John: Are you surprised that lead contamination is still a problem in this day and age?
Franklin: Yes and no. I had hoped science would prevail but dared not underestimate the obstacles and inertia that tend to thwart its light. And, from your research, it seems that one of the most formidable opponents of mind and morality is lead itself – plus the acids in your water that magnify its mischief.
John: What do you suggest we do about it?
Franklin: First, realize that lead is a violence to the human being and to society itself, and that it threatens our nation's survival. Its action may be subtle, but in the long run it is as deadly as bullets – which themselves seem to be a surprisingly popular form of lead poisoning today.
Then act accordingly. Use all available resources to eradicate the danger. Confront it like it is a foreign army crossing your borders – which it is. The border is your blood-brain barrier. This enemy is even crossing the placenta and attacking the unborn.
John: How do we mobilize such an all-out effort?
Franklin: First you have to open the time capsule we left you.
John: Say what!?
Franklin: You're going to need tremendous resources and manpower to marshal the war against lead contamination. And that's going to take quite a bundle of Franklins. Ha! Especially those new bills with the ingenious anti-counterfeiting devices woven into the paper. You know, I used to use the image of a leaf on our Continental currency. . .
John: Ahem, Dr. Franklin, the Time Machine's meter is running . . .
Franklin: Yes, as I was saying . . . Oddly enough, you have forgotten about something very important that we left you – something that will provide you with all the resources you need to eradicate the threat of lead.
John: Please explain.
Franklin: Of course. During my final years I helped write our national Constitution. Originally, we were only going to amend the Articles of Confederation – a weak set of laws unfit for our new Republic. Under them, the Federal government was little more than a powerless debating society, a toothless tiger that could not protect Americans in an emergency.
Across the Atlantic, many kingdoms thirsted for new territories, and their eyes were still upon us. They saw seeds of self-destruction in our recent farmers' rebellion.
John: An insurrection?
Franklin: Yes. Many of these farmers had been Washington's soldiers. Still unpaid after five years, they were now losing their land. Under the Articles, we could not tax the states nor citizens to pay them. Would we even be able to raise an army in an emergency?
Nine days before enough delegates gathered in Philadelphia to start the constitutional convention, those who had already arrived dined with me. I remember the day well, May 16. We opened a cask of wine sent by an English friend. The company agreed unanimously that it was the best porter they had ever tasted.
Over the next week, we continued to meet and quickly realized the need to scrap the Articles and frame an entirely new government – one with the full power to protect its citizens in emergency situations, whatever they may be.
On May 29, the first day of business, the first speaker was Edmund Randolph of Virginia. He convinced the delegates of the need for a central government strong enough to assure survival in the face of threats both foreign and domestic. Thenceforth, we closed the meeting to public view and set at the task of framing a new government in order to accomplish this goal.
This fundamental protection became the centerpiece of the new Constitution, but for more than two centuries it has yet to be fully used.
John: Okay, what is it?
Franklin: You will find it in Article IV, Section 4, which says the United States shall protect against invasion and against domestic violence.
John: But didn't you mean insurrection, like Shay's Rebellion?
Franklin: No. That was just an example. We dared not limit the protection. We agreed with Hamilton that domestic dangers were "more alarming than the arms and arts of foreign nations."
In fact, near the very end of the Convention, on August 30, a motion was made to strike out "domestic violence" and insert in its place the term "insurrections." That motion was defeated.
We knew full well our capacity for self-destruction and did not wish to limit the protection to any one method then known – especially given man's historic ingenuity for violence. We had no doubt the future would bring forth unforeseeable forms of violence that could threaten Americans.
John: That's interesting. Today, domestic violence refers to spouse abuse and family violence.
Franklin: A most shameful form of violence, indeed. And from the alarming statistics it appears to be a genuine threat to the welfare and safety of Americans – especially for the most defenseless ones, the children. And it seems that lead plays a sinister role in this violence epidemic.
If the dangers of lead can be eliminated, then our citizens would be liberated from this chemical tyranny over their mental faculties – one that robs them of their very humanity. Ironic, in my day the tyrants wore crowns. In yours, they invade your crown.
The domestic violence clause gives you, the people, authority and resources to combat these miniature soldiers – and not just the army of lead.
Your pesticides, dioxins, and other newly invented industrial chemicals – your nuclear and electromagnetic radiations, too. All are crossing your last lines of defense. They are penetrating the brain and threatening the future of this nation, and the world.
What's more, I suspect your abundant electrical energy is also a player in this cacophony you created.
John: What do you mean?
Franklin: In my day, the only thing electrical we encountered was lightning. Now, the whole spectrum is vibrating with invisible sparks. To tell you the truth, it's starting to become very annoying. My ears are ringing . . .
John: We call it tinnitus.
Franklin: I don't know how you can concentrate or relax with all this interference. Ha, maybe you can't, and that's part of the problem.
I can think of no better time to use this provision. We included it in Article IV exactly for these kinds of insidious threats. Use it to protect yourselves. It is the heart of the Constitution that we created for your defense and for your welfare.
Now it's your turn to secure the blessings of liberty – for yourselves and for posterity.
John: Thank you, Dr. Franklin . . . You seem to be fading. Any final thoughts?
Franklin: Yes. I am dismayed at the violence wrought by an abundance of firearms in America, especially when the Second Amendment is used to justify their proliferation. I would ask you to reexamine the wording of that clause, and suggest that the operative word is "security."
"A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed."
This right was included to ensure the security of people in a free state. When this security is threatened – by not enough guns or by too many guns – then corrections are in order.
How you put the genie back in the bottle, though, will challenge the very mettle of this nation.
Adieu.
Throughout his life Benjamin Franklin often mentioned how much he wanted to see America hundreds of years after his time. Reciprocating the sentiment, many of us today probably wish Franklin were here – and his wit and wisdom brought to bear on our contemporary calamities.