The Proper Role Of Presidency! Constitution Alive Segment Six Part One: Our Constitution is still alive and applicable today! As citizens, we all have a duty to study the Constitution, to understand where our rights and our freedoms are laid out in that document, and how our government structure should work. The reason our government continues to overstep its boundaries is that “€œwe the people”€ don”€™t know what those boundaries are! Tune in now for the first part of our four-part series! 

Air Date: 06/10/2019

On-air Personalities: David Barton, Rick Green, and Tim Barton

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Transcription note:  As a courtesy for our listeners’ enjoyment, we are providing a transcription of this podcast. Transcription will be released shortly. However, as this is transcribed from a live talk show, words and sentence structure were not altered to fit grammatical, written norms in order to preserve the integrity of the actual dialogue between the speakers. Additionally, names may be misspelled or we might use an asterisk to indicate a missing word because of the difficulty in understanding the speaker at times. We apologize in advance.

Faith And The Culture

Rick:

Welcome to the intersection of faith and politics. This is WallBuilders Live with David Barton Rick Green. Thanks so much for listening today. And every other day.

Hope you’re getting this online at Wallbuilderslive.com or with one of our local stations across the country.

If you’re listening online, and you haven’t actually looked to see which stations we’re on around the country, it’s right there on our website at Wallbuilderslive.com.

We’re probably in a community near you. If not take some links to the program, and send them to some local stations there, and ask them to pick up WallBuilders Live.

We are about to begin a special program for you this week. If you’ve been listening to the last couple of months, we’ve introduced you a couple of times to Constitution Alive with David Barton and Rick Green.

This is our Constitution program. We call it the quick start guide to the Constitution because, in about 12 hours of material, we take you on a crash course through the Constitution, the Declaration, and the founding principles of America.

We spend about half of our time in Philadelphia; in the room in Independence Hall, where the Constitution was framed. Where our declaration occurred. The other half the time we spend in the WallBuilders’ library, bringing those documents to life for you.

David pulls stuff off the shelf, and just makes it so amazing to find out what these guys were actually saying, what they were doing, what was going on in the world at the time, and what led to them putting in place these incredible founding documents that made our nation so successful and so free.

It’s an incredible program, Construction Alive, with David Barton and Rick Green.

We want to bring it to you our listeners here on WallBuilders Live and give you a chance to enjoy it as well, and so we’ve done a couple of the chapters here on WallBuilders Live. We wanted to do one this week that was really applicable to what’s happening out there in the news and in the world today.

Constitution Alive Segment Six

So, we thought this week would be a good time to do Constitution Alive segment six, which is actually about the Presidency. We walk through the presidential powers, and we walk through Article 2 of the Constitution, and what the proper role of the Presidency is. We’re even going to talk about the Electoral College and these other things.

It’s going to be a good time to cover this part of Constitution Alive. So what’s going to happen is, this will take four days for us to share this particular chapter out of Constitution Alive so make sure you tune in the rest of the week.

And if for some reason you get to miss a day then just visit the website at Wallbuilderslive.com, and you can download those programs.

But we also ask that you share these programs with your friends, and family because it’s not enough for just you to get educated on the Constitution. You need to get the people around you educated as well, and also start teaching them how to take action to restore our constitutional republic. That’s what this program is about.

So, we’re going to jump into Constitution Alive with David Barton and Rick Green. This is actually section 6 out of Constitution Alive where we talk about the Presidency.

Noah Webster

Rick:

Welcome back to Constitution Alive with David Barton Rick Green. We’ve been talking about the Congress in the last couple of seconds, and now we’re going to start diving into the Presidency looking forward to that.

David:

I want to back up. In the last lesson, you talked about science of promoting this far. Yeah, read that clause out.

Rick:

All right. Let’s take out this out workbook. So, promoting progress is the section we want to go to. So in Article 1 Section 8, to promote the progress of science and useful arts by securing for a limited time, limited times to authors, and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries.

David:

Now that’s an interesting clause. If I tell you the word Noah Webster or Webster, what do you think of?

Rick:

The dictionary.

David:

Exactly. You don’t think we’re a founding father. No Webster’s responsible for that clause in the Constitution.

Rick:

So he actually had an influence on the Constitution?

David:

He had a huge influence. As a matter of fact, he’s the second guy in America to call for the constitutional convention.  Pelatiah Webster was first, and Noah was a second. And his second got a call for it, and then he did that in 1785. Then they assemble 1777 — he has direct influence.

He met with all sorts of the delegates, met with George Washington had dinner with him.

All these different guys –

Rick:

He seems like a lobbyist. He was a lobbyist for the country, and he wasn’t a scientist, was he? I don’t know much about the things that he did.

He Was One Of The Top Educators In American History

David:

Noah Webster actually was a scientist. I mean he is probably one of the top three educators in American history. And his deal was, all right now that we’ve separated from Great Britain, if we don’t educate American lives, we are still going to think like British citizens because we were still important textbooks in Great Britain. Our literature books, our grammar books, our spelling books, our history books, our government books all come from Great Britain.

He said, no, we’ll start thinking like British people rather than Americans. So he called for a revolution in education to match the Revolution we’d had in our forms of government.

Moment From America’s History

David:

This is David Barton with another moment from America’s history. Federal courts have made several amazing rulings recently. Ordering the removal of a cross from a cemetery, banning religious holiday displays, removing the Ten Commandments from public view, prohibiting student prayers whether verbal or silent and numerous other similar restrictive rulings.

As one current justice noted, “The Supreme Court has now become quote, a national board of theology.” Our Founding Fathers would be astounded. They designed the first amendment to keep the federal courts completely out of this issue.

As Thomas Jefferson forcefully declared, “I consider the federal government as prohibited by the Constitution from meddling with religious exercises. The first amendment was designed to keep decisions on religious expression out of the federal courts and in the hands of the local communities.” For more information on God’s hand in American history, contact WallBuilders at 1-800-8-REBUILD.

He Started Writing Textbooks Like Crazy

David:

And so he starts right textbooks like crazy. He’s writing textbooks, and so he’s very active as a founding father himself. He was a soldier in the Revolution. He was a legislator. He was a judge.

He was a legislator in two states after the Revolution. So, he’s very much politically involved, but he understands how important education is. He wrote textbooks on meteorology, on animal husbandry, on economics. One of the best economic books out there, Noah Webster did. On medicine. One of the best layman’s medicine books that were ever done. He wrote books on science, on government, on any subject. He probably wrote more textbooks in America than anyone in every area.

Rick:

So he understood the importance of protecting your creation – what you’ve written, what you put on the market.

He Wrote Papers About The Constitution

David:

Absolutely.

By the way, after the Constitution was over. The founding fathers went to him and asked him to promote it and write pieces, and so he did. He’s a big read kind of like the Federalist Papers. He writes these pieces that went across the nation. (They) Were highly read by people and why they should ratify the Constitution. He is a big influence. But that part right there is the result of this book right here.

Webster’s Spelling Book

Now this, I don’t know if this is going to be good news or bad news. This is a spelling book. He came out with spelling book in 1782. No, Webster’s Spelling Book. Remember he wants to be different from the British.

So until this book came out in 1782, there was not a right way or wrong way to spell a word in America. And that’s why folks like John Trumbull, colonial governor, spelled his own last name six different ways.

I have letters here, Rick, in this library. If you read them phonetically, you say that guy’s from Georgia, he’s from Boston because everyone spelled it was his own way. Everybody did in America.

I’ve got a letter there were talks about D-A-A-W-G. O doll. And if you can read it that way. I’ve got a letter from John Jay, the chief justice, that are very much on the main Boston kind of accent side.

They add ‘r’s after their A’s.  They would drop the ‘A’s. Like they pop the car in the yrd. You can literally read – He’s the guy came out and say no,

Rick:

I can’t imagine, I’m sorry. I was just thinking about him writing from Virginia to Boston or wherever, and the difference in those letters even in the committees of correspondence. I never thought about that. There was probably –

David:

There was no standard for spelling until this comes out. And then he says, and we’re not spelling it the way the British do. The British when they spell Labor L A B O U R, he dropped out all the ‘U’s out of words. And favor, instead of F AV O U R. This is the deal. Now, this is his creation.

Copyright In America

You can’t get copyright in America because we’re 13 states and you’ve got to go to every state. I can get this copyright in Massachusetts, but North Carolina doesn’t like me. Or I can get this copyrighted up in Vermont, but you know what New York doesn’t like it.

So, how do you protect your creation? This is your property.

Founding fathers taught this; this type of stuff, your intellectual property is so much your property is your real estate, as much as your money anything else.

So, he’s the guy who got that part added that. Read that again.

The Commerce Clause Alone Was Not Enough

Rick:

He must have thought that the Commerce Clause alone was not enough. So the commerce clause was to make sure that all 13 states had freeflow of commerce, but that doesn’t give you protection.

David:

It lets him sell his books everywhere, but it doesn’t protect his property.

Rick:

So this was specifically to promote the progress of science and useful arts by securing, so you’re protecting that property, for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries.

So he wasn’t asking as we talked about in that last chapter, he wasn’t asking Congress or the federal government to pay for it. He wasn’t asking for them to –

David:

To protect my property

Rick:

Just protect it. Don’t promote it by spending money to promote it, just protect it.

David:

That’s right. I’ll buy the ads in the newspaper. We’ve got newspapers here that were selling in every state. He’ll buy the ads etc., and this did very well. More than 100 million copies over his life from 1780 to 1932. He promoted himself. 100 million copies.

Rick:

But well, I just appreciate, you know, one time we did a television show together, and you broke out some spelling test from back then. So I just want to thank you for not doing that here.

David:

I could let you try this. And by the way, this is an elementary spelling book. It’s embarrassing. I don’t want to try to pronounce them, let alone spell them.

Rick:

Great point, because again it’s back to the original intent.

I didn’t even know that that was the origin of it. I don’t know who it was, and I didn’t know that it was for him.

The Founding Fathers Had An Attitude That You Serve

It was specifically dealing with authorship and books. But I’m sure he and Franklin, I can only imagine, they had to have discussions about science as well.

David:

You bet. It is interesting Franklin, the founding fathers, had an attitude that you serve. Therefore, they believed that if someone came, you said you got to run for office, you’re not allowed to say no because that’s selfish.

If they’ve recognized that you’re a leader, and say I want you in the legislature; if you say no, I want to spend time with my family and in my job. That’s been selfish.

Benjamin Rush specifically quotes Romans 14:7 out of the Bible to say no man lives and dies for himself. It’s not your choice. You’re here to serve other people. That was their belief.

He Supported The Clause

So, Franklin, with all his inventions, never patented a single one. Because he believed that they all belong to the public. He wanted to do it to help people. And so he could have been wealthy in a lot of ways, he invented all these cool things but didn’t patent anything.

Others did. It’s private property. He obviously supported that, he was at the convention. He supports Webster. Webster met with Franklin, and they had discussions on spelling and other books. So it’s part of it.

Election Sermon

And the other thing from the last lesson, we talked about duty.

The question was, well if God’s in charge everything, why do we need to get involved? There’s a really cool thing that I thought of that I pulled out.

This is an election sermon. Probably folks don’t know an election sermon is.

Rick:

You don’t get many of those anymore.

David:

And we think that it is a sermon on the election but not really. For a hundred and seventy years, this is a sermon that was preached in front. We started state legislative assemblies by having a joint session with the legislature of the house, and the Senate governor, lieutenant governor, and they get a minister to preach a sermon to them.

Rick:

So, this is after the elections. This is not a sermon about the election coming up. This is after the election. Having a sermon with those who actually got elected.

David:

That’s right. And so, this happened in Hartford, Connecticut. Mathias Brunette is the guy who did this year and 1801.

I think the governor at that time was John Trumbull. He was one of Washington’s aide de camps in the Revolution. So we have some John Trumbull stuff.

Rick:

He’s got a statue in the Capitol, right?

David:

Well, no, it’s his dad’s statue. He’s the son. I get confused. It’s like George Forman. All of us kids when were named John.

So what you have is in the sermon, he talks to the legislators about the issues they’re facing because the Bible gives guidance on every issue – economic issues, educational issues.

He gets done with that, and then he looks up to all the citizens sitting at the balcony because of this all the new elected officials down here. So citizens just filling up the gallery up there.

To God And To Posterity

What he says to me I find really profound. Now he is talking to the citizens, and he said to God and posterity. You’re accountable for your rights and your rulers. Now a whole lot of Americans they said, well don’t you blame those rulers on me. I didn’t even vote in the last election.

Rick:

Exactly. No doubt.

David:

He said, you will answer to God for these rulers right here, and you will act your kids as well.

We Want To Hear Your Vet Story

Rick:

Hey friends! If you have been listening to WallBuilders Live for very long at all, you know how much we respect our veterans and how appreciative we are of the sacrifice they make to make our freedoms possible. One of the ways that we love to honor those veterans is to tell their stories here on WallBuilders Live.  Once in a while, we get an opportunity to interview veterans that have served on those front lines that have made incredible sacrifices have amazing stories that we want to share with the American people.

One of the very special things we get to do is interview World War II veterans. You’ve heard those interviews here on WallBuilders Live, from folks that were in the Band of Brothers, to folks like Edgar Harrell that survived the Indianapolis to so many other great stories you heard on WallBuilders Live.

You have friends and family that also served.  If you have World War II veterans in your family that you would like to have their story shared here on WallBuilders Live, please e-mail us at [email protected].  Give us a brief summary of the story, and we’ll set up an interview. Thanks so much for sharing here on WallBuilders Live!

Rick:

That’s what I was going to say, posterity is not a word that’s we choose very often. He’s saying you’re actually responsible for the current leaders because the future generations are gonna pay the price for what you elect now.

This Is About What People Think Is Going To Happen In The Last Days

David:

This goes to eschatology, and it deals with a view of what they think is going to happen the last days.

If they think Christ is going to return to the last days whatever, too many of just sitting around waiting for that.

The point with that is: regardless of what eschatology you hold, you’re still told specifically in the scriptures, Luke 19:13 Jesus said, you occupied till I come.

So the stewardship was there. If you like Christ is going to return today great, but you’d be a steward till that time. So there’s no checking out, and saying I don’t have a duty I’m waiting for whether it’s tomorrow –

Rick:

Or 50 doesn’t matter today. I do my duty.

David:

These guys believe that. They definitely believe theologically Christ would return, but they also believe that if he didn’t come when I want to, what I’ll do with posterity.

And so that’s why I said, to God and posterity you’re accountable for your actions.

Let’s say that the end doesn’t come when I think it’s going to come.

So far, every generation since Christ has been wrong.

He says, let not your children have reason to curse you for giving up those rights and prostrating those institutions which your fathers delivered to you as a sacred Palladium. Which, by the blessing of God, have been pecuniary beneficial to your order, peace, and stability.

He said you’ll answer to the next generation, and don’t let them curse you for having given up all these great rights we were entrusted.

Our Founding Fathers Believed That

That’s the founding fathers, they believed that. John Adams said, posterity, you’ll never know how much it cost my generation to preserve your freedom. Don’t make me repent in heaven that I did what I did. He’s saying, don’t you make me sorry that I worked so hard to give you something.

It Is A Burden

Rick:

That’s a serious – burden. It is. It should be.

We should see that, and say hey I really I’ve got a duty here that I need to be thinking about. I need to be invested. If you’re gonna, do that right, if you’re going to really do your children right, and grandchildren right. You got to spend a little bit of time, that’s why we’re studying all these things, but then study the candidates know how they measure –

Invest in these things and fulfill that responsibility.

Study The Candidate

David:

You know studying the candidate probably takes a good 15 minutes not two years.

Rick:

There are plenty of tools out there now.

David:

If I know, I’ve got 15 minutes to look at a voter’s guide or search the Internet. That’s just too much time.

That’s the attitude that’s going to keep us in trouble. And if we don’t get an attitude that says, you know what, it may take me two hours, but that’s better than watching TV program for two hours if I can save my country now. That’s the attitude that I have.

Rick:

Ten years ago, it was even more difficult because you didn’t have as many voter guides. All these groups out there doing the rounds. Today, it’s fifteen minutes on the Internet, find those voter guides, look at all those candidates.

One Area We Are Accountable Is The President

Well, one of those areas that we need to hold accountable is a president. Every four years, we choose a president. We’re going to choose someone that’s going to have an impact on us in so many different ways.

So let’s get into that area of the Presidency.

The Presidency

David:

Let’s go back to what we saw earlier, and look out at how Constitution’s laid out.

Article 1 2 and 3 taking a step.

Rick:

We’re kind of taking a step back again to see how this fits into the whole thing.

David:

That’s right. That’s the second most important area. Congress is the number one area.

President’s number two, and probably the most significant part of the presidential responsibilities is in Article 2, where it says to take care that the laws should be faithfully executed.

That’s why he’s called the executive branch. He executes the law. The laws that have been passed by Congress, and signed by the President for however many years.

We’re A Government Of Laws And Not Of Men

His purpose is to execute those laws. Now, when we do that, John Adams says when you actually execute the laws passed constitutionally, he had a great quote.

He said we’re a government of laws and not of men. It doesn’t matter who gets in office, because you’re bound by the laws that are there.

But knowing human nature as they did, they set up guards against it. They also pointed out that it’s going to be really easy for somebody to get in, and try to run their own agenda through the executive branch. We talked about this is.

This is what he said, the interest of the people is one thing. It is the public interest. In other words, for the people: they want what’s good for the people.

They’re not interested in agendas of different groups. The people have a public interest. He said where the public interest governs, it is a government of laws and not of men. When you’re looking out for the good of the people themselves, you’ll do what the law says not what you yourself say.

You may have a different agenda. You may get elected an agenda, but when you’re looking out for the good of the people, you’re going to uphold laws that the people’s representatives that they chose have passed. Whether you agree with the law or not.

The Interest Of A King, A Party, A President Is Another Thing

Let me read that again, the interest. The people’s one thing, the public interest and when the public and the public interest governs, it’s a government of laws and not of men.

He said, however, the interest of a king or a party or President is another thing. It is a private interest.

Where private interests govern, it’s a government of men and not of laws.

If you elect a president who says I’m going to take my pen and just rewrite what I want through executive orders, I’m going to use agencies to get what I want. I’ve got an agenda. I was elected on agenda, and I’m going to cram that agenda through.

It’s no longer a government of laws. It’s now a government of men. Because he is deciding everything that the people need.

It’s not what the representatives say they need. I’ll tell you what they know.

Rick:

That ignoring the laws

David:

That’s why the most important responsibility for any President, is to take care that the laws be faithfully executed. He’s the guardian. He has trust from previous generations. All the laws they passed. The War Powers goes back in the 1930s. You know what, it is still on the books, and that means all the people for the last 70 80 years want that law there.

So he keeps enforcing it because that may not be what he personally wants, that’s what America’s wants and kept for 80 years.

And so whatever the law is, he’s got to uphold that law.

It Applies To The Constitution Too

Rick:

I guess it applies to the Constitution itself as well. Right?

David:

Absolutely.

Rick:

It’s still the laws of the people. That’s what we’ve put in place so he has to faithfully execute the laws, as the Constitution says that it should be done.

David:

That’s right. I may not like freedom of the press if they attack me, but it’s doesn’t matter; I’ve still got to uphold it.

I mean not like freedom of conscience if you do something I don’t agree with. That’s all right, I still got to hold it.

That’s what you look for in your public officials: people who put themselves to the side and say I’m not the most important thing you guys are. This is what you’ve said, you’ve spoken with a collective voice, and I’m going to enforce your will.

Now there are occasions where that one thing here or one thing there you may have a conscience problem with.

Abraham Lincoln ignored the Supreme Court and Dred Scott decision because he did declare freedom for slaves in Washington D.C. and the Supreme Court said you can’t do that.

You certainly have Thomas Jefferson with alien sedition act saying that’s an absolutely bad law. I’m going to release everyone that was convicted under that, and he eventually repeals of the law.

Rick:

But he did it in a constitution by pardoning or –

David:

That’s right. He did it the right way, and he wasn’t going in with his own agenda.

When you go into your own agendas, and I’m going to use all these agencies, and I’m going to use every tool I have to get done what I want now.

What you want is a government of laws, not of men. That’s where the President comes in. He’ll be the one more than any other entity in government decide where there’s a government of laws or government of men. By what he chooses to enforce and not enforce.

How To Choose Our President Wisely

Rick:

So to choose those presidents wisely, we’ve got to know what their proper role is, how they should be following the Constitution, and what they do. That’s how we can hold them accountable. So to learn more about Article 2 in the Presidency, we’re gonna go back out to Philadelphia at Independence Hall.

Constitution Alive!

Have you ever wanted to learn more about the United States Constitution but just felt like, man, the classes are boring, or it’s just that old language from 200 years ago, or I don’t know where to start? People want to know. But, it gets frustrating because you don’t know where to look for the truth about the Constitution either.

Well, we’ve got a special program for you available now called Constitution Alive with David Barton and Rick Green. It’s actually a teaching done on the Constitution at Independence Hall in the very room where the Constitution was framed. We take you both to Philadelphia, the Cradle of Liberty and Independence Hall, and to the WallBuilders’ library where David Barton brings the history to life to teach the original intent of our Founding Fathers.

We call it the QuickStart guide to the Constitution because in just a few hours through these videos, you will learn the Citizen’s Guide to America’s Constitution. You’ll learn what you need to do to help save our Constitutional Republic. It’s fun! It’s entertaining! And, it’s going to inspire you to do your part to preserve freedom for future generations. It’s called Constitution Alive with David Barton and Rick Green. You can find out more information on our website now at WallBuilders.com.

America’s History

This is David Barton with another moment from America’s history. Since the Ten Commandments have formed the basis of civil law in the western world for over 2,000 years and an individual is more likely to find a copy of them in a government building rather than a religious one. Yet, amazingly, numerous rulings over recent years now make it unconstitutional to display the commandments in many public arenas.

Consider what Founding Father John Adams said about this, he declared, “The moment the idea is admitted into society that property is not as sacred as the laws of God, anarchy, and tyranny commence. If ‘thou shall not covet’ and ‘thou shall not steal’ were not commandments of heaven, they must be made inviolable precepts in every society before it can be civilized or made free.”

John Adams believed that no society could remain civilized if separated from the Ten Commandments. For more information on God’s hand in American history, contact WallBuilders at 1 800 8 REBUILD.  

Constitution Alive

Rick:

Welcome back to Constitution Alive. We’re gonna do a quick review of what we covered last night.  We had a great time here at Independence Hall. A wonderful class here with us we covered a lot of ground. I just want to do a quick review of what we did last night. Then we’ll jump into our new section.

Of course, last night we talked about our purpose. What this class is all about. We’re the Quick Start Guide to the Constitution.

We’re not doing the yearlong class. We’re not doing the three-year law degree. We’re just doing the quick start guide so that we know where to plug things in. We know how to be active as citizens to participate in our government.

So we went through a quote by this guy. Who remembers who we were talking about? Who’s this on screen, help me out? Anybody? I heard I heard it in the back. You got it.

John Jay

John Jay. The first chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. One of those authors the Federalist Papers, and here’s the quote that drove everything we did last night. It will be again tonight.

He said every member of the state, so that’s all of us, are diligently to read and to study. Again, remember that what we talked about was the study part, means we’re going to crack open the minds of the founding fathers and get inside there and find out what were they thinking, what did they intend. What were these guys actually trying to do with the words they put into the Declaration and the Constitution?

So read and study the Constitution and then teach the rising generation to be free. I love that phrase that idea of passing the torch of freedom to the next generation.

For More Information Go To Our Website

Rick:

That’s all the time we have for today folks.

We are in the first part of a four-part series from Constitution Alive that deals with the Presidency. This is one particular chapter in that 12-hour program, and we’re going to share that chapter with you this week.

Over the course of four programs. So tomorrow we’ll pick up right where we left off today. If you’re interested in learning more about Constitution Alive, you can visit that website Constitutionalive.com or just go to WallBuilders.com.

There’s a link there on the homepage. This is our opportunity to learn about the Constitution and the founding principles of America.

Then also to take action, and begin to teach people around us about those Constitutional principles and do our part in restoring this constitutional republic. We hope you’ve enjoyed today this first part.

Be sure you tune in over the next three days for the rest of Constitution Alive with David Barton and Rick Green.

You’ve been listening to WallBuilders Live.