Scott Bradford: Off on a Tangent

Obama Now the Presumptive Democratic Nominee

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President Barack Obama (D) has won a majority of available delegates for the Democratic presidential nomination and is now the presumptive Democratic nominee. There is no serious national opposition to the president for the Democratic Party nomination, however he has been standing for election in state primaries against some limited opposition including Randall Terry and John Wolfe Jr.

With wins in today’s District of Columbia and Maryland Democratic primaries, Obama is now all-but certain to receive his party’s nomination—an outcome that was essentially assured all along. He will be formally nominated at the Democratic National Convention in September.

Meanwhile, the Republican primary battle continues. Former-Governor Mitt Romney (R-MA) holds a wide lead over his opposition, but is still only about half-way to gaining a majority of available Republican delegates. The Republican National Convention will be held in late-August.

April Fools Site: Going Colonial

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On April Fools Day 2012, Off on a Tangent appeared as if it were a colonial-era American news source somehow moved onto the Internet.

Under the name The honorable Scott Bradford, Esq. reports upon the Present State of American Affairs, I posted a couple of articles written as-if it was currently April 1, 1776, and a well-connected American revolutionary pamphleteer was commenting upon current affairs.

I did my best to make sure the articles were historically accurate and referred to events occurring around that time.

Click to see how it looked!

Procuring Religious Freedom for Virginia

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Note: this article appeared as part of the colonial-themed April Fools site, purporting to date to April 1, 1776, from the perspective of a well-connected Virginia revolutionary pamphleteer.

On this, the First Day of April 1776, I have received word by secret courier, dispatched from the home of an esteemed colleague of mine located not far to the southeast at Gunston Hall, that he intends to attempt procuring the right of religious freedom for all Virginians.

My colleague has asked to remain un-named until his official capacity is established by the upcoming Fifth Convention of Virginia, but he has stated unequivocally that he intends to draft a VIRGINIA DECLARATION OF RIGHTS for consideration by that body, which shall include and proclaim the essential rights and liberties of all Virginians, including his heretofore limited free exercise of religion and conscience. Although many essential liberties shall be proclaimed by this document, my colleague is aware that this one is of particular interest to this pamphleteer, and I do truly appreciate his kind consideration.

As my countrymen are surely aware, Virginia—though oft’ ahead of her colonial brethren in the protections of the Rights of Man—has heretofore been less accepting of religious freedoms than, as an example, the great republic of Pennsylvania to the north. Most clearly, our State has, in keeping with the now inapplicable laws of Great Britain, outlawed the practice of the Papist religion within her borders. ‘Tis time to remove the practice of religious faith from the binds of civil governance and allow all to practice their faiths freely within our borders, whether Christian or Papist, Hebrew or Mohammedan, without hindrance.

I have been assured by my esteemed colleague, that the declaration of religious liberty portion of the VIRGINIA DECLARATION OF RIGHTS shall read as follows, or similar: “That religion, or the duty which we owe to our Creator and the manner of discharging it, can be directed by reason and conviction, not by force or violence; and therefore, all men are equally entitled to the free exercise of religion, according to the dictates of conscience; and that it is the mutual duty of all to practice Christian forbearance, love, and charity towards each other.”

Onward to Revolution!

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Note: this article appeared as part of the colonial-themed April Fools site, purporting to date to April 1, 1776, from the perspective of a well-connected Virginia revolutionary pamphleteer.

On this, the First Day of April 1776, it is clear that we, the honorable men of Virginia and the other American Colonies, must accept that war for REVOLUTION and INDEPENDENCE is now inevitable. Fighting continues in the northern Colonies between Britain’s once-loyal American subjects under command of General George Washington, and those red-coated soldiers once sworn to their protection but now in enmity against them. The passage of the Prohibitory Act of 1775, news of which arrived on the continent now less than two months ago, finally renders reconciliation utterly impossible.

In this act of high despotism, the Kingdom of Great Britain, under tyrant George III and a sycophantic Parliament unanswerable to the people of these Colonies, has declared war against her own subjects. She has instituted a naval blockade against them, and declares their ships to be enemy vessels. Further, it has come to our attention through reliable correspondence that George III has now enlisted Hessian mercenaries against the Colonies in this struggle. ‘Tis an unforgivable outrage, rendering any just ties to these Colonies duly dissolved.

We shall now proceed to the inevitable conclusion of these affairs: a true DECLARATION that we, the united Colonies—no, States!—of America, by right of natural law and liberty, shall now be FREE and INDEPENDENT. We shall no longer answer to the distant authority of an enemy despot and unrepresentative Parliament.

We mustn’t delay any longer in hopes of a reconciliation which shan’t occur. The Virginia Burgesses must authorize her delegates to the CONTINENTAL CONGRESS to petition for the drafting of a formal declaration, to be completed before midsummer, expressing the causes that compel us to separation, and lending support thereto on the bases of natural law and Divine providence. I shall promptly call upon the men of the House of Burgesses, and upon my esteemed colleague the Hon. Patrick Henry, who stands now for election to Governorship of my beloved Virginia, to lend their inestimable support to these efforts.

A Republic in the Balance

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Next week, the United States Supreme Court will hear arguments in Florida v. United States Department of Health and Human Services—a case that will quite possibly be the most important to come before the court in my lifetime. The ruling, which is not expected for several months, will tell us whether or not the United States of America will remain a federal republic, or whether the great experiment is effectively over.

Despite the official name of the case, a total of 26 states—a majority of the union—have joined against the federal government. At stake is whether that federal government has the authority to mandate that all citizens of the United States purchase or obtain health insurance.

Obviously, the answer is ‘no.’ The founders crafted the U.S. Constitution so as to only grant the federal government particular, enumerated authorities (which can be found in Article 1, Section 8). In fact, because the government had a short list of things it could do, many of the document’s authors did not think it necessary to include a Bill of Rights. Why should we need to say that people have a freedom of speech (for example) when the government, limited to the enumerated powers, would be theoretically unable to limit that freedom anyway? Alexander Hamilton explained in Federalist #84:

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Scott Bradford is a writer and technologist who has been putting his opinions online since 1995. He believes in three inviolable human rights: life, liberty, and property. He is a Catholic Christian who worships the trinitarian God described in the Nicene Creed. Scott is a husband, nerd, pet lover, and AMC/Jeep enthusiast with a B.S. degree in public administration from George Mason University.