What are my duties?

In a nut shell…. by being an American citizen my duty is to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. No I’m not part of the executive branch. No I’m not an elected official. No I don’t practice law in any capacity. Why then is it my duty? Because I claim my citizenship!

I was thinking the other day how completely odd it is that elected officials have to take the oath of office. Shouldn’t it just be a known assumption that EVERYONE should defend the Constitution if they’re part of this country? If it wasn’t for that spectacular piece of paper none of us would know a life without oppression or totalitarianism. Defending the Constitution should be the greatest honor any commitment any person could ever give of themselves.

But what do I mean by defending the Constitution? Well you have the obvious choice of physically protecting our nation and by extension the document itself and it’s embodiment in the citizenry. But what I really mean is from the internal threats it battles on a daily basis. It was only about 232 years ago that it was written, and even then our fore fathers recognized that corruption and greed could foster an atmosphere that could compromise almost any form of government. Having seen in their own time and recent history the abuse of power from their former homelands they created the system of checks and balances on each branch of our government. But the final line in the sand was drawn by ratifying the Bill of Rights. That document was the articulation of what everyone knew to be true. The in-alienable rights that all men are born with. The rights that no government, of which it is made of other men, should ever be given the opportunity to restrict or repeal. For they knew that the citizenry of a nation only allows its leaders a small range of latitude to govern them by and it is actually those citizens that rule the nation. Like a tropical storm bearing down upon a coastline, the citizens can act with great and harsh fury or settle to a calming breeze in a matter of moments.

In this day and age though we must be ever more cognizant of our rights. Not because they were given to us, but because they are not for anyone else to take from us! It’s been said time and time again that our rights disappear if they are not used. Over the last 8 years that has become more true. There can never be a valid justification for infringing upon our rights. Our present administration would have you believe that they need access to as much intelligence as possible to prevent terrorism. Do they really? Does someone in the government need to monitor as i type this in real-time? Can they filter the noise out effectively? Why is a warrant, approved by another branch of government, too much effort? Can we not effectively allocate resources to timely approval of classified warrants? How can the Constitution we swore to uphold apply to only those who are citizens when the very elements within it are designed around the rights of all men? Are those of other nations somehow less entitled to the rights which we hold so dear? These are the questions that plague our leaders… the reason though is that there is no answer to them that proves they need the extent of surveillance and imprisonment powers that they have “legalized” over the last 8 years.

So what exactly are My Duties? Well, I’m exercising my first duty right now. I’m telling you exactly how I feel and where I stand. As for my 2nd duty, I may not own a firearm but I do believe in the right for everyone to own them. I believe that it is not for someone else to tell me what I can or cannot own so long as I do no harm or damage to anyone else or their property. I will fight for everyone to keep that right.  It has very little to do with the actual “firearm” as stated and much more to do with the concept that we all have the right to be “left alone” by our government. My 3rd duty is much easier to uphold. It is a somewhat antiquated concept but should the time ever arise when the military wants me to quarter soldiers I will firmly stand against such an act. My 4th duty is at odds with the administration. I must continue the struggle to resist the invasions of my privacy. It is MY privacy. I have committed no crimes, and therefore what I do/say is no one elses’s business but my own. I will lobby my friends and faimly to always resist the lies and heresy of our regime that proclaims to be acting in good faith of protecting its citizens only to trample on the rights and lives of others.  A policy of bigotry sponsored and enacted by our own representatives is reflection upon us all. We must react. We must announce that we condelm that behavior and act upon those that spread their negativity upon those they feel are not worth to be protected by the same measures we afford our own. My 5th duty is to protect myself and make sure that others are afforded that same opportunity. To make sure that I never give in, or allow others to give in, to the questioning and interrogation techniques of an agent of any administration. To prevent the government of our people from side-stepping the rules of law and process. From going around the red-tape for the sake of expediency and at the expense of the truth and justice. To prevent the corruption of the process and protect the order. My 6th, 7th, and 8th duties are to make sure that everyone be judged appropriately. To proudly partake in the process when asked and to properly adjudicate and execute the spirit of a law when necessary. Most importantly is to protect everyones right against false imprisonment, trumped up charges, and excessively long incarcerations. My 9th and 10th duties may be my most important of all duties. To properly defend that everything not specifically enumerated by the constitution is a right of the people. That the federal and state governments have no right to enact laws without the consent of the people. The federal and state governments are only allowed to exercise the specific tasks which the people ask them to exercise.

My duties, my rights, are only mine so long as I continue to use them. So long as I continue to educate others that they too have those rights, those responsibilities, that we are comrads in arms together. We all, we proud, we band of brothers, we all must assume these duties and not only for ourselves but we must assume them of one another. We cannot hide from them and they should be considered an honor not a burden. For the opportunity of freedom is deserved by all and the rights of man protected for all man kind.