I recently returned from our annual pilgrimage to New England for the holidays. It involved the usual family maintenance and holiday celebrating. My parents live in Rhode Island. My brother lives in Kennebunkport, Maine. My wife's family lives in Lexington, Massachusetts.

I wrote most of this from Lexington, Massachusetts. It has been one full year that I have had the luxury and privilege to write these weekly commentaries for WorldNetDaily. We have covered a wide spectrum. From the essence of Duty, Honor, Country, to the culpability of the mainstream media in refusing to cover stories that are significant. We were among the first to comment on the Newsweek spiking of the Michael Isikoff story on Monica Lewinsky, which subsequently led to the impeachment of a president of the United States. I suggested it was significant because of perjury, obstruction of justice and abuse of power, not the lurid sex stuff. We were among the first to comment on the potential dangers of the Y2K problems, assaults on privacy of Echelon and Axicom, and first to question the circumstances surrounding the death of James McDougal. We have exposed the inherent dangers of various executive orders, helped support and defeat legislation and bragged about my big fish (888 pound Giant Bluefin Tuna).

However, in the wake of the holidays, and the ongoing District of Criminals drama, I am reminded of the precious gift the framers bequeathed to us "if you can keep it." I walked down around the Lexington green Christmas day and stared at the Minuteman statue. It was quiet, and cold. As I stared up at the determined face of the Minuteman, I was reminded of the courage and sacrifice of our founders. I am always personally affected when I walk around the green. The chill that ran down my spine wasn't caused by the wind or the New England December cold. I experienced that familiar shiver down the spine that still happens when I hear the national anthem, or see a solitary bugler playing taps on the hill of a military cemetery after the echoes of those last rifle shots. Jonathan Ingalls (a direct antecedent), and Burgess Metcalf (another direct antecedent) were active participants in the war for Independence. Ingalls was one of the few with Captain Parker that day in Lexington when the British came to confiscate powder and ball. They had been tipped off by Paul Revere and knew "The British are coming." I often try to remind my radio listeners that the first three battles of the Revolution were not fought over taxation or representation, but over gun control. The British, like the Germans, and Russians to follow, recognized the need of tyrants to disarm the citizenry. The framers recognized the need for free men to be armed, and included the Second Amendment in our Bill of Rights. They put it there not so we could duck hunt, or poke holes in paper. The Second Amendment is both a recognized right, and a reminder, that (God forbid) if it is ever again necessary for the citizenry to rise up and bear arms against a tyrannical government they (we) will have the resources.

Back in the mid-1700s most of the contemporary colonists supported (at least tacitly) the British Crown. After all, Americans were British subjects. In fact, if there had been a public opinion poll, it would have shown overwhelming support for King George (despite his long list of abuses and oppression). However, public sentiment notwithstanding, King George grossly abused his power and authority. Our ancestors were victims of a tyrannical government that ruled by decree that often was arbitrary and even capricious. Relatively few colonists joined the founders and my relatives to oppose the Crown. The economy seemed good, unemployment was low and the majority seemed to, if not support the king, at least appear content to tolerate their existence.

A small, but dedicated, courageous and committed minority who were unwilling to sacrifice a little liberty for a little security fought a revolution, and founded the greatest nation mankind has seen. They gave us the Constitution and Bill of Rights as a solid foundation for the republic, and then they dared us to keep it.

As we reflect on the year past, and the year to come, I return to that recurringly annoying observation about our election officials of today and the oath that all take. Presidents, senators, and representatives all take a solemn oath of office. They swear to "preserve and protect the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic ... and to bear true faith and allegiance. ..." As the nation is now focused on the "Constitutional Crisis" of impeaching a president, I continue in my search for that fictional "reasonable and rational man or woman." Since constitutional experts are cropping up with the frequency of 900 numbers, maybe someone can answer me this: If and when an elected official who swears an oath to "preserve and protect" something, and then immediately proceeds to undermine, abrogate, and denigrate the very document to which they have sworn allegiance, what is that? Is it perjury? Is it fraud? Is it treason?

Bill Clinton says our framers wrote a "radical Constitution ... granting radical rights." BULLFEATHERS! First of all, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights doesn't grant us anything! It merely acknowledges God-given inalienable rights that NO ONE gave us, AND that no one can take away from us. California Congresscritter Ellen Tausher was actually dumb enough to once claim the Constitution was like her "old blue dress" ... that didn't fit anymore. Nevertheless she swore a sacred oath to "preserve and protect" that same Constitution.

If, as has been suggested, we are now facing a constitutional crisis, it is not because one man has violated his oath of office. It is not because one man has lied under oath. It is not because one man has abused his power and obstructed justice. The true constitutional challenge we face is that a Congress infected with partisan pettiness and myopia are content in their routine malfeasance, and lack the courage, morality, or integrity to serve the Constitution they have sworn to protect.

The constitutional crisis we face is not the event of an impeachment trial of our president. The crisis is the process ... which has been bastardized, homogenized and televised.

Those colonial revolutionaries were courageous and brave in ways our contemporary congress can only fantasize through revisionist rationalizations. The brave men who walked onto the Lexington green knew the time and place to "lead, follow, or get out of the way." The congressional Thespians posturing for sound bites, lack the courage to lead, lack the brains to follow, and suffer an abundance of ego which denies them the ability to get out of the way.