An Independence Day Letter to the GOP Candidates of Florida’s Second Congressional District

Dear xxxxx,

On this 240th anniversary of our independence from Great Britain, when the self-evident truths of unalienable rights and the legitimate purpose of government were shouted to a skeptical world, I have come to regard the government you wish to join as marked by every act which defines tyranny and is unfit to govern a free people.

Over a long life of never missing a congressional election, and as one who takes his public duties seriously, I regret to inform you and the other GOP candidates to congress for FL-2, that I will sit out the congressional portion of the 2016 election.

Perhaps it is my bad luck or poor timing to have recently read The Confessions of Congressman X and John Locke’s Two Treatises on Government.

Before you dismiss me as right-wingnut, take a close look at the institution you wish to join. Congressman X merely confirmed what many Americans surmised all along; the first, second, and last purpose of congressmen and senators is reelection. Screw the United States. Go along to get along and the money and power will follow. This not to imply that I think poorly of you. The truth is quite the opposite. I assume you are honest and intend to fulfill all of your campaign promises to the best of your ability. Yet, if you are elected, you will join an institution thoroughly corrupted from its purposes. Sending good people to congress is like expecting an innocent little girl dropped off a cat-house to grow up into a virtuous woman.

Second, since our Founders borrowed heavily from Lockean philosophy, familiarization with what motivated them to risk their necks strikes me as a worthwhile endeavor. Where our Founders famously and succinctly wrote of the right of the people to alter or abolish a government that abused their unalienable rights, the essence of the Lockean concept from which they drew is actually more subtle.

American society came together to form a republic in order to secure the blessings of liberty. One of those blessings is a set of common rules, of law for all to follow. The legislative, representative institution crafted by a free and civil society represents the form, life and UNITY of a republic. Yes, the other branches are important, but lawmaking is the essential act of government, whereby provision is made for the continuation of union under the direction of persons authorized by the consent and appointment of the people.

Locke wrote, and I agree, that any unconstitutional alteration of the legislative power destroys republican unity, which in turn means the dissolution of government. Since the legislative is the creation of, and responsible to society, society is not bound to obey those not authorized to make laws. The people are in full liberty to resist the force of those who attempt to impose their raw will upon them.

Simply put, when I read the Constitution and compare what congress does with what it is supposed to do . . . I’m repulsed. First and foremost, congress has largely abrogated its reason for being, to serve as the one and only law making institution established by We The People. The supreme court and executive branch agencies assume ever more legislative powers which congress freely allows and without a peep in protest.

If you don’t believe legitimate government is dissolved, from what source of power does Obama rewrite Obamacare on the fly, or admit millions of mexicans and muslims in violation of the laws? What power does the DOJ have to take over local police departments? By what magic does the EPA write, enforce and adjudicate its own regulations? Eric Holder and John Koskinen committed perjury in front of congress and suffered no punishment. Scotus overruled Natural Law and thousands of years of history when it created a right to homosexual marriage. Where is the congress?

I’ve come to view voting in congressional races as something akin to condoning high crimes. I shall no longer participate in the charade.

Despite my disgust with a congress and government so far corrupted from its Constitutional purposes, I have not given up on my country. While voting every two years is not the ultimate expression of self-government, and has been shown to be inadequate to keep free government, I believe good, and free government can be restored. Toward that I end, I have discarded all reliance on congressional elections and have directed my efforts toward convincing others that an Article V state convention to propose Constitutional amendments is our only hope.

I wish you every good fortune.

Best Regards,

Rodney Dodsworth