Jefferson, Monroe, Madison, Jay all radicals. Hated by many and vilified. Bunch of radicals with these crazy ideas. Imagine a land where religious values are vital, yet the government endorses none. It was said that some of those folks were deists. They rejected the idea of divine revelation and were using reason, common sense and logic to explain the universe. Sure they believed a supreme being created it all, but believing that man could figure that out all by himself is just silly. These same people also thought that men could rule themselves! Everyone knows you need a King to rule the people. There has to be a ruling class, educated and wiser than the commoners. No, common people can’t be trusted to rule! Just who is supposed to defend them, protect the people from outside forces? If not for the King and his army, who then? A bunch of peasants with pitchforks defying an Empire! Those people are just crazy. Bunch of whiners.

  That is what was said of the founding fathers. It isn’t what we were taught though. The reason is easy enough to understand, the radicals won the debate. Well, the truth is the radicals won the war. A republic was established. The King and his men tried to take it all back once and they failed yet again. Driven from our shores the treaty of Ghent was ratified in January of 1815. Independence was retained. The nation continued forward and ever more radical ideas were proposed and indeed ratified into law. The 13th and 14th amendment were certainly radical ideas to many. The Republicans fully supported both while the Democrats were adamantly opposed. A war ensued before the amendments could be passed! The radicals had won once again! All men are created equal and as such are entitled to equal rights under the law. They can vote, hold property, and live anywhere they choose. It wasn’t until 1965, a hundred years after the civil war that the Democratic party affirmed those rights with the civil rights act. That act has been amended five times since that vote. 

  What are the radicals wanting today? Ensuring the integrity of the ballot. Imagine that, a bunch of radicals insisting that proof of identity be required to cast your ballot. How radical an idea is that! Why it is discriminatory! Of course it is only discriminatory to certain demographics. Requiring white Europeans to show a valid idea is perfectly acceptable, indeed reasonable. In truth our Republic has been requiring that since its’ inception, what was once called your “bonafides.” Birth certificates became a thing in the early part of the 1900’s. Identification has been required in banking circles much earlier than that, you can be sure of that. Yes, when it comes to safeguarding things of value, ID is mandatory. The vote should be no different yet is considered a radical idea? And what party is insisting that is discriminatory? Why the very party that took one hundred years to agree that that same demographic had a right to vote in the first place. Ideology? Yup, sure seems obvious enough to me.

  And so here we are today, the Federalists making a resurgence. Yes, Monroe, Jefferson and the others where Federalists. They fully supported the ratification of the Constitution. A constitution that clearly states, all men are created equal. Took a bunch of radicals to put that to paper! Of course, prior to that many had signed a document that was akin to a death sentence. Bunch of radicals! These radical Republicans today wanting to support the principles as outlined in the Constitution. Imagine that? They want a fair and honest election, without any caveats. That the law apply equally to everyone. WTH. After the Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments that we are all aware of,  was the 11th? What did it concern? It was an amendment, championed by the Federalists, that protected states rights to govern themselves without the Federal government overriding their authority. It is a limiting of federal power. Each state has the right to enact its’ own voting laws. The federal government does not have the authority to override that. And that is the debate, the legal struggle we are engaged in at this time. The federalists wanting a radical idea, equality, and the Democrats looking for loopholes. Independence vs Dependence.