-
Darrell L. Castle’s Tribute to Howard Phillips, the Constitution Party’s Founder
Howard Phillips, founder of the Constitution Party, died at 3:50 PM, EST Saturday, April 20, 2013.
I met Howard in early 1992 when I was introduced to him by Don McIlvaney. Don asked my choice for the election that year and I said neither so he introduced me to Howard who was trying to start a new party. My wife, Joan and I became the Tennessee delegates to the first national convention.
Over time, Howard mentored me in politics and became a political father to me. Little by little he brought me along as I was able to accept more and more responsibility. Most of all he was my dear friend and I’ll miss him.
-
The Constitution Party’s Position on the Second Amendment
In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson recognized that people are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights. He emphasized that the “unalienable rights” of man come from God, not from government, and cannot legally be taken by government.
The founders of America chose to enshrine the right to keep and bear arms as the Second Amendment in the Bill of Rights. “A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” (U.S. Constitution – 2nd Amendment of the Bill of Rights)
-
Response to the President’s State of the Union Address
by Darrell Castle, Constitution Party National Committee Vice-Chairman
Last night President Obama delivered his State of the Union address, as he is required by the Constitution to do once each year. Although he covered many different areas, he concentrated on only three: the domestic economy, which includes what he called job creation, domestic policy topics such as education and energy, and foreign policy, which includes military and defense issues.The President told us that the nation is doing well economically and is on its way to recovery from recession. Evidence of this recovery, according to the President, is the “booming stock market.”
-
Lame Duck, or Just Lame?
by Darrell Castle, Constitution Party National Committee Vice-Chairman
“All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.” (United States Constitution, Article I Section 1.).This section of the Constitution places all legislative or law-making power clearly in the hands of Congress, and therefore denies them the right to transfer that responsibility to the president. In light of the Constitutional responsibilities of Congress, then, let’s take a brief look at not only what this lame duck session has accomplished, but also what has been accomplished in recent years.
The lame duck session passed 3 of the 4 major items on its agenda. The three were the START treaty, the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT), and the “deal” to extend the Bush tax cuts. The only thing they were denied was President Obama’s DREAM Act (AIM: amnesty for illegal minors).
-
Is The Cold War Back On?
by Darrell Castle – Constitution Party National Committee Vice-Chairman
President Barack Obama and
Chinese President Hu Jintao
in ChinaThis is the week of the 50th anniversary of President Eisenhower’s famous speech in which he warned the nation to beware of what he called “the military industrial complex.” He was talking about the military leaders joining with leaders of the arms industry for the purpose of expanding their budgets in order to line their own pockets and greatly expand their power over American foreign policy.
President Eisenhower probably remembered the end of WWII, just 15 years before his speech, when the United States stood at the top of world power as no nation had ever stood before. With 12 million men under arms, the only nation with nuclear weapons and a proven disposition to use them, with Europe in ruins and the Soviet Union with millions of dead, who could challenge the United States?
