"IN DEFENSE OF RURAL AMERICA"
a weekly column published every Sunday by
Ron Ewart, President of the
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF RURAL LANDOWNERS

For the week of:
Sunday, March 9, 2014

The "In Defense of Rural America" column archives are available HERE.

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"A Nuclear Submarine Captain and the President"
From * In Defense of Rural America *
By Ron Ewart, President
National Association of Rural Landowners
and nationally recognized author on freedom and property rights issues.
We are helping to spread freedom and liberty around the globe.
© Copyright Sunday, March 9, 2014 - All Rights Reserved

"The trust of the innocent is the liar's most useful tool."

Stephen King, author

"Power, without honor or trust, is tyranny."

Ron Ewart, author

The other night we watched the Crimson Tide movie again with Gene Hackman as Captain Ramsey and Denzel Washington as Executive Officer (XO) Hunter, commanding a nuclear submarine, the Alabama. The Alabama is sent on a mission to destroy a Russian naval and missile base that had been taken over by Russian rebels who were threatening to fire nuclear missiles at the U. S. if the rebel's demands weren't met by the Russian Government. The Alabama received an order from central command to fire their nuclear missiles at the Russian naval base, but while submerged and preparing to launch, it came under attack by a rogue Russian submarine. During the attack a message came in from central command but was cut off mid message. The Alabama ultimately destroyed the Russian submarine, but in the process of the fierce battle, it lost its radio and thus could not confirm the content of the second message.

The crux of the movie was about the dispute between Captain Ramsey and XO Hunter over the decision to fire nuclear missiles and the potential dire consequences, without knowing what was in the second message. The Captain was determined to fire, but the XO was determined to not fire until the 2nd message was received in full. In the end, the radio was fixed, the message came in and central command had rescinded the order to fire the Alabama's nuclear missiles. The Captain was wrong and the XO was proved right, thankfully.

But this time as we watched the movie, it was different somehow. We were suddenly struck by the parallels between the operation of a nuclear submarine and the operation of a Constitutional Republic. A nuclear submarine has virtually more destructive firepower than all the weapons fired in World War II. With 24 nuclear tipped missiles, each having at least 10 nuclear devices in them, a nuclear submarine can rain Hell fire down on targets that will totally obliterate them, along with tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousand lives. That is just one nuclear submarine. The United States has many nuclear submarines.

The United States of America, under the command of the President, controls the firepower of the combined army, navy, air force, marines and coast guard. No nation on earth has this much power in the hands of one man that can pull the "trigger" to save the nation, or pull the "trigger" on an insane whim. The captain of a nuclear submarine and the President of the United States have the same exact awesome responsibility and it is only different in the degree of how much firepower each can unleash. The captain answers to the President. But the President answers to .....?

In theory, a nuclear submarine operates to preserve Democracy, not to practice it. In contrast, and as designed, a Constitutional Republic operates to preserve a Democracy as well, but with a different set of less-rigid instructions. The nuclear submarine operates under the intransigent and fixed Rules of Navy Regulations and a chain of command from which there can be no deviation without serious consequences for the offender. A Constitutional Republic operates under the Supreme Law of the Land, the U. S. Constitution, and the laws that are passed in concert with the Supreme Law by a representative government. Consequences to any violators of the Supreme Law are left up to the people, that is if the people care to hold the violators to account.

On a nuclear submarine, or any other American Navy vessel, the captain is the supreme leader and the supreme law, subject to the Rules of Navy Regulations. In a nuclear submarine, "boys are trained to do a terrible and unthinkable thing, and if that ever occurs the only reassurance they will have that they are doing the right thing will derive from their unqualified belief in the unified chain of command", (from the movie) as delineated in the Rules of Navy Regulations. Each member of the boat's crew (a submarine is a boat, a surface vessel is a ship) must have an undying belief in the capability of the captain to fulfill the duties for which he is charged, in the hopes that in the performance of those duties he will not needlessly sacrifice the crew, or violate the Rules of Navy Regulations. That strong belief finds its foundation in the words immortalized by General Douglas McArthur ..... duty, honor, country.

Exhaustive training hones the captain and the crew to act as one, within the capabilities of the boat, in the fulfillment of the captain's duties. The human weaknesses associated with power and ambition and the uncontrolled emotions of irrationality, anger, or overt compassion can cloud the captain's ability to fulfill those duties and so the crew is taking that risk when sailing with any captain. Nevertheless, the crew can in no way affect, alter, or modify the captain's decisions, for that would be mutiny. The captain has absolute power on the boat and his words and deeds cannot be questioned, unless he is in violation of the Rules of Navy Regulations, which did occur in the Crimson Tide movie. The fact is, it is impossible to effectively prosecute a war by a committee, governed by Robert's Rules of Order, if the goal is to win the war.

So let's analyze the contrast between a submarine crew and the American citizen. Under the U. S. Constitution, the American citizen has considerably more latitude to alter or modify the government of a Constitutional Republic than a ship's crew member has on any water-born vessel, where the captain has absolute power. In fact, in a Constitutional Republic, the power of the government is derived from the power of the governed, if we are to believe the inviolate words of those that founded this great nation.

In a Constitutional Republic, Americans are supposed to be taught to have trust in their government to do what is necessary and right under the rules of the Supreme Law of the Land, in the direct interest of the preservation of individual liberty and in the direct interest of the preservation of the sovereignty of the nation as a whole. Americans will only have that reassurance that the government is doing the right thing, if they have the unqualified belief and trust that the government will act to preserve, protect and defend our Constitution. Each American must have an undying belief in the capability of the government to fulfill the duties for which government has been charged, in the hopes that those duties will not needlessly sacrifice any one individual, or group of Americans, or will dismantle the foundation of freedom. That strong belief finds its foundation in the meaning of the word, "trust."

If the people do not trust their government to preserve individual liberty, be honest and forthright with the people and be true to their oath to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, if they cannot trust their government to abide by the rule of law, then the entire system breaks down and we become a nation of the lawless under a lawless government. That condition is a recipe for the declaration of martial law and the path to fascism, or a dictatorship.

When the president of the United States, members of Congress, or any chief executive or members of a legislative, city, county, or state body, willfully lie to the American people to deceive them for political purposes, or ulterior motives, there can be no trust in government, or the rule of law and the system is on its way to breaking down. When law becomes so complex, complicated and undecipherable such that there is no way for the people to reasonably comply with the law, the system HAS broken down. In these trying times of a divided nation over two radically opposing ideologies, America finds itself at the merging of these two conditions. Today, government does lie on purpose for political purposes and ulterior motives to deceive the people, government has become a power unto itself where it does not respect the rule of law, it only respects its rule by fear and intimidation of the people, and finally, the laws have become so complex, complicated and undecipherable that no normal, reasonable and prudent person can comply with them, making virtually every American a lawbreaker in one form or another.

Lying by one person for whatever reason is deceit. Lying by government on purpose for ulterior motives or to increase its power over the masses is racketeering, corruption and quite possibly fascism. As Stephen King stated, "the trust of the innocent is the liar's most useful tool." If the people are so innocent, naive and uninformed, then they have no defense against a lying and corrupt government, nor do they have any redress against unconstitutional or complicated laws for which there is no way to comply.

But the fact is ladies and gentlemen, we cannot with these words change the mindset of a nation who does not care who leads them, or are collectively oblivious to their leader's existence, or the rules under which they lead. We cannot make people cognizant of reality or convince them that their "innocence and ignorance is the liar's (government) most useful tool." We cannot awaken a nation that does not want to be awakened, or a nation that is perfectly comfortable with its ignorance, apathy and mindless slumber.

You cannot by force or other means, convince an alcoholic to mend his ways if the alcoholic does not fervently want to mend his ways. And thus it stands that one person or a thousand voices cannot by force or other means, convince a nation that it lies on the path to ruin, until that nation as a whole gains the collective mindset that it wants to detour from that path. Even if ten thousand voices shouted freedom from the rooftops, as they are now doing all over America in print, on the Internet and on the air, urging the people to see the "light", it still will not be enough if a high percentage of the masses refuse to be awakened. As just one author with a limited audience, we might as well stand on the top of a mountain and blow into the east wind for all the impact we are having.

Whether a sea ship captain, or the president of the United States, the ability to govern effectively rests solely on the trust of the people over which each must command. Without that trust, without honor in the leaders and in the people, government breaks down and when government breaks down due to lack of trust and honor, so order must breakdown as well. This is what we see in Syria, the Ukraine, the Sudan and Venezuela, or any other country where trust in the government has evaporated. When trust and order break down, what takes its place is disorder, mayhem, brutality, carnage, disease and death. This is the not too distant future of America if it continues down the path it now treads.

The question remains, will that nation once conceived in liberty, gain the necessary collective mindset in time before all trust and honor are gone and disorder, mayhem, brutality, carnage, disease and death sets in, because the liars (government) used the people's innocence and ignorance to enslave them.

But then, as a humble writer with a limited audience, there is no way we can predict what the future holds. The outcome depends solely on whether enough Americans will awaken from their innocence, ignorance, apathy and mindless slumber ..... in time. All we can do is provide truthful information and sound the alarm and we are doing so with our weekly articles and on our two powerful websites. But is anyone listening? If responses to our articles are any indication, it would appear not.

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Ron Ewart, a nationally known author and speaker on freedom and property issues and author of his weekly column, "In Defense of Rural America", is the President of the National Association of Rural Landowners, (NARLO) a non-profit corporation headquartered in Washington State and dedicated to restoring, maintaining and defending property rights for urban and rural landowners. Mr. Ewart is now engaged in a plan to expose the Internal Revenue Service with his website "Attack Watch Spies". He can be reached by e-mail for comment at info@narlo.org or by 'phone at 1 800 682-7848.

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COMMENTS: Should you desire, you can e-mail a comment to this article at: comment@narlo.org. Worthy, thoughtful comments, in our sole discretion, will be posted below the article. Comments that use foul language, pejoratives, or attacks against others will be discarded. Be sure to include your full name, as blind e-mail comments will not be posted.

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COMMENTS:

Jack Weaver wrote:

"Great Article. Thanks for sharing."