government: legislative, executive, and judicial, the control of the people was placed in the trust of the people with two chambers: All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives (Article I/Section 1). Except, throughout American history, the government became nothing more than a vicious cycle of repetition, power consuming power, knowing ultimate control could only be achieved through autarchy: Party power.

But with power being the ultimate decider of strength, America set out on a path of “Manifest Destiny.” A land grab of territory that would make even the most brutal of all animals, man himself, jealous. And once the contiguous land mass which became known as the lower forty-eight, or CONUS (continental United States), was settled either through State or territory, the unquenchable stench to expand filled the nostrils of those in power. Imagine, through the benefit of WW II, America created a stranglehold of military might across the world’s globe. Except, the buildup did not start at that war’s outset, but years earlier, during the Spanish-American War. The one where Cuba was considered the Gibraltar of America and some in government wanted to create the island into a State. The USS Maine, the precursor to involve the country in war. Look forward and see what happened to Hawaii. Then consider Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, and now Ukraine. What the reasons were then and are now again being fomented for war? But, what was the nation’s military design actually meant to be: The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence (emphasis added) and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States; (Article I/Section 8/1^st Clause). So, back again to Webster’s 1828 to define: 

Provide (verb intransitive): To procure supplies or means of defense; or to take measures for counteracting or escaping an evil. The sagacity of brutes in providing against the inclemencies of weather is wonderful. Government is a contrivance of human wisdom to provide for human wants (Burke).

Common (adjective): Belonging equally to more than one, or to many indefinitely; as, life and senses are common to man and beast; the common privileges of citizens; the common wants of men.

Defense (noun): Any thing that opposes attack, violence, danger or injury; any thing that secures the person, the rights or the possessions of men; fortification; guard; protection; security. A wall, a parapet, a ditch, or a garrison, is the defense of a city or fortress. The Almighty is the defense of the righteous (Psalm 59).

Understanding the Articles of Confederation (AOCs), the power laid with the States, the federal being ineffectual, unable to effectively govern. The American Revolution itself a testament to the inability to fund the war, the AOCs themselves having been hastily assembled: A strong sense of the value and blessings of Union induced the people, at a very early period, to institute a Federal Government to preserve and perpetuate it. They formed it almost as soon as they had a political existence; nay, at a time when their habitations were in flames, when many of their citizens were bleeding, and when the progress of hostility and desolation left little room for those calm and mature inquiries and reflections which must ever precede the formation of a wise and well-balanced government for a free people. It is not to be wondered at, that a government instituted in times so inauspicious, should on experiment be found greatly deficient and inadequate to the purpose it was intended to answer (Federalist 2).   

So, in the failing AOCs, then structuring the Constitution, the Anti-Federalists feared too much power would bring the country back to where it began: Rule by force. Nor did they want a standing Army during peacetime. And conversely, the Federalists needed to prove the Constitution’s structure would prevent a large Army from being formed and used against the people by the government and where loyalties would remain. But, in structuring a force, the means meant only for defense, both an Army and Militia (State National Guard): Reasons have already been given to induce a supposition that the State governments will naturally be prone to a rivalship with that of the Union, the foundation of which will be the love of power; and that in any contest between the Federal head and one of its members the people will be most apt to unite with their local government (Federalist 25). And in that vein, think about some of the reasons for the Civil War. 

Thus, with the structure of power to defend the nation against attack, Congress was given the ability “To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water; (Article I/Section 8/10^th Clause).” And limitations were set: To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years; (Article I/Section 8/11^th Clause). Whereas the Navy did not face the same financial scrutiny: To provide and maintain a Navy; (Article I/Section 8/12^th Clause). As well, keeping a restraint on the ability of the Executive to manipulate a power given, preventing the formation of a kingship: The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States; (Article II/Section 2). Except, Congress kept the power divided: To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces; (Article I/Section 8/13^th Clause), and the ability “To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions; (Article I/Section 8/14^th Clause).” And finally: To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress; (Article I/Section 8/15^th Clause).

Sadly, if WE THE PEOPLE do not wake up, history will be the continuum of repeat while America devolves deeper into political chaos, and war, the given choice to amass more power mounts, while the moral compass has gone completely awry. Our government now the antithesis of constitutional intent, while the Constitution itself, outrightly dismissed. And today, each Party pushes extreme ideologies; the ultimate desire being societal collapse. Amazingly, citizens blindly follow, ignorant of the Constitution’s actual intent for a prevaracatively promised perceived safety. But the net result will be surrendering to the government absolute rule or power: autarchy achieved, wondering if those Patriots who debated then for our continued freedom today did so in vain:

After an unequivocal experience of the inefficacy of the subsisting Federal Government, you are called upon to deliberate on a new Constitution for the United States of America. The subject speaks its own importance; comprehending in its consequences nothing less than the existence of the UNION, the safety and welfare of the parts of which it is composed, the fate of an Empire in many respects the most interesting in the world. It has been frequently remarked that it seems to have been reserved to the people of this country, by their conduct and example, to decide the important question, whether societies of men are really capable or not of establishing good government from reflection and choice, or whether they are forever destined to depend for their political constitutions on accident and force. If there be any truth in the remark, the crisis at which we are arrived may with propriety be regarded as the era in which that decision is to be made; and a wrong election of the part we shall act may, in this view, deserve to be considered as the general misfortune of mankind (Federalist 1).

So, to close, if you’ve made it this far, then the division of military power (Army/Militia) instilled in the Constitution is clear. And regarding the Army and Militia, the Framers made certain the Federal could not mount an Army larger than the States, with the ability to start war being solely in the purview of Congress, while the president is the commander and chief of the military branches. Conversely, the design of the military was for defensive measures, not aggressive or imperialistic. Yet, when was the last defensive action? And as the nation again moves closer to a purposely motivated war, I do suggest one determine who the wicked truly are before the nation is no more. Finally, for thought, consider the formation of the Air Force and Space Force and question if constitutionally, they’re constitutional. But as usual, I digress in my attempt to open another’s eyes.