“The people are the masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution, but to overthrow the men who would pervert it!”

Not here shooting the pot calling the kettle black (the messenger), ABSOLUTELY ! ! ! It could / should be said the 'Executive' also. The representatives of the republic's sovereigns have no rights but limited, constitutionally authorized duties only. The de jure representative, along with all other hirelings, etc. can do nothing more than the individual sovereign can do ! In today's Amerikan statist theocracy that is infesting this land, the here stated concept at truth, is totally lost and of no concern.

From a man who did his utmost to centralize power in Washington, DC.

We have the power to stop the One Worlder's. And the power to right what is wrong inside the beltway.

A flaw in the constitution is that we do not elect our federal justices. They serve for life and THE PEOPLE themselves have no way of getting them out.

cal, you may be right but, the original intended role of the Supreme Court was a minuscule one, subordinate to the 2 other branches, acting mostly as a check and balance. The elected legislature could overturn the court by defining a certain issue, could limit the courts venue of jurisdiction beyond constitutional limits, along with many other checks on the court. A de jure court could constitutionally not make law from the bench as it does so regularly, use extra-national influences as it does, continue to recreate forms of government, inconsistent with and antagonistic to the Constitution as now exists and so on and so on, etc., etc., etc. Unfortunately, the Constitution, law, justice, freedom, liberty, inalienable rights of the individual sovereign are no longer considered any part (executive, legislative, or judicial) of the statist theocracy infesting this land.

cal, you may be right but, the originally intended role of the Supreme Court was a minuscule one, subordinate to the 2 other branches, acting mostly as a check and balance. The elected legislature could overturn the court by defining a certain issue, could limit the courts venue of jurisdiction beyond constitutional limits, along with many other checks on the court. A de jure court could constitutionally not make law from the bench as it does so regularly, use extra-national influences as it does, continue to recreate forms of government, inconsistent with and antagonistic to the Constitution as now exists and so on and so on, etc., etc., etc. Unfortunately, the Constitution, law, justice, freedom, liberty, inalienable rights of the individual sovereign are no longer considered any part (executive, legislative, or judicial) of the statist theocracy infesting this land. Voting for a Supreme Court probably wouldn't have turned out any better than what currently occupies the 2 other branches.

Lincoln remains a puzzle to me. His words are right on, but his actions seemed to contradict any semblance of defending the sovereignty of the States and the People.

He perverted it with Executive orders. There are other things he did that American's are still suffering from. The actual quote deserves five but the person who said deserves none. Archer, you hit the nail on the head.

Brilliant words from a brilliant leader.

Lincoln did indeed expand the powers of the Executive beyond its Consititutional limits. He somewhat assumed the powers of a king. The success or failure of that monarchial form of government depends soley on the wisdom and integrity of a single leader. Had he been a lesser president or a lesser man, he may have successfully used such power to aggrandize himself at the expense of justice. He adamently believed that assuming more power for himself was necessary to preserve the union and that the end justifies the means. However, the immediate preservation of the union was not the end. The "end" in which all officials and citizens must always strive for is the everlasting preservation of liberty and justice. History reveals that after the war and after Lincoln's administration, the expansion of executive power has done nothing but lead Us as a nation further from the original Constitution, and further from the true blessings of liberty. We must condemn him for his unconstitutional policies so that they are not repeated, but we also owe him a certain degree of respect for pulling this nation through the most trying time of its life. The quote is dead on, but it applies to not only Congress and the courts, but to every faction of every government (local, state and federal) in this country. The people have the power, right, and duty to overthrow anyone who perverts Their Constitution.

Publius, please tell me your thoughts; if Lincoln allowed the south to secede would it not be a better state of affairs? Also it killed off most of our you folk during a time they were desperately needed. Should we not have left the south to be its own sovereignty? Perhaps excluding Virginia? I believe the states should have been able to leave as they were able to join. Holding the nation together may have been his biggest mistake.

RBESRQ. The states should be able to secede as they please. The South was justified in their secession because the government rules by the consent of the governed. They no longer gave their consent to the federal government. A state ruled by Washington by force alone is no different than when Israel was ruled by Rome. It is similar to the American Colonies being ruled by King George. If the People of a nation wish to establish another government, its their right to do so. I didn't say that Lincoln was right or the South was wrong. I merely said that Lincoln believed he was on the side of rightousness and he did what he believed to be right for the nation. As far as this being his biggest mistake or whether we would be in a better state of affairs, I can provide no answer. I know not what history would resemble if this nation was divided for the past century. America maintained her strength because she remained intact. After the wounds healed, this nation once again assumed the role of the super power of the world. What would WWI or WWII have been like if that was different? How would the Cold War have ended? Would that one war between the states have settled it, or would the two nations fight each other as France and Britain did for generations? All I know is that God chose His victor and we have to accept it, perhaps even thank Him for it. I have to ask, Why exclude Virginia? Do the citizens of this state not have the same right of secession as those of the other states?

Publius, my mistake, I meant to say include not exclude. Mr and Mrs if were always the better examples of how life should be. My philosophy has always been do the right thing out of the box and not consider "if". I think AL should have considered this before being responsible the death of a million young men and the destruction and misery that ensued. I will not discuss the outcomes of WWl and WWll as this is for another time. History may have proven a wonderful story if AL had not followed his righteousness and how do we know it was even based on righteousness and not his ego? I believe actions based on what you think you do, especially with the result of malevolence, should be based on what is right and not what you think is right - what was right in this case was the LAW. The law is written for very good reasons and based on many years of thinking and experience not something you suddenly wake up and think Oh I'll do it differently. today.

Lincoln was a great man. He did what he deemed necessary in a difficult time. He did what was needed to save the country. With out the strong centralized government he created we would have been destroyed. Do not blame him blame the people and the institution of slavery that forced the situation to get out of control.

Opportunity knocked and the Patriots open the door, let us not return to penury and woe. WWG1WGA to MAGA to KAG

Who do we claim is not the pervert? That would be the place to start, the role model for all. How do we overthrow the pervert, if everyone is a pervert? Name the righteous, wholesome, non-perverted.