Quoting the preamble to the Constitution: “We the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”
So just who are these “People” with a capital “P” anyway? According to Article IV, Section 2, Paragraph /1/ of the Constitution, they are the “citizens” of the several States. We must remember that under the Articles of Confederation the thirteen States had retained their sovereignty. Under that arrangement the “free inhabitants” (Citizens) of one State were to receive the “privileges and immunities of citizens in the several states.” When the Constitution was ratified the Citizens of the several States became Citizens of the United States of America.
Now, notice that the preamble does not say We the corporations, We the special interests, We the illegal immigrants, We the foreign visitors, We the Christians, We the Jews, We the atheists, or We the Muslims. Nope, if you want to find a replacement for the word “People” the only possibility would be “Citizen” with a capital “C” and you are a Citizen if you were born here or you were naturalized here.
Not every person we meet on the street is a Citizen of the United States. Not every person recognized by our legal system is a Citizen of the United States. So while everyone within our borders is afforded the protections of our Constitution, Citizens are different and Citizens have a few important privileges that come from that Citizenship and the most important of these is the right to vote.
Only “Citizens” with a capital “C” have the right to elect their President, their Representative, and their Senator. The “Citizens” are the ones who hire their agents who will act in their behalf as part of our republican-democracy. Only “Citizens” with a capital “C” are constituents of those elected to represent their interests. So, why are the corporations, special interests, etc. given so much influence over our government? The simple answer is that our elected representatives choose to be influenced by non-constituent factions bearing gifts in the form of campaign donations.
Electing candidates who will shun the non-constituent factions in favor of the constituents they represent would go a long way toward getting us back on track.
The Sausage Grinder is broken – will you help to fix it?