State of Affairs

Founding Father James Madison, also known as the Father of the Constitution, penned Federalist No. 10, The Utility of the Union as a Safeguard Against Domestic Faction and Insurrection (1787). In this well-thought and argued paper, Madison, under the penname Publius, writes that partisanship will be responsible for the collapse of this nation.

Who was James Madison to say these things? Why do the Federalists Papers matter?

Well, Madison is not only the chief author of the constitution (which is why we call him the “Father of the Constitution”), but he is also its steward. Madison wrote the Federalists Papers in response to the Anti-Federalists who did not want to see the constitution ratified and a nation born, instead, these Anti-Federalists fought for the right of their individual state to be an independent nation. Prior to the adoption of the US Constitution by a requisite number of States (capital “S” to denote the fact they are now part of the United States), Madison and Alexander Hamilton wrote a series of treatises to explain the constitution and its amendments in order to win sup port for the constitution.

This constitution’s words are what we must strive to bring our nation closer to. The United States, in all of its glory, would not exist today without the constitution.

The rights every one of us hold dear – whether that is to fly a flag saying “(expletive) the President” or the right to have children without permission first – would not exist without the constitution.

We have become too polarized as a nation, putting our faith into politicians who manage to accomplish extraordinarily little. Politicians are not celebrities; we should not put them on a pedestal higher than the needs of the people around us. When a politician is doing a bad job, call them out on it. When a politician is doing a good job, call them out on it.

Now, Madison knew that people would argue over everything – “is the light red or crimson”, “is the light really bright, or just kind of bright?” – because arguing is just part of the human experience. Madison feared, however, that one day the nation would be split between two political options that could divide the nation in ways unseen. He wasn’t wrong. In 1861 the American Civil War kicked off as the nation was split between polarizing choices – continue the slave trade across the American South to safeguard the economy, or end slave trade across the American South to safeguard human rights. This choice tore the nation asunder, similarly, helping it to fulfill the promise of A More Perfect Union by granting human rights to all, giving the nation the moral footing and justification to prepare to enter The Great War which would follow before 50 years could pass.

Today, I pray we are nowhere near a similar catastrophe, but if we continue to put politicians on that shiny celebrity pedestal, we may well be headed toward disaster.

This, as the Chinese Communist Party celebrates its centennial – 100 years of Communism. In these 100 years, China has grown from the poverty riddled gulags of Mao Zedong to an economic powerhouse where there is no freedom or liberty under Xi Jingping. I’ve penned a series about the New Cold War that ran in 2019, and as if to bring those words to life, Jingping said in his centennial speech, “By the same token, we will never allow any foreign force to bully, oppress, or subjugate us. Anyone who would attempt to do so will find themselves on a collision course with a great wall of steel forged by over 1.4 billion Chinese people.”

In that quote, Jingping was speaking directly to Western powers, specifically the United States. Prior to this quote, Jingping is talking about how Communism is the only way forward to the growth and development of China, and that the people don’t mind shedding their civil liberties and human rights of security so long as it builds up the nation, because China is working toward “National Rejuvenation.” This rejuvenation cannot come without China taking control of Taiwan.

Taiwan is a Democratic, Capitalist, independent nation that the United States historically protects. To show US solidarity with Taiwan, US Senator Tammy Duckworth (D – Illinois) led a bipartisan group of senators to Taiwan, in which China responded by mobilizing its air force and invading Taiwanese airspace.

Cleo Paskal, a Senior Fellow with the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, an international, non-partisan think tank, said that the world doesn’t realize its already at war with China (https://www.sundayguardianlive.com/news/world-doesnt-realise-already-war-china).

President Jingping has made clear in the past that he believes American superiority over the rules-based-international-order is over, thanks to American isolationism that pushed the US’ allies away from it. A copy of Jingping’s centennial speech is available at the Cibola Citizen office.

The enemies are at the gate. Is the United States prepared for conflict with China before the end of the decade? Or, will the United States tear itself apart from the inside because we can’t make peace with our differences; hoisting up political leaders over the constitution instead?

In short, government officials – no matter who they are, are not celebrities. We should not treat them as such. Instead, let’s come back to the center, refocus, and prepare ourselves for the fact that Chinese influence – Communist influence – has grown and is dominating across the globe.