The U.S. Is still a republic, but it is now a stretch to call it a “constitutional” republic.

Regardless of any claims of voter fraud, several states essentially opted out of following the Constitution when bodies other than state legislatures, were allowed to change election laws. This contravention of Article I, section 4 of the U.S. Constitution was allowed to stand by both the Supreme Court and the Congress. Long ago, states and municipalities decided to opt-out of Article VI, Clause 2, known as the “Supremacy Clause”, which puts federal law above state or local law when they declared themselves “sanctuary cities” in contravention of federal immigration law. When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, 1^st Amendment protections were among the first Constitutional protections to go. They were gutted, mainly by blue state governors. Over three quarters of a year later, our rights to freedom of religion, and assembly are still in the process of being restored. None of them were taken in any semblance of a constitutional process. Essentially, progressives are increasingly seeing the Constitution as a menu of legal options that are to be followed as they see fit. This is incompatible with the United States’ remaining as a Constitutional republic. We are only a republic to the degree the Constitution is followed, ALL of the Constitution.

If the United States is to be restored to a fully-functioning constitutional republic in any manner short of civil war, than it will have to be from the ground up. It will take all of us, all of us who believe in the Constitution to fight in city halls, state houses, the halls of Congress, and in the court of public opinion to get our country back to the rule of law. The recent attacks on free speech have hamstrung us in that effort, so we must use every lawful means at our disposal to get it back. While we do that, we’ll have to fight to retain what rights we have left. American conservatives have to consistently and relentlessly pursue the restoration of our rights and values. The opponents of freedom did not take them away on Inauguration Day, 2021– they did so through the ruthless and relentless pursuit of their ideological goals over the course of a century. If we are to get them back and restore the Constitution, every bit of it, Article I, section 4 and all, to its rightful place at the heart of our republican system, than we have to resolve ourselves to a struggle that could take every bit as long. We have to believe the struggle and sacrifice will be worth it. Previous generations of Americans thought so, so much so that they gave risked blood and treasure for it. We have had a taste of what it’s like not to be governed according to our founding documents, but by the whims of others. That alone, should be motivation enough for us to take action, to use our political, economic, and rhetorical might for the restoration of our inalienable rights to life, liberty, and pursuit of Happiness.