by Dick Rowland
It is disturbing to me when individuals in our nation, including some media wonks, refer to the President of the USA as “ our Commander-in-Chief”. The President is indeed Commander-in- Chief of the people in the armed forces of our nation. But, he or she is most assuredly not the CinC of the individual persons who make up the people of the USA. Nor does the President have such a role with regard to the 50 sovereign states
In the absence of a draft, that means that every soldier/sailor/airman/marine is under the President’s jurisdiction on a voluntary basis; that is to say, no one right now is being forced to be under that authority. It happens that I am retired from the US Army. Consequently, I am still, theoretically, subject to being bossed around by the CinC.
But, for most of the rest of you, each is a sovereign US citizen, just as the President is, and you should never succumb to thinking of him or her as the ultimate “boss” like some deity.
In the last 20 years or so our Presidents have spent most of their time seeing to it that the people of our great nation have less freedom virtually every day. This, in effect, makes each of those Presidents kind of a “ prosperity destroyer” in chief because prosperity is rooted in individual freedom to choose. Nevertheless, the current incumbent is still not your CinC unless you hand over that authority to him. But, referring to him as such weakens all of us.
So, let’s stop that CinC talk; continue to assert your God-given independence by talking and acting it out. And do that knowing full well that there is a whole government structure in place that wants to build the government bigger and stronger every day, making you weaker and smaller in the process. Your talk and acts can slow or stop that.
Remember: Knowledge is power. Look for ways to use your freedom muscle or it will atrophy.