“A Law repugnant to the Constitution is void.”
Marbury v. Madison (1803)
 In a concurring opinion supporting the Alabama Supreme Court ruling frozen embryos are people, Chief Justice Tom Parker leaned heavily on Christian scripture, “Human life cannot be wrongfully destroyed without incurring the wrath of a holy God,” and “All human …

"The only thing for evil to triumph in the world is that good men do noting!"

Edmund Burke

Tragically, the Republican Party of Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, and Reagan, to which my parents belonged their entire lives, has for all practical purposes ceased to exist. 

Today, the majority of Republicans in both the House …

"I have a gut, and my gut tells me more sometimes than anybody else's brain can ever tell me."

Donald Trump

On January 20, 2017, Donald Trump spoke the following words, "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will …

'Well, go pick up a Bible off your shelf and read it. That's my worldview.'"

Speaker Mike Johnson

Newly-minted Speaker of the House Mike Johnson has made it clear his actions are driven by his faith and looks to the Gospels to form policy positions.  Echoing evangelical and Christian Nationalists ideologies, he …

“There are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpation.”

James Madison

Ask any politician, political commentator, or cable talking-head about the greatest threats facing America and you will predictably hear China, Russia, Iran, …

                                    “Each House may determine the Rules of its Proceedings,”

Article I – Section 5

United States Constitution

For textualists, the embarrassing and potentially destructive circuses presently on display in the House of Representatives and Senate may be perfectly acceptable as the Constitution permits each chamber to establish its own rules.  Its drafters …

“I love the poorly educated”

Donald Trump  (February 23, 2016)

It is not surprising the leading Republican presidential candidate limits his campaign stops to adoring crowds who, without any evidence, believe his lies about a stolen election, Democrats being socialists, the Justice Department has been weaponized, and his victimhood.

Discarding his vengeance-filled litany …

“Truth and hypocrisy cannot exist in the same room.”

Matthew 23

Think of the irony, one political party claims to champion “parental rights” and a “less intrusive government.”  Yet, that party’s most visible politicians have no problem advocating for and enacting laws restricting the rights of individual citizens who may not share …

“Public confidence in the integrity of the Government is indispensable to faith in democracy; and when we lose faith in the system, we have lost faith in everything we fight and spend for.”

Adlai Stevenson

America’s 244-year experiment in representative democracy and the freedoms it has bestowed on its citizens has endured …

“I hate prejudice, discrimination, and snobbishness of any kind – it always reflects on the person judging and not the person being judged. Everyone should be treated equally.”

Gordon Brown

For nearly a century, successive Administrations championed the expansion of the rights of disenfranchised Americans, whether based on gender, race, nationality, religion, …

               Muzzling Speech Endangers Democracy

“Once a government is committed to the principle of silencing the voice of opposition, it has only one way to go, and that is down the path of increasingly repressive measures, until it becomes a source of terror to all its citizens and creates a country …

“I am angry that the Democrats don't have the ability to explain to Republicans that we should be able to feed people in this country, and that it is not socialism.”

Lewis Black

Republican presidential wannabees, together with the GOP’s Congressional caucus and conservative media talking-heads, have been extremely successful in labeling …

“You can compromise without violating your principles, but it is nearly impossible to compromise when you turn principles into ideology.” 

Jamie Dimon

Speaker McCarthy and President Biden are embroiled in a risky game of political chicken over increasing nation’s debt ceiling, necessary to cover spending obligations previously-authorized by Congress. 

McCarthy is being held …

“I do not believe in taking away the right of the citizen for sporting, for hunting and so forth for home defense.  But I do believe that an AK-47, a machine gun, is not a sporting weapon of needed for defense of a home.”

Ronald Reagan

The Constitution and Bill of Rights …

“There shall be one rule of Justice for the rich and the poor; for the favorite in Court, and the Countryman at the Plough.”

Samuel Adams

Trump avoided criminal liability during his presidency based on a Constitutionally-questionable 1973 DOJ memorandum which concluded “indictment or criminal prosecution of a sitting President would impermissibly …

"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it."

Evelyn Beatrice Hall (1903) … although often attributed to Voltaire

“Anti-Woke” rhetoric has become the centerpiece of conservative politics and given license for subtle, and sometimes not-so-subtle, demonization of and discrimination targeting non-straight (LGBTQ) …

“The House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker and other Officers”

U.S. Constitution – Article 1, Section 2

With only 213 Democrats elected during the mid-term elections it would seem the Party will have no realistic say in the election of the chamber’s next Speaker. 

Kevin McCarthy, the current frontrunner, has demonstrated he’ll …

“The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane.”

Marcus Aurelius

In 1935, during the depth of the Depression Sinclair Lewis published a novel in which the average American’s political ignorance and complacency resulted in a …

2022 Civics Scholarship Contest Winners

December 12, 2022 – This morning TheLegacyof1776.Com recognized the winners of its 2022 Scholarship Essay Contest; the first-place winner, Jessie Jin (a Council Rock North High School senior) and runner-up Hailey Morath (a senior attending Conwell-Egan Catholic High School).

This civics contest grew out of a profound …

"Republicans cannot both be loyal to Donald Trump and loyal to the Constitution,"

Congresswoman Liz Cheney

With the House Select Committee investigating the January 6th 2021 insurrection and assault on the U.S. Capitol about to release its final report and the U.S. Justice Department; District of Columbia; States of Georgia, Florida and …

“If a public school were to remove every book because it contains one word deemed objectionable to some parent, then there would be no books at all in our public libraries,”

Peter Scheer – Executive Director

California First Amendment Coalition

There is a dangerous movement sweeping across the country.  It began with pressures …

Our nation’s recent and unsettling escalation of partisan tribalism, selective use of “freedom of speech”, “religious liberty” and “gun rights” simply to justify parochial political and social ends, a willingness to accept conspiracy theories while rejecting irrefutable facts, and a growing tolerance for violence as a means to achieve otherwise …

“I’ve done nothing wrong.”

Donald Trump  (time and again)

Had Donald Trump not transferred hundreds of classified (many marked SECRET, TOP SECRET and TOP SECRT//SCI) and other documents which, pursuant to the Presidential Records Act of 1978, are legally the property of the United States to his home at Mar-a-Lago in January …

Building on the success of our inaugural 2021 Civics Scholarship Essay Contest, thelegacyof1776.com and the Bucks Courier Times and Intelligencer are pleased to announce their 2022 scholarship contest.  The contest is open to all seniors attending a high school located in Bucks County.  The contest will again be focused on …

“… for meritorious contributions to the security or national interests of the United States”

Presidential Medal of Freedom Criteria

Yesterday, Americans witnessed the price an individual often pays for exhibiting true Patriotism.

Sadly, the vast majority of Republicans continue to embrace the former president’s “big lie” about a stolen election, ignore his attempted …

“The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.”

Article II, Section 4

During his 2016 presidential campaign, then candidate Trump bragged, “I could stand in the middle of 5th …

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;”

First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

Certain recent Supreme Court decisions have embraced high-priority political objectives of conservative, primarily Christian Right, activists; justifying their opinions on “originalism” and questionable interpretations of the First Amendment.

These range from …

"Patriotism consists not in waving the flag, but in striving that our country shall be righteous as well as strong."

James Bryce

It is fitting on the 246th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence to reflect on what it means to be an American patriot.    

Survey any random group …

Be Careful What You Wish For

“Without reflection, we go blindly on our way, creating more unintended consequences, and failing to achieve anything useful.”

Margaret J. Wheatley

Last week, to the dismay of Democrats, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, ending a women constitutional right for an abortion.  The Court’s …

"The greatest danger to American freedom is a government that ignores the Constitution."

Thomas Jefferson

Sadly, Republicans have stonewalled reasonable and meaningful, overwhelmingly popular gun control legislation, complaining about losing Constitutional Second Amendment rights.  Yet, they’ve been quick to embrace a dangerous and delusional ex-president who frequently violated his Constitutional oath of …

“Like most rights, the right secured by the Second Amendment is not unlimited.”

Justice Antonin Scalia – District of Columbia v. Heller (2008)

Only 21 weeks in to the year and the United States has witnessed 213 mass shootings, a staggering average of 10 per week … with 27 having taken place …

“Liberty is the power to do everything that does not interfere with the rights of others: thus, the exercise of the natural rights of every individual has no limits save those that assure to other members of society the enjoyment of the same rights.”

Thomas Paine

If the recently released draft opinion …

Kamaljeeth Vijay and Patrick Lichtner, seniors from Holy Ghost Preparatory School in Bensalem and who were joined by their parents, were named winner and runner-up in a countywide civics scholarship essay contest sponsored by theLegacyof1776.com, the Bucks County Courier Times and The Intelligencer.

The contest was open to all Bucks County …

This morning thelegacyof1776.com and the Bucks Courier Times and Intelligencer announced a scholarship essay contest for Bucks County High School Seniors focused on Civics and creating a greater understanding and appreciation of U.S. History and our Constitution. 

BACKGROUND

Today, all too many people liberally toss around such terms as “freedom of speech”, …

This is the first of what will hopefully be many insightful and reasoned guest commentaries addressing a variety of political, social and other important issues affecting America and Americans

In any competition, there must be a common set of standards used to create a fair and transparent battle. For our representative …

“If guns don't kill people, why do mass killers arm themselves with guns?”

DaShanne Stokes

When just one of 7.7 million people who had J&J’s Covid vaccinations died and five others experience a blood clots, those vaccinations were halted across the US and Europe, although no direct correlation has as yet been …

“We were discussing their strategy for tomorrow, and we were sharing our thoughts, in terms of where the argument was and where to go,”

Senator Ted Cruz

At the outset of the Senate Impeachment trial of Donald Trump, each of the body’s 100 members (the trial’s jurors) declared, “I solemnly swear (or affirm) …

“Prudence means understanding your situation, seeing what good can be accomplished in it, knowing what options are both morally legitimate and likely successful—and then pursuing the wisest goal in the wisest way”

Brian C. Collins

Unquestionably, President Trump’s words and actions were the catalyst for the mob invasion of the nation’s Capital. …

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof ….”

First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

Justices Thomas and Alito recently demonstrated ideology holds sway over their alleged “strict constructionist” view of the U.S. Constitution when they lambasted the religious liberty implications of the Court’s …

“The problem with US elections isn’t that people are voting more than once, it is too many people are voting less than once!”

The goals of the 2020 election must be two-fold:

To provide the unhindered and easily accessible opportunity for every citizen to vote in the upcoming presidential, Congressional and local …

“America Doesn’t want a King Trump”

Piers Morgan

In November 2019, U.S. intelligence officials warned a contagion sweeping through China was altering lives and business and posing a mortal threat to its population.  By January, senior White officials tried in vain to warn the president about the looming danger to America as …

“I have an Article II, where I have the right to do whatever I want as president.”

President Donald Trump

Until recently, President Trump has ignored the Constitution, particularly as it establishes three co-equal branches of our government.  I assumed this was the result of his never having read or understood it …

“Why don’t they go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came”

President Trump (July 13, 2019)

For the past 2½ years I have assumed Donald Trump’s rambling Tweets and political agenda were aimed at simply placating and revving up his base.

However, his recent tirades …

“There are more instances of the abridgement of the freedom of the people by gradual consent and silent encroachment of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations.”

James Madison

Given Mitch McConnell cannot prevent the Senate from voting on a House passed resolution to overturn President Trump’s declaration of a …

"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."

Benjamin Franklin

Echoing Donald Trump’s knee-jerk reaction to news of the shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue, the Philadelphia Inquirer's Mr. Bykofsky argues that “good guys with guns”, now becoming commonplace in schools, …

“The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.
H. L. Mencken
 
Dear President Trump:
Immediately after your election, your defenders and detractors alike opined perhaps you were new …

 
The NFL players taking a knee are “very disrespectful to our country.”
President Donald Trump (September 30, 2017)
 
The furor over athletes taking a knee, raising a fist or sitting during the national anthem or people burning the Flag continues unabated, with President Trump fanning the flames those believe that such actions …

“Get that son of a bitch off the field”
Donald Trump (09/22/2017)
 
Referring to NFL players who have followed Colin Kaepernick’s lead and taken a knee during the national anthem, President Trump’s recent rants demonstrate he has clearly forgotten his oath of office to, “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the …

“It’s very sad that Republicans, even some that were carried over the line on my back, do very little to protect their President,”
Donald J. Trump
 
President Trump’s recent tweets provide unmistakable evidence he has forgotten, does not understand or chooses to disregard the oath that he and all other federal officials …

“Agency shop” laws, which require public employees to pay union dues as a condition of employment, violate well-settled principles of freedom of speech and association.”
Plaintiffs in Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association
It is clear that the Supreme Court is likely to overturn its 1977 ruling in Abood v. Detroit Board of …

Christine Brennan’s September 12th USAT0day OpEd plea for the Washington Redskins to change their name as, “if only some Native Americans think it’s racist … It’s racist”, is yet another sad example of selective political correctness and displays her lack of appreciation for the very rights which make her profession …

“If the flag needs protection at all, it needs protection from members of Congress
 who value the symbol more than the freedom the flag represents.”

Representative Jerrold Nadler (D-New York)
It is clear that Mike Fitzpatrick and Jonathan Last simply do not get it! 
In recent OpEds Congressman Fitzpatrick defended his recent vote …

“I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”
Presidential Oath – Article II, Section 1,  U.S. Constitution
President Bush, like many of his predecessors … …

“The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well-meaning but without understanding.”
 Justice Louis Brandeis (1928)
The Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution reads, “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be …

“Every man has by nature the right to possess property as his own.”
Pope Leo XIII
 
So fundamental are property rights to our heritage that during the American Revolution liberty and property were thought to be indivisible.   The concept that citizens were protected in their property rights was deemed so important that  …

“There are more instances of the abridgement of the freedom of the people by gradual consent and silent encroachment of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations.”
James Madison
 
In the wake of the recent election night flip-flopping by the television networks over who won the Florida presidential election, there …

“Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one.”
Thomas Paine
In the ongoing debate over whether to reign in the powers of the Internal Revenue Service and, if so, by what magnitude, the battle lines have being drawn.  At stake is whether …

 “Restriction of free thought and free speech is the most dangerous of all subversions.”
Justice William O. Douglas
The hallowed chamber of the U.S. House of Representatives, where those men and women elected to serve the people once debated ways to enhance the rights of man, recently became a cheap forum for …

“If the American Constitution shall fail there will be anarchy throughout the world.”
Daniel Webster
The framers of our constitution, a diverse lot representing thirteen varied constituencies, were unified in their goals to establish a national government with limited powers and which had to operate within the law.  The document which emerged …

“Belly Dancing is like Jello on a plate with a vibrator under the plate”
J. Donald Silva (UNH)
 
There is no greater danger to individual rights than committed zealots, operating under the color of real or usurped police authority, as they attempt to reorder public policy.  Their actions become all the more …