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| Is This The USA? |
My ancestors came to America in the mid 1700's, at which time the Northwest Territory included what later became states we no longer think of in those geographic terms. One of the family had what I was told was an original land grant that comprised what is now Allegheny County. From my grandmother I remember stories from the Civil War era that she told and her brother had in his possession a full Union uniform but there were family also located in the opposing Confederate side of that conflict and I cannot help wondering what they would be thinking about present day America if they were here today.
Today is March 15, 2003, and the country is teetering on the brink of war again, but only in rhetorical usage is that word accurate because Congress assigned their power of declaring W-A-R over to the president by passing a resolution allowing the executive to assume their duty. This has effectively destroyed the balance of power so presciently crafted by our forefathers in the Constitution. Further erosion of this precious document is also being fostered by using situational excuses to suspend the principles within it that provide the basis for the strength of our particular brand of governance. I do not think this bodes well for the future.
Another disturbing feature is the ever increasing per centage of citizens being non-voters. There are studies of this phenomena, one done at Harvard, and others can be accessed through the various internet search engines. What it means to me is that non-voters are having more influence than the actual voters because by opting out of the process there is greater opportunity for the extremist ends of the political spectrum to grab power and before the silent majority wake up, some really distorted interpretations and actions are getting legitimized.
The moderate centers of the major and minor parties in the country need those non-voters to become informed and make a practice of exercising their privilege before being further steam rollered by the more activist oriented extreme portions of society.Hopefully this will change and maybe one day I will hear a loud sonic-like sound when thousands of those Americans pull their heads out of the sand.
In a recent address to the country the president by some portion of his address seemed to have the wrong idea of his number one obligation. For review, here is the presidential oath of office which is in the Constitution, Article 2, Section 1, last paragraph before Section 2.
"Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the following Oath or Affirmation:-" I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."
My opinion is that before all the war rhetoric is used the horse should be put in front of the cart and he should go back to Congress and request a declaration of war. Using the dodge of a resolution as was also done for the Korean, Viet Nam and other military actions, is allowing too much latitude in behaviors that do not retain that delicate but so necessary power division especially as the global reality becomes more and more complex. More about this in later pages.
Of major concern is the loss of control to corporations due to the campaign financing realities. We are now supposed to consider ourselves represented when in fact the House, Senate and President are fully indentured to their corporate contributors Even when modest improvement gets through the legislative mill, as is the case in the McCain-Feingold attempt to wrench some of this back to a lesser degree of influence, the Republican opposition is splitting every hair to scuttle this effort. The FEC is diligently working at loopholing to the utmost this bilateral effort at minor change.
What we as a country then have in the seats of power are either the very wealthy that can contribute a high portion from personal riches, or candidates whose abilities have nothing to do with qualifications needed to effectively serve in government, but are whizzes at fund-raising through old-boy network connections.
So what is your comfort level with the status quo? Are we seeing a serious diminishment of our ideals while still espousing that they are functiong pristinely? Is the country in an acute stage of denial about political reality? Does wisdom come with wealth, I think not necessarily.
Nor should we forget at our peril, that might does not make right. Are we about to repeat in reverse the RED-COAT effect?
Maybe before I finish this it can be announced that the so-called war is already over and it shrank into such a short period of time that it didn't even happen.
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| Now it is nearly two years since I wrote the above, many have fallen. We are living in strange times, a victory is claimed but the fighting and falling continue. American military killed are now 1500 and counting. But no counting of the civilian victims.The media is of little help in finding the truth. The internet eventually is going to be the only possible avenue to accomplish that, because politics is now, more than ever before, a war also. Marketing masks as propaganda. | Are we risking annihilation of the human species if we continue to use war as the tool for settling conflict? I have just finished reading Chris Hedge's book " War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning".I would recommend it even though I find the title misleading.When completed, I will be posting my views on the book on the Bookview pages. |
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