More than merely a companion piece to his bestselling book of the same name, Ned Ryun’s documentary film, American Leviathan: The Birth of the Administrative State and Progressive Authoritarianism, further explores and explains the perils the proponents and practitioners of the unelected, unaccountable federal bureaucracy pose for our constitutional republic.
A project of American Majority and Iron Light, which was directed by Jason Rink and edited by Keith Wahrer, American Leviathan commences with Mr. Ryun as our narrator, and we are subsequently led through the labyrinthine Leviathan with the able assistance of both intellectual and political defenders of our freedom, who describe the origins and aims of the Administrative State (as well as its subgroup of intelligence and police power-wielding entities known colloquially as the “Deep State.”)
These devotees of “first principles” and “permanent things” include elected officials, such as U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Jim Banks (R-Ind.), and Rick Scott (R-Fla.); and U.S. Representative Chip Roy (R-Tex.). Further, the documentary also interviews intellectual luminaries from academia, MAGA-aligned “think tanks,” and practical policy shops: Mark Corallo, Steve Cortes, Rachel Bovard, Wade Miller, Mike Davis, Bradley Watson, Elle Prunell, and Jeff Clark.
The impetus for Mr. Ryun’s documentary is succinctly put by Mr. Bradley Watson: “‘Our Democracy’ has become synonymous with an embrace of the Administrative State. Anything the Administrative State is doing, anything the Deep State is doing is identified by the left with ‘Our Democracy.’ And, in fact, it is the enemy of our constitutional republic.”
He is correct.
The American Revolution affirmed that our rights come from God, not the government; that the citizenry is sovereign; and that government’s legitimacy stems from the consent of the governed and ability to protect our unalienable rights.
Consequently, Mr. Ryun’s documentary reveals the Administrative State and its concomitant progressive authoritarianism constitute nothing less than a deliberate, counter-revolutionary attempt to end our constitutional republic by restoring the primacy and control of government over the people, regardless of our consent. Bluntly, the only difference is that instead of a named king asserting a divine right to rule, we are to be lorded over by a faceless bureaucracy that is no less arbitrary, capricious, and illegitimate than George III.
Some may doubt the danger to our constitutional republic, often by being unable or unwilling to recognize the seismic leftward tilt of the modern Democrat Party. But Mike Davis, founder of the Article 3 Project, succinctly disabuses anyone of that passe perception:
We are not dealing with our parents’ or grandparents’ Democrat Party. These are not Liberals who love America, and who just disagree with Conservatives on the best way to get there. These are leftists. These are Marxists. They do not believe in free speech. They believe in censorship. They do not believe in equality. They believe in equity. They do not believe in due process and equal protection under the law. They believe in a politicized and weaponized justice system to go after their political enemies… We need to wake up and understand we are dealing with Marxism. We are dealing with an evil force that hates America, and they’re trying to do whatever they can to destroy us from within.
That such an anti-American agenda is not likely to receive the consent of the governed explains why the left supports infusing and empowering the unelected, increasingly unaccountable Administrative State (and the equally unelected and insulated federal judiciary) to impose it. As Rachel Bovard, while noting its intrinsic elitism, baldly states:
It [government] doesn’t serve the people anymore…
…I’m talking about concentrated government power—the people who have the ability to control how you live think a very certain way. And they think they know more than the people who founded this country. They think they know more than the people who make up this country. And they think their job is to impose their view on the rest of us… They cloak it in a way that [dissent] is blasphemy, and this is treason, and this is all the things that are not allowed in America; and you should be jailed for disagreeing with us.
Interestingly, one may be tempted to think that opposition to the Administrative State Leviathan comes solely from the right, notably President Trump’s Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement that is determined to “drain the swamp.” Yet, as Steve Cortes perceptively notes, this is not necessarily the case, as there also currently exists a populist movement on the left:
Because [the Administrative State’s] consolidation of power—it’s not just about political power, although that’s crucial—the consolidation of power is also about the consolidation of economic power and that’s why we see such massive disparities. And here’s one of the few places where I’ll actually agree with some of the folks on the populist left, some of the “Bernie Bros.” Look, income inequality, wealth inequality is a problem in this country. It absolutely is, and much of it is fueled by the Administrative State, because what’s the easiest way, the best way, the quickest way to get really successful in this country? It’s to be connected to the Administrative State as a private actor—an ostensibly private sector actor – actor—but one who is deeply embedded to the Administrative State, [such as] power brokers, particularly ones in Washington, D.C.
Time will tell whether the populist left can set aside partisan cant and hear the invitation offered by Mr. Cortes and other populists on the right to help dismantle the federal Leviathan. It would behoove us all if the Bernie Bros and others on the left would do so. As the silver-haired sage Mark Corallo posited, the stakes for our constitutional republic involve us all:
Americans have a decision to make: Are we going to be serfs to a feudal Administrative State or are we going to throw them off and be free born Americans again and recapture our rights—our God-given rights—that are enshrined in our Constitution and the Bill of Rights that our Founders understood was the absolute purpose of government?
For those who have made their decision to seize freedom and save the republic, I urge you to visit Mr. Ryun’s website, AmericanLeviathan.com; and consider becoming active in his grassroots organization, American Majority. And, of course, if you have a friend who is in desperate need of sixty minutes of mental emancipation from the Operation Mockingbird media and the cultural detritus of post-modernist, left-wing culture, by any and all means urge them to watch this documentary.
The life you save may be that of our constitutional republic.
An American Greatness contributor, the Hon. Thaddeus G. McCotter (M.C., Ret.) served Michigan’s 11th Congressional District from 2003-2012. He served as Chair of the Republican House Policy Committee; and as a member of the Financial Services, Joint Economic, Budget, Small Business, and International Relations Committees. Not a lobbyist, he is also a contributor to Chronicles; a frequent public speaker and moderator for public policy seminars; and a co-host of “John Batchelor: Eye on the World” on CBS radio, among sundry media appearances.
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