America the Majestic

Recently God gave me a new one. A quote that I had forgotten.
It comes from the movie “The Majestic” starring Jim Carrey.

In it Carrey plays a character Named Peter Appleton, in the 50’s, who is accused of being a communist sympathizer. This was set in the High point of the McCarthy era where to be affiliated with communism was, well, taboo. And the McCarthy senate hearings were aimed at rooting out this insidious menace ala witchhunt.
Well Mr. Appleton loses everything in one fell swoop, Girlfriend, Job, money, life, All gone. So he goes out, gets drunk and then is in an accident where he loses his memory.

He is found by some good people in a small town who think he is actually a long lost hero of WW2 one of their own sons who he looks like, he doesn’t know any better so he accepts what he is told.

The town takes him in and cares for him and soon he is part of their community. Then tragedy strikes right as he starts getting his memory back, and before he can set things right the government comes to get him.

Very soon the government agents realize that the guy is falsely accused and they really have nothing on him. But they also have all the power, they can make him disappear as it were or shout loud enough that it doesn’t matter how innocent he is they can make him out to be the scapegoat.

Not wanting to look bad though (gotta cover your butt) they offer him a deal. If he confesses and reads a prepared statement renouncing his communist leanings and implicating other people they will let him off the hook.
When he points out that he was innocent to begin with, Stating that he has rights after all this is a democracy, he is told,

“The declaration of independence, the constitution, they’re all just pieces of paper with signatures on them, you know what a piece of paper with a signature on it is, it is a contract, something that can be renegotiated at any time. It just so happens that the house un-American activities committee is renegotiating the contract this time, next time it will be somebody else. There will always be somebody.”

Instantly I thought of what we are going through today. We have people in Washington trying their hardest to “renegotiate the contract” and they are doing so without OUR consent. In order for the renegotiations to be valid all parties have to sign or the contract is non-binding. That is IF I do not sign that new copy, I am not to be held to that new contract.

We need to go out and vote this year, we need to let the people who are trying to change our lives that we will NOT agree to this new contract and we need to stand up for the contract that exists now. And when they try to change it without our consent we need to fire them for breach of contract.

We need to do like Peter does in the movie, we need to look at the constitution and stand up and say NO. NO I will not let you do these crimes to the people that are supposed to be protected by this document.

It took a lot to get him to that point. I pray that we do not have to wait so long or be pushed so hard before we reach the point where we will stand up for what is right.

In fact, if you would like to realize something today let it be this. When our military swears to uphold what this nation holds dear, they do not swear to protect the president, or the congress, or the people even. They swear to defend and protect the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic.
We all, every one of us ought to do the same.

How many of us would say as he did at the end, “I have never been a man of great conviction, I never saw the percentage in it, Quite frankly I suppose I lack the courage, see I’m not like Luke Trimbul he had the market cornered on those things… I can’t help but wonder what he’d say if he were standing here, the America represented in this room is not the America he died defending. I think he’d tell you your America is bitter and cruel and small I know for a fact that his America is big… where every American has a voice…”
Then he goes on to read the first amendment and follows up with, “this is the first amendment mister chairman it’s everything we are about if only we would live up to it. It’s the most important part of the contract every citizen has with his country. Even though these contracts the constitution and the bill of rights even though they are just pieces of paper with signatures on them they are the only contracts we have that are most definitely not subject to renegotiation… not by anyone ever!”


He made the point that, Men and women have died to keep that contract and every time we try to change it we dishonor them and the sacrifices they have made.

Please and this does come from the heart PLEASE this year remember the sacrifice that all the soldiers have made and keep that contract stand up and tell your congressman or even the president that this stops NOW. That we will all abide by the contract that has served us so well for a couple of centuries. And that NO one has the right to take it away from us now.