One of the most portentous constitutional developments over the past several generations is the extent to which Congress has surrendered its responsibilities to the other two branches of government. Indeed, too many policies have been imposed by political aristocrats in the judiciary and bureaucracy without even a pretense of accountability to the people. Thus, when ordinary citizens are confronted with dictates that reconfigure industries, attack religious beliefs, impose hiring quotas, require trans-gender bathrooms, or justify mob actions instigated by over-privileged brats, they have every right to exclaim: “When did we ever consent to that?”

The fact is, we didn’t, any more than our forefathers consented to being taxed or reduced to slavery by a superpower that asserted its authority “in all cases whatsoever.” Our Republic’s founders responded with a Declaration of Independence and fought a war to ensure it. The question is, should a new Declaration be submitted, one that might stimulate discussion about the survival of the United States?

Let’s give it a try. Put on your eighteenth century spectacles, consider the following proposal, and assess its relevance for America’s future prospects.

When a juncture of history forces citizens of a great Republic to face destruction of their remaining liberties by a despotic elite, necessity demands an inquiry into the grounds that compel their resistance to government mandates, which, if not repudiated, would relegate them to a condition of abject servitude, as subjects deserving universal contempt.

This inquiry readily yields the founders’ enduring proclamations about our unalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, which governments are instituted to protect at the risk of being altered or abolished. Rulers should not occasion rebellion on the basis of transient misadventures that normally attend the tasks of democratic governance. But when a century’s accumulation of assaults against constitutional government demonstrates a strategy to enslave Americans with the shackles of tyranny, citizens have the right, and the duty, to alter or abolish corrupt institutions that perpetrate such evils and restore our Republic on the firm foundation of popular consent.

The fundamental question of our age centers upon available means to halt tyranny before its relentless advance seizes the last moments of opportunity to restore our freedoms. Previous generations relied on the wisdom of judicial determinations to safeguard the Republic against its adversaries. But America’s former guardians of the constitution now have become its willing executioners, lauded by a cabal of academic sycophants and legions of petty despots who inhabit our public offices throughout the land. Little if any help may be sought from that quarter.

Thus it is to the people’s representatives that we turn our attention, with the assumption that elected officials are sensitive to addressing citizens’ concerns on a timely basis, while also devoting consideration to longer term consequences of legislative acts. Instead we are confronted by a multitude of abuses, which compel us to enumerate acts of commission and omission that have hastened the decline of our Republic.

Congress has:

Exempted itself from legislation that never would have passed if applied also to those who created it.

Acceded to executive requests for appropriations of such exorbitance as to ensure the economic collapse of the country.

Sustained bureaucracies filled with officials whose obligations naturally incline them to support executive dominance indefinitely.

Permitted government employees to demand increasing shares of citizens’ wealth to preserve their positions, from which they cannot be dismissed even for committing the most egregious offenses.

Funded academic complexes dominated by radicals who indoctrinate students with hatred for America, all while extracting citizens’ wealth to sustain them and enjoying freedoms of the country they profess to despise.

Created bureaucratic fiefdoms immune from the discipline of the separation of powers, permitting functionaries to act with dictatorial independence from legislative scrutiny.

Failed to challenge by impeachment judges whose miscreant contrivances mock constitutional limits or the letter of the law.

Considered legislative proposals that would abolish constitutional protections for freedom of speech and the right to bear arms.

Taken advice from credentialed mercenaries whose fortunes are contingent on government largesse.

Permitted vast expansion of executive agencies whose lawless aggressions render citizens helpless to defend themselves except at the risk of utter ruination.

Permitted unconstitutional usurpations of its authority by the president, whose orders on matters of immense national importance include the following: Rewriting, ignoring, or delaying implementation of laws passed by Congress;

Committing military forces without congressional authorization;

Defying constitutional stipulations on presidential appointments;

Defying laws regarding the release of prisoners who have waged war against America;

Ignoring national bankruptcy laws to benefit partisan supporters;

Granting amnesty to millions of illegal aliens without legal authorization;

Encouraging the invasion of our borders by hordes of murderers, rapists, thieves, and other felons;

Attempting to criminalize opposition to policies embraced by America’s enemies;

Ignoring constitutional requirements in the conduct of making treaties; and,

Failing to fulfill constitutional responsibilities to “take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.”

The sum of these abuses forces the conclusion that a ruling class has entrenched itself in America and is waging war against the Republic, relegating citizens to the status of a conquered people.

Thus, we, the CITIZENS of the UNITED STATES, RESOLVE to:

Resist with every means at our disposal continuous assaults against the Republic and our liberties;

Proclaim with renewed conviction the SOVEREIGNTY OF THE PEOPLE as the single standard to judge official decisions, pursuant to which we propose to:

Employ existing instrumentalities of the people to create a COUNCIL OF STATES charged with the duty to declare INVALID acts of government that destroy our rights and end the world’s grandest experiment in constitutional government.

In propounding these RESOLUTIONS, we trust that admirers of our founders will welcome consideration of additional checks on the despotic inclinations of many office holders. Certainly we can agree that the auxiliary precautions against tyranny embodied in our constitution have transformed into exigent requirements to ensure its survival, in an age where restorers of America’s foundations face hostilities buttressed by moral skepticism, popular ignorance, or indifference to the public good.

We conclude by appealing to our fellow citizens with the question, what other road can a freedom-loving people choose? The time is near, the hour is approaching. Portentous events summon grave reflections on our moral convictions, which surely will compel actions that require drawing from a well of courage that we may only pray is deep enough to fortify our resolve as we confront the trials of these times.