"Lawfully Speaking" Vol I, Issue No. 1
A Periodic Internet Political Column
Written by William H. and John M. Huff
Announcing a new source for commentary about political and legal issues with a fresh perspective, published periodically on the LEXREX website and by email newsletter. The purpose of this column will be to fill a growing void in popular news reporting, especially concerning political issues, of what we will call the lawful position. The reader may be asking, "What does the word ‘lawful’ mean, and why not use the word ‘legal’ instead?" These questions will be answered in our columns, but we’ll provide a simple introduction to the word "lawful" as follows.
The term "lawful" refers to the proper application of law to any given situation, in which the laws in question are written in such manner as to be in compliance with the Constitution of the United States. In many cases we will interchange the words "lawful" and "Constitutional" to highlight this relationship. In some cases we may comment on State or local laws, or even laws of other countries, and refer to them as being "lawful." In these cases, where the Federal Constitution usually would not apply, we will be referring to laws which would apply in any free society which enjoys limited government. In these situations the laws could be considered "universal laws" - which limit government strictly to the protection of life and property, and do not allow government to invade into the affairs of its citizens so as to control their activities, or redistribute wealth through social programs and other schemes. In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson claimed authority for the separation of America from British rule when he said, "...it becomes necessary for one people... to assume... the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them".
We could spend the next five columns discussing why the "lawful position" is absent in nearly all discussions of political and legal issues, especially from the sources we would expect to hear it from: conservative politicians and commentators. Let’s simply say it’s unpopular for many reasons with many people, not the least of which is the fact that it requires the admission by educated people that they have been misinformed, and desperately need to take responsibility to become informed.
The reader may further ask, "What is ‘LEXREX’ and why did you decide to write the ‘Lawfully Speaking’ column?" LEXREX is Latin for "law is king." The website by this name was started in June of last year to provide a location on the internet for people to learn about the Constitution of the United States in it’s proper historical context. More importantly, we wanted to show people how to apply this knowledge to their present lives in order to preserve, and in many cases restore, a government under law "with liberty and justice for all." Based on the response we received to the website, as well as the ignorance concerning these subjects displayed by many news services and political and legal commentators, we have decided to launch a weekly internet column.
The benefit of associating the column with the website is that it will allow us to regularly direct readers to original source documents like the Constitution, to enable them to study for themselves the greater context of an issue. Instead of simply providing our opinion on an issue, we will direct readers to the source of the information, and in many cases show a new perspective by placing the issue in the framework of a Constitutionally-limited government.
Next week’s column will provide one more essential foundation for our column, and for understanding the lawful position - the fact that America is a Constitutional Republic, and NOT a democracy in nearly any sense of the word.
Dedicated to the loving memory of a dear friend and eminent Constitutional scholar, Dr. Edward Ellison, J.D., whose individual and group efforts introduced thousands of Americans to their Constitutional Birthright, and their duty to learn, apply, and pass it on to future generations.