Category: - Bryan William Brickner

2020: Part 1 of Hannah Arendt, American Greatness and Constitutio Libertatis

6/9/2019

American Greatness

Hannah Arendt said she wasn’t German.

The Germans didn’t want her anymore, ‘cuz, you know, they went nuts.

Why’d they go nuts?

One reason for sure is that American greatness was ignored.

Ask yourself, “How did Hitler come to power?” And the answer has to include the constitution Woodrow Wilson offered to Germany at the end of World War I.

Why didn’t Wilson offer the Germans a constitution like ours, like the one George Washington and the founders made?

Where’s the thirty Thousand?

Where’s the Enumeration?

Not in Wilson’s constitutional offering, so how could it be great? This is no small matter, given what happened to Hannah Arendt and millions of others.

When Arendt got to America she wrote about revolution. One commentator noted something new about her thoughts: “The new paradigmatic political actors are the American Founders, whose debates and deliberations concerning the drafting and adoption of the Constitution are presented by Arendt as every bit as exemplary as anything in Homer or Thucydides.”

As exemplary as anything in Homer or Thucydides: in other words, American greatness is not found in the boom-boom of rebellion and the 4th of July; American greatness is found in the law of revolution, the US Constitution, and 17 September.

*Next Up: A celebration of the 7th Amendment on 7/20 with Part 2 of Hannah Arendt, American Greatness and Constitutio Libertatis.

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

2020: We the People and the Actual (Cat) Enumeration, not Census or Questioning

5/9/2019

Cat Enumeration

There is one cat in the picture.

That is the actual (cat) enumeration.

Article 1, Section 2, Clause 3 of the US Constitution details the purpose for taking the “actual Enumeration,” the formal count of the people of the several states, and it doesn’t mention a census or the logic for asking the people questions. It simply states:

“The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct. The number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every …”

Congress does the count, the enumeration, by law.

Then Congress is to divide by thirty Thousand, by law and as Washington taught in the first veto, for a state’s federal representation.

That aggregate creates the House of Representatives for We the People.

No questions asked.

We the People represented according to numbers is constitutional fact, just like there’s one cat in the picture.

One people.

One constitution.

One cat.

2020.

*Next Up: 9 June and a 2020 update focusing on Hannah Arendt, American Greatness and Constitutio Libertatis.

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

We the People and Usurpation Day 2019

4/9/2019

George Washington's Textbook

Today is Usurpation Day, which first happened on 9 April 1792, when the US House of Representatives broke their word and usurped a power not granted by law.

What created that usurpation moment was President Washington’s first veto, which was also the first veto ever under our Constitution.

President Washington, being a surveyor and Freemason, knew numbers; he also knew the Constitution, which he helped write, and which clearly states: “shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand” (Article 1, Section 2, Clause 3).

What shall not exceed thirty Thousand? That would be the number of Representatives due a state for its enumeration.

In the first attempt to use the enumeration, Congress sent President Washington a bill that dropped the fraction; if a state had thirty Thousand and one, they were due, according to the phrase “shall not exceed,” another Representative. Instead, Congress dropped the fraction and did not give certain states another Representative.

Washington vetoed the bill.

The House of Representatives, unable to override President Washington’s veto, passed a new bill for representation on 9 April 1792, the first usurpation law, and used a divisor of “thirty-three” Thousand for representation instead.

President Washington also knew of the Bill of Rights and its Article the first, the one about moving said representation ratio to forty and then fifty Thousand. Washington either let the new representation bill become law without signing it, or signed it knowing he had made his point and believing this issue would be resolved with the passage of Article the first: this has yet to happen.

Washington was a creator of We the People and the idea of representing ourselves according to numbers. Twenty-twenty is the next enumeration. Why not now ‘Merica? Why not you? Time we did it, time to count the people, divide by thirty Thousand like George taught, and see what We the People really look like … according to numbers.

*Next Up: 9 May and a 2020 We the People update.

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner
~.~
“Those who toy with life never attain mastery. Self-discipline and courageous contemplation are necessary steps to understanding. However, do not become overzealous and drill yourself into the ground.”

From Brian Browne Walker’s The I Ching or Book of Changes: A Guide to Life’s Turning Points (1992)

Johnny Reb and Gus Yank On Our Way: To Prevent Hogs Running At Large

3/15/2019

Johnny Reb and Gus Yank OOW: Burgess

Part XII of XIII

“… See here?”
“George the Burgess.”
“Elected 24 July 1758.”
“Who’s on the horse Johnny?”
“The founder of Winchester.”
“They all look happy.”
“They do.”
“Reb?”
“Yeah.”
“Says George: ‘poured out barrels of rum, wine and beer on Election Day.’”
“A rather traditional way of electioneering Gus.”
“Just it’s George getting them drunk.”
“Winner.”
“Loyalist.”
“True.”
“When did George marry Martha?”

Johnny Reb and Gus Yank OOW: Winchester

“In 1759.”
“Ah hah!”
“Ah hah what Gus?”
“George begins his rebellion.”
“With Martha you mean?”
“Frontier George becomes Tidewater George.”
“From loyalist to revolutionary.”
“Martha.”
“Like a fulcrum?”
“Yes.”
“I get it.”
“What’s with the hogs Johnny?”
“George’s first contribution to new laws.”
“Keeping hogs from running at-large in Winchester?”
“To protect the drinking water.”
“Environmental George.”
“Shall we move on Yank?”
“Mount Horeb maybe?”
“Let’s …”

Next Up: 22 March and the winter series finale, Johnny Reb and Gus Yank On Our Way: Mount Horeb.

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

Johnny Reb and Gus Yank On Our Way: Survey

3/8/2019

Johnny Reb and Gus Yank OOW: Hello

Part XI of XIII

“… You weren’t.”
“Young George Gus.”
“It’s like he’s saying hello.”
“‘Hey Gus and Johnny.’”
“Hey George.”
“Like that Yank?”
“Just like that.”
“Seems so.”
“When did George own slaves?”
“Age eleven.”
“What?”
“His father, Augustine Washington, died and George inherited ten slaves.”
“Ten people.”
“At age eleven.”
“When did George get to Winchester?”
“Says here …”

Johnny Reb and Gus Yank OOW: Surveyor

“… 1748.”
“Just a kid Reb.”
“Yup.”
“So before coming here, George had owned people for five years.”
“Correct.”
“Then the 16 year-old George went to Winchester, or Frederick Town, to survey.”
“Frederick was the eldest son of King George the second.”
“The future king?”
“Would’ve been, but Frederick died in 1751.”
“Colonial George was a loyal subject Johnny.”
“He was Gus.”
“Slaving, surveying and serving.”
“And then George was elected Burgess.”
“Is that good Reb?”
“Yes.”
“What’d he do?”
“Represented this area in assembly.”
“Early political career, eh?”
“Well …”

Next Up: 15 March and part XII of the winter series Johnny Reb and Gus Yank On Our Way: To Prevent Hogs Running At Large.

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

Johnny Reb and Gus Yank On Our Way: Truckin’

3/1/2019

Johnny Reb and Gus Yank OOW: Truckin'

Part X of XIII

“… Still playing Gus.”
“Folksy tune.”
“Grateful as well.”
“An intersection.”
“It is.”
“What do you call those things?”
“Horse-less carriages.”
“The crows call’em trucks.”
“Right.”
“Yup.”
“The crows are correct.”
“In the song Reb.”
“Yeah.”
“Why they getting their doors kicked-in?”
“Another war Gus.”
“Sounds like ‘Mericans, you know, in all them cities.”
“True.”
“Lightin’ issues, travelin’ tired, tryin’ souls …”
“… Sounds like kin.”
“Does.”

Johnny Reb and Gus Yank OOW: Trippin'

“Look at George Gus.”
“What?”
“That’s older George.”
“Not Winchester George.”
“Right.”
“George had a strange trip.”
“Kept on truckin’ though.”
“Doubt he knew in the beginning what kind of trip it would be.”
“Just like us.”
“Just like We the People.”
“Agreed.”
“That song sings about gettin’ goin’.”
“‘Out the door and down the street.’”
“When did George get to Winchester?”
"Gus, there’s young George over there.”
“Don’t George joke Reb.”
“I ain’t.”
“Well …”

Next Up: 8 March 2019 and part XI of the winter series Johnny Reb and Gus Yank On Our Way: Survey.

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

Johnny Reb and Gus Yank On Our Way: Washington’s Office

2/22/2019

Johnny Reb and Gus Yank OOW: Washington's

Part IX of XIII

“… More George Johnny.”
“Builder too.”
“George … working for The Man.”
“King George.”
“That might’ve rubbed.”
“Might’ve.”
“More Earl too.”
“The 4th Earl of Loudoun was George’s commander and governor.”
“Our George or King George?”
“Both.”
“Right.”
“The Earl wasn’t liked much in the colonies Gus.”
“Yet they named a fort for him.”
“Two in fact.”
“Two?”
“One here and one south of here.”
“Where Reb?”

Johnny Reb and Gus Yank OOW: Office

“West of the Appalachian Mountains Yank.”
“Future Tennessee.”
“Cherokee then.”
“Who built that Fort Loudoun?”
“Colonies of Virginia and South Carolina.”
“What happened?”
“Built in 1756, defeated in 1760.”
“Cherokee?”
“Correct.”
“And this Fort Loudoun, George’s?”
“Not much Gus.”
“Sounds familiar.”
“That is soldiering sometimes.”
“Monotonous.”
“Yupper.”
“George was young then.”
“Twenty-four in ’56.”
“You hear that?”
“Do.”
“Let’s step this way Reb.”
“Let’s …”

Next Up: 1 March 2019 and part X of the winter series Johnny Reb and Gus Yank On Our Way: Truckin’.

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

Johnny Reb and Gus Yank On Our Way: 1756

2/15/2019

Johnny Reb and Gus Yank OOW: 17

Part VIII of XIII

“… Oops!”
“Sign’s making sense now.”
“Sort of Johnny.”
“Like the Somewhere cannon Gus.”
“For show.”
“Not action.”
“We in Winchester?”
“Think so.”
“The sign mentions George.”
“Defending Fort Loudoun.”
“Twenty-years before becoming a revolutionary.”
“Subject George.”
“What’s a Loudoun?”
“Earl.”
“Never heard of no ‘Earl Loudoun.’”
“An Earl like a Duke Gus.”
“Courtly?”
“Right.”

Johnny Reb and Gus Yank OOW: 56

“Why we here Johnny?”
“Learn.”
“What?”
“Don’t know yet.”
“The journey shows itself?”
“Yes.”
“Why we out of season Reb?”
“Might not be us out of season Gus.”
“Who then?”
“We the People maybe.”
“How?”
“Taboo.”
“Taboo?”
“A thing you can’t discuss.”
“Reb, We the People ain’t taboo.”
“That’s the out of season part.”
“Glad it’s just a while.”
“With ya on that.”
“Look, another sign Johnny …”

Next Up: 22 February 2019 and part IX of the winter series Johnny Reb and Gus Yank On Our Way: Washington’s Office.

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

Constitution Day 2018: Webs and Ways and Knowing

9/17/2018

Webs and Ways and Knowing

On 17 September 1787, everyone in the room knew the meaning of Article 1, Section 2, Clause 3: “The Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand, but each State shall have at Least one Representative.”

Alexander Hamilton knew.

Dude named Benjamin Franklin knew.

James Madison, he knew.

George Washington knew, as the “thirty” was a wish of his.

The founders, all 39 of them, knew what they were signing on that September day.

Three dissenters knew too, as they withheld their signatures because of what they didn’t want to sign.

The Constitution was then sent to and ratified by all 13 independent states, so they all knew.

What did they know?

They knew that “We the People” was a constitutionally created way, one recreated every ten years.

They also knew that along that way there would be webs.

Webs are things that snare.

To avoid webs, stay on the way, the We the People way.

Happy Constitution Day All!

*Next Up: A 2020 political theory update on 10 October, Locke, Madison and Dahl.

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

Usurpation Day 2018: Ex Falso Quodlibet / From a Falsehood, Anything (Follows)

4/9/2018

We the People

Willis and Millie

The phrase ex falso quodlibet / from a falsehood, anything (follows), is known as the “principle of explosion” because it blows-up (makes trivial) how true and false work.

The book Farm Boy by Archie Lieberman (1974) depicts my maternal grandparents, Willis and Mildred (Evans) Hammer, as they farmed and raised a family. I’m pretty sure Willis and Millie didn’t know any Latin other than what they learned in Bible study; they would have understood “from a falsehood, anything (follows)” though, and even taught a similar lesson: two wrongs don’t make a right.

There are two great wrongs involving We the People and the usurpation of representation according to numbers. The first involves the usurpation that happened 9 April 1792, when, in response to President Washington’s veto of the first bill sent from Congress regarding the enumeration (census of 1790) and representation, the House of Representatives usurped a shall; the House ignored Washington’s veto and the constitutional ratio of "one for every thirty Thousand" and passed a number more likeable to the usurpers: one for every 33,000.

Veritas

The original constitutional ex falso quodlibet may appear small and perhaps harmless, but consider this: it created the conditions for the second great usurpation, the one that began in 1920. With women getting the vote and other social disruptions within the WW1 era, the House of 1920 did something extraordinary for the second great wrong: nothing. Since the first usurpation, Congress had at least kept using a number, they just kept increasing the ratio in favor of the usurpers; instead of using the census as intended, the counting of We the People for representation, the 1920 House openly ignored Article 1, Section 2, Clause 3 of our Constitution. It wasn’t until 1929, with the next decennial enumeration looming, that a law was passed setting House representation at 435, regardless of number, thus counteracting the definition of We the People.

Things tend to end as they began. The original usurpation of 9 April 1792 was a fill-in-the-blank moment; the bill was prepared with a blank left for a number and then the usurpers wrote in 33,000. We the People might follow a similar plan, one of mimicry; the 1792 usurpers read the Constitution and acted with pen and paper: nowadays, it feels like We the People are beginning to do the same thing.

Veritas.

*Next Up: Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb begin a summer series on Juneteenth 2018, Somewhere On Our Way.

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner