The United States is, perhaps, the largest social experiment the world has ever known. This nation was founded on ideals said to be “unalienable”and “God given”. Thinkumentary believes that these ideals were achieved and continue to be achieved every day through American virtues, and specific political principles. While we can not publish a fully exhaustive list here due to the subjective nature of the material, we believe these principles to be essential to the overwhelming success this Nation has enjoyed.

Uninhibited Free Speech
While free speech can be a double-edged sword, it is the basis of a free society. We must remember that our Great Country was founded on the concept of uninhibited free speech. For that reason, we stand firmly against any legislation or concept that aims to moderate or subdue free speech in any way within the bounds of personal responsibility. This includes social concepts such as political correctness.

Personal Responsibility
Personal responsibility is essential to the successful effectuation of free speech, free markets, and above all, a free society. Personal responsibility is the angel on the other shoulder. It is what keeps an honest man honest, and allows us to hold responsible the man that is dishonest.

Freedom Of Religion
The Constitution guarantees a right for every citizen to practice any religion they desire, provided its practices are legal. This has been misinterpreted to represent a freedom from religion. Many have sought to remove crosses from public lands, the Ten Commandments from court rooms, the phrases from our currency and the Pledge of Allegiance from our schools, citing that seeing and/or hearing these things infringes on their rights. One of the fundamentally incorrect beliefs of these individuals is that there is a “separation of Church and State” in The Constitution. The origin of this phrase is a letter written by Thomas Jefferson in 1802 to the Danbury Baptist Association. Activists take this phrase out of context to promote their viewpoint and to remove all traces of religion from the public arena. The absence of this phrase from any of the founding documents invalidates this argument as presented.

Right To Life
The right to life is guaranteed in The 5th Amendment of the Constitution, but will likely be debated until the end of time. It is our belief that life begins at conception and that any decisions regarding the taking of an innocent life should err on the side of life.

Work
A strong work ethic is essential to achieving that which is not entitled, but desired. The Founding Documents entitle us to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. Housing, health care, transportation, higher education and a litany of other things not prescribed by our founders are aspirations, not entitlements. America was founded on hard work and innovation; its sustainability will continue to rely on these principles.

Personal Values
Personal values are just that – personal. But it is our belief that everyone should have a set of guiding values. Values lend consistency and focus to our everyday dealings with others. We can not publish an absolute list given that values mean something different to everyone, but we have identified six core values that we believe to be nigh universal: Honor, Respect, Sacrifice, Duty, Integrity and Loyalty.

Respect For The Law
The Constitution is the supreme directive of the United States. Our legislators are bound by the Constitution to create laws in accordance with the will of the people. Laws are in place to protect our rights and the rights of others. It is our solemn belief that the law of the land is to be defended, obeyed, and upheld at all costs, using proper channels to express dissent of existing legislation. To willfully break with the law leads to a desecration of the founding principles of this Great Country.

Justice
We fundamentally believe that justice ought to be applied evenly to all citizens and that all citizens ought to have open access to the justice system. However, we are opposed to excessive and needless litigation, specifically litigation whose aim is to modify the founding documents of the federal government or the various constitutions of the States. In no uncertain terms, we oppose those who seek to legislate from the bench and support only strict constructionist judges. This view is based on the following principles:

1. The Bill of Rights does not grant any rights to U.S. Citizens. This is specifically because the rights of man are not granted by any government; rather the aim of the bill of rights is to limit the government from restricting the rights enumerated therein.
2. The Founding Documents state that the rights of man are God given. Laws generally, by definition, exist to limit or eliminate a right already possessed. Exceptions are few and far between; therefore much care must be taken with the imposition of any law on the people.
3. In every instance that a right is not enumerated or expressly forbidden in the Constitution of the United States, such decisions should be left to the States to decide, as prescribed in the Constitution.

Patriotism / American Exceptionalism
Simply put, if you don’t love your country, then why are you here? Every person in America should be here, ultimately, to make it a better place. Live in your country – Love your country. Realizing that since the inception of this experiment, we have run circles around every other country in the world in a fraction of the time; this is, without a doubt, the most exceptional country in human history. No other country has done so much for the world, liberated so many people, given so much of it’s wealth, innovated as much, or cared so much for those who were not even Her own as this Great Nation. And in so doing, no other country in history has been as ridiculed worldwide for doing the right thing. We must all realize what a blessing it is to have been born here.

Assimilated Immigration
“Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” We believe strongly in this inscription set upon the Statue of Liberty. America is as strong as it is because of its diversity, not in spite of it. But when your tired, poor, and huddled masses arrive, let it be known that here on our soil, we work, pay taxes, obey the laws – all of them – and speak the language of our forebears. By all means, celebrate your diversity, your heritage, your homeland, but remember that in America, you are an American first.

Strong National Defense
The Constitution provides for the creation and maintenance of a military capable of defending the United States. A strong national defense is a combination of adequate military strength and force structure, effective integrated intelligence agencies, and non compromising policy that administrates/executes protection of American interests both at home and abroad.

Interpretation Of The Constitution
The Constitution was meant to be an elastic document, true enough. And so it is, as evidenced by numerous amendments. However, it is our belief that the bill of rights not be perverted by attempts to redraft them. The 1^st through 10^th amendments should remain intact by the judicial system. Any interpretation of law should always be done by erring on the side of more freedom, not less. The Constitution should only be interpreted in the strictest of original intent.

Right To Personal Defense / Property Protection
The 2^nd amendment to the Constitution can, and has been interpreted in many ways. It is our belief that the greater function of the 2^nd amendment is a guarantee of personal defense; be it from an ill meaning passer by or a repressive government. In any event, 2^nd amendment interpretations aside, essential to maintaining the ideals of Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness, is the right to personal and property protection.

Separation Of Powers
In an effort to prevent any particular branch of government from abusing their power, the framers created a series of checks and balances to ensure the separation and sovereignty of its various components. In earnest belief that the legislative branch was created to pen our laws, the executive to enforce them, and the judicial to interpret them, checks and balances should be fully exercised to prevent any one branch from using their influence to accommodate component political agendas.

Smallest Effective Government Possible
Government is a necessary evil. Make no mistake; it is both necessary and evil. Government needs to be as small, in scope and scale, as possible, to allow the public the greatest amount of freedom to produce, compete, innovate, and engage in productive discourse; the very things that a large, overly-bureaucratic government would seek to suppress. This will cultivate the most productive environment for our country’s growth and sustainment.

Free Markets
Free markets have been, and will continue to be, one of the pillars of success for our nation. Free markets, with low regulation allow the rules of risk and reward to govern people’s decisions. Lessons learned from market failures continually streamline the markets and make them ever more prosperous. Government regulations, that socialize the risk while privatizing the rewards, lead to bad judgments and tax-funded government bail-outs. The markets need not be laissez faire, but government should have as little to do with them as possible.

Limited Government Intervention
Hand-in-hand with free markets, the government should not intervene in the lives of its citizens except where imminent life and limb instances could occur as a result. What food we eat, cars we drive, clothes we wear and items of similar standing should not be governed, except where we begin to impede the rights of others.

The preceding list contains what we believe to be the sustaining principles of the transcendent ideals of Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.

The first amendment to the Constitution of The United States of America is a gift. Many would argue that it is a right, but as we have seen throughout history, free speech has been denied again and again. In contemporary terms, free speech is thought to be all but universal. Americans can not fathom the thought of having their voices silenced; the thought of having a state-run press. And yet it happens every day in dictatorships and pseudo democracies the world over. Free speech is a gift. Thinkumentary is our realization of that gift…