Highway 431 Blog

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Thoughts From GK ::

And I heartily concur! From Whistle & Fish:

I consider myself a citizen of the world, and I firmly believe two tenets. First, that every human should have proper nourishment, adequate shelter, and minimal healthcare; we should all have meaningful work that empowers us to earn these things in a dignified manner; and we should be able to pursue them in peace. Second, since the first tenet seems an impossibility, I believe in the socialist principle, “From each according to his ability, to each according to his need.”

That said, I love the United States passionately. Outside my back door I reach down and touch Tennessee soil, American soil, and it thrills me. I feel about the United States Constitution the way most people feel about holy scripture. It stirs me, gives me hope, and challenges me to be a better person and a better citizen, both of the nation I am fortunate enough to call my own, and of the world. It is a document and a set of principles for which I would gladly lay down my life.

For the past seven years—at least—I have watched greedy, unscrupulous men and women wipe their backsides with the Constitution. I’ve seen them prey on human fear to enrich themselves, broaden their power, and marginalize the civil rights of ordinary citizens. I liken it to being tied to a chair and forced to watch the brutal gang rape of someone I dearly love: my mother, sister, daughter or lover.

Four of those seven years, Republicans controlled the House, Senate and Executive branches of government. During that time they regularly marginalized the will of “we the people.” When Democrats gained the House and Senate they did nothing to stop the process—or even slow it. They have let the most unpopular president in the history of the Union have his way with them.

And before you tell me this is simply politics and I shouldn’t take it so seriously, bite your tongue. This is no game and the Constitution is no ordinary document. I am appalled by the cavalier attitude of those who pooh-pooh the decline of our Democratic Republic. If this were happening in France, the streets of Paris would never be empty of protestors. Because the French, for all their faults, understand something Americans don’t: for democracy to thrive, citizens must be on guard against runaway government, and revolution must be an ongoing process.

In America we get no revolution. Instead we are offered Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and John McCain.

If Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and John McCain are the best and brightest America has to offer, we should be ashamed of ourselves. And if they are the the two-party system’s finest, the parties deserve to be pissed off.

Or pissed on.


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