The first time Congress acted in violation of our Constitution it was, in and of itself, a minor and insignificant infraction. However, in the grand scheme of things, it was of epic proportions because it set the precedent and stage for far more serious future violations which would follow as a matter of course. While not being able to positively identify the actual event in question, one that is close to it or may be the one under discussion took place when Davy Crockett served in Congress from 1827 to 1835. Early in that time period he voted for and Congress passed a $20,000 bill of relief for victims of a fire in Georgetown. This relief bill was passed in violation of Amendment X, which states that, "the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people". Charity and welfare are not powers conferred upon the Federal Government by our Constitution. The fact that the amount in question was insignificant and for a good cause does not change the unconstitutional nature of this act.

Most government leaders are lawyers, therefore, they are well aware that the President, Congress, and members of the Supreme Court are in violation of their oath of office the moment it is taken. However, they also know that most citizens have no clue as to what is really going on. Their response to this lamentable situation should be to do everything possible to rectify it, but instead, they ignore the issue, avoid it when they can, and lie about it when necessary. By so doing, they make a mockery of Abraham Lincoln’s statement that, "You can fool some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time, but you can’t fool all of the people all of the time". If Lincoln were alive today he would have to modify his homily to; you can fool most of the people all of the time and you don’t have to worry about those you can’t fool because they are a small minority without any political power. This is the credo that our government operates under today. They fool us all the time, care less about doing so, and care even less about those who know what they are doing and disapprove of their actions.

It is truly a terrible situation for citizens when a newly elected President, Vice-President, Congressional Representative or Supreme Court Justice assumes office knowing they do so in violation of their sworn oath and committed to doing nothing to rectify this state of affairs upon entering office. Put yourself in their shoes and ask yourself, what conclusions will you reach about your fellow citizens under these circumstances? The best that can be said is that citizens should be fooled for their own good because they have no idea what is really going on. On the other hand, the worst that comes to mind is that other people are idiots who deserve to be fooled. In other words, the inescapable conclusion is that the White House, Congress, and our Supreme Court are staffed with people who at best think we should be fooled for our own good and at worst believe that they can do anything while in office because the people who pay their salaries are idiots. Either one being the case, is this the way to run a government? Is this situation something that we should take pride in?

I’m sure that many people who read this essay will say its nothing but theoretical nonsense and nit-picking with words that has no validity in the real world. These people are in advanced stages of terminal denial and like the people in the story, "The Emperor Has No Clothes", stand at the side of the road and proclaim that him to be regally clothed. Unfortunately, there are grave consequences when a majority of citizens are so easily fooled and place such blind faith in those who lead us such that they stand in denial of the truth. Presently, from a political point of view, the lunacy that grips our government has progressed to the point where things are just about as bad as they can be. To substantiate this statement, all we need do is to look to our two most recent Presidents; Bill Clinton and George Bush.

Bill Clinton, in addition to being a past President, is a liar, a perjurer, an obstructer of justice, and a sexual predator that used the power of his office to prey upon unwilling female subordinates. Anyone else guilty of such crimes would be fired, charged, tried, convicted, sent to prison, and left to live in humiliation for the rest of their lives; but not Bill Clinton. When the truth became known, he should have honorably fell on his sword and resigned. Instead, knowing he could bluff his way through this national tragedy, he and his co-conspirators wrongfully convinced Americans that his crimes did not rise an impeachable level, that his Senate trial was not a farce and constituted a fair and impartial review of his crimes, and that his impeachment trial constituted vindication in the eyes of this Nation’s criminal justice system.

The end result of all this was that, today, Bill Clinton is viewed as a good president who suffered in office because he was persecuted by a vast right wing conspiracy. The truth is that Bill Clinton was a despicable President who was a disgrace to his family, his country, and the office he held. Furthermore, not only did he get away with his crimes as far as public opinion is concerned, he also has wrongfully and illegally has evaded justice in our criminal justice system. A plethora of irrefutable evidence exists that Bill Clinton is guilty of serious crimes, but the present situation is such that no Federal prosecutor is willing to charge and bring him to justice.

George Bush learned a lot from Bill Clinton about how gullible the American people are. He is a President so confident about his ability to fool everybody that he attacked and invaded a foreign nation for fictitious and contrived reasons. I cannot understand how people do not see the evil and horror in this. Many innocent people on both sides of the conflict are now dead because of lies on the part of President Bush and his administration. Furthermore, the killing is not over and will continue far into the future. Apparently, Americans have no problem with officially sanctioned killing because they think we are fighting terrorism. The old adage, you should fight fire with fire, must apply here. Terrorists kill for all the wrong reasons; therefore, we can do the same thing. It is also clear that Americans think that leading this Nation into a war for contrived reasons does not rise to the level of an impeachable offense, never mind a war crime. Have we forgotten that we executed Nazi leaders at the close of WWII because they, among other things, trumped up excuses and used them to invade weaker neighboring nations.

We have serious problems with our ship of state and they stem primarily from the fact that deception and lies are endemic to our present system of government. When politicians and Supreme Court Justices enter office and swear an oath to preserve our Constitution, they do so with their fingers crossed behind their backs and this makes them card carrying members of an on-going conspiracy to fool the American people. This is what is wrong with our government today and this is what must be changed, not by dismantling anything, but by repealing Amendment X and bringing the rest of the constitution up to date with current realities. If this were done, we would experience a new beginning for this Nation where it would become possible for honest men to hold high office; men of integrity and honor who would not lead us into evil for a few pieces of silver, but instead, would take us down a path where honesty and the truth prevail.