Citizens Constitutional Protections vs. Zeitgeist in
Legislation
Along with many
other citizens, I find myself perplexed regarding how so many pieces of
proposed legislation bypass the Constitutions. As I read the Citizen Councilor Bills (SB5003 and HB1282), I believe it can best be explained by the
words on page 2: zeitgeist
communication. According to the
dictionary zeitgeist means, time spirit, the trend of thought and
feeling in a period. It is
crucial to the continuance of our constitutional republican form of government
to understand what this means.
If one takes only the thought and
feeling in a period, the time spirit will allow the Constitutions to be set
aside as representing previous thought or a spirit that is not relevant to
current times. I ask you to read
the entire bill to comprehend how zeitgeist relates to this bill and other
legislation before you. You will
discover in the rhetoric, a form of government that bypasses the individual
citizen's communication with the elected official. It establishes a Citizen Councilor
Advisor Network. Councilor is
spelled that way because it is defined as an official advisor to a sovereign
or chief magistrate. These
bills establish a complete system for people to meet in small groups to reach
consensus on a pre-selected issue, from pre-selected authorized
materials, and therefore come to a pre-selected consensus. No recorded vote,
and no minority opinion is registered.
This Citizen Councilor consensus will ultimately be presented to the
elected sovereign as the will of the people. No need for the sovereign to
listen to research from an individual citizen, the official advisor has
spoken! These bills also provide
for a Wise Council, selected by lottery, guided by a facilitator, to
prioritize the future agenda. Note
none of the people comprising this network are elected, yet they are presenting
a form of an initiative to elected officials, without signature gathering. The Constitutions grant rule by
law. Zeitgeist is rule by man, also
called democracy. History should
remind us of the tyranny zeitgeist the spirit of the time has rendered.
Please consider some of the elements of
zeitgeist currently in operation, and in proposed bills:
When there are public hearings on a pet
bill, experts are recruited from other states to council
concepts, not discuss the language of the bill. Citizens are granted a minute or two,
devoid of media, to address the legislation governing their lives. In caucus, and committees, are
Constitutional issues addressed, or is it zeitgeist? When emergency clauses are attached to
legislation, the right of the citizens to constitutionally give or withhold
consent on how they are to be governed is removed.
Charter Schools, SB5012,
is an example of zeitgeist. Charter
schools are contract schools, binding both state and non-profit corporations in
legal contract language. SB5012
exempts contract schools from all parental rights and elected representation,
while requiring compliance with all the education reform of NCLB,
the EALRs, and the WASL,
and still prohibits religious influence.
Since SB5012 provides for both ongoing contracts for new charter schools
and unlimited conversions of existing schools, there will never be a time the
legislature can restore those protections without breaching contracts and
opening the state to lawsuits.
Zeitgeist removes protections of both the U.S. and Washington
Constitutions and calls it choice.
The fact that education reform has always been a top down violation of
U.S. Constitution, Amendment 10, is simply ignored. The fact that the Secretary of Education
is not elected is ignored. The fact
that the legislature has given consent for non-elected commissions to design
education reform is ignored. This
seamless system of education reform was accomplished without ever allowing a
vote of the citizens. SB5012
removes the last vestige of parental rights and elected representation over
charter schools, yet prevents a third vote of citizens by attaching an
emergency clause.
HB1658, Driver's
Licenses would require the WASLs for private or
home-schooled students, or an equivalent, as determined by the appointed A+
Commission. It also requires
parents to report to the state regarding their students. This assault on private and home-based
education came just after reading that passing the WASL
is to be required for entrance into Running Start and college. Citizens had previously warned that
education reform would require the Certificate of Mastery for college and
employment. Unthinkable a few years
ago, a work permit is nearly a reality now. Students are to be denied rights, yet no
citizen vote has ever been taken on this cradle to grave education reform.
Another example would be HB1464, Faith-based Social Services. Zeitgeist,
totally ignores the U.S. Constitution, wherein Congress is to make no law
respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise
thereof (First Amendment).
Although not even an unconstitutional law has yet passed, millions of
dollars have already been expended to train religious groups in how to obtain
and implement grants. Future
funding will be $65 billion. It
will not be God, but government bureaucracies, who determine the qualifications
of churches that are to receive tax offerings from citizens who have not
consented to this unconstitutional confiscation of their money. True faith-based charity is
voluntary. This will establish
bureaucracies, with salaried and pensioned employees. HB1464 violates Washington Constitution
Article 1 § 11 and 26 § 1 which guarantee no person shall ever be
molested in person or property on account of religion. Stealing taxes to fund the government's
choice of so-called faith-based charities, with the accompanying
mandates, molests everyone's conscience.
Admittedly, zeitgeist,
and the Fast Forum data gathering system incorporated in Citizen Councilor
bills, SB5003 and HB1282, were used experimentally in churches in the
70s. The Biblical authority of
those churches has been replaced by the spirit of the time, or the thought
or feeling of the period. In
other words, zeitgeist sets aside authority, be it religious, governmental or
family.
The Citizen Councilor bills pose the
most dangerous attack on the Constitutions. They introduce a pre-selected issue,
with pre-selected authorized information, resulting in a pre-selected
consensus for the official advisor to deliver to sovereigns. The process sets aside the Constitutions
and creates the illusion the thought or feeling of the period has been reached.
I urge you, the elected officials to
protect our freedoms by filtering legislation through the Constitution. If there are changes you believe need to
be made, present the citizens with an amendment to the Constitution. In the hectic order of your days, please
consider what zeitgeist will do to all our freedoms.
Sincerely,
Cris Shardelman is a strong advocate of
the parents' rights in the area of education. She has worked tirelessly for over
thirty years, with state and federal legislators, legislative aides, parents,
teachers, school boards, lobbyists, activists, organized groups and many
others, in the area of education.
She has helped write legislation and testified before the legislature on
matters of education. Cris is also
a researcher of some note and has worked with various youth groups.
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