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Cross-posted from EENR Blog
http://www.eenrblog.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=622
Government's New American Manifesto (+)
by: poligirl
Thu Mar 27, 2008 at 06:31:05 AM EDT
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(posted from an earlier rendition, but it is, in this political climate, timeless, unfortunately for us...)
I have been thinking lately about that old quote from Nobel prizewinning author Sinclair Lewis: "When Fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross."
Thinking in terms of the past several years of the Bush 43 Administration, I can't help but draw many parallels; from the claims of "compassionate conservatism" to Bush consistently trotting out his faith, as a way to reassure that we're on the side of the angels and being led by a guy who is a really devotedly religious fellow. And we all know about the patriotism, or lack thereof, that has been regularly employed in an attempt to stifle any dissent. "Wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross." How easy it would be to take over this country simply equipped with well-crafted and sellable rhetoric...
Like several of my fellow citizens, many Democrat or Libertarian, but Republican as well, I worry that what began in the name of "protection" of our "homeland" has evolved, blatantly and more rapidly as time goes on, into a raw power grab consolidating ultimate power in a "unitary executive," which is essentially a fancy name for a king.
poligirl :: Government's New American Manifesto
So have we come full circle as a country? From throwing off the chains of oppression by a monarch and attempting our experiment of a free republic to letting a new "monarch" take over our republic just a mere 231 years later? What does that say about us? What does that say about our fear, which seems to be guiding our reactions to this usurpation? What does that say about how much we've let the terrorists (both constitutional and otherwise) take from us?
I would be forced to conclude that perhaps we are coming full circle; there is still some time left to stop the procession towards monarchy again (and by using "monarchy" I am using the nicer word, even though tyranny may be a more apt description at this point.) It is also clear to me that the citizens in this great country don't care to exercise the advanced citizenship we are afforded; we simply don't care; as long as we are getting ours, we have a collective "it doesn't affect me" attitude. Most people won't realize that anything is different until they are told that they can't do or have something. But by the time this happens, it will be too late to rectify without some sort of coup or revolution.
By letting our government have carte blanche because of our own indoctrination that the downfall of the country can ONLY come in the form of violence and physical destruction, we have given them tacit approval to remake the fabric of this country that the founding fathers so carefully wove for their grand experiment. The reason for the separation of powers was specifically to prevent one branch from becoming the main power branch. The theory of the "unitary executive" is a theory proposed by conservatives who clearly don't truly buy into the "strict constructionist" ideal, though many of them do claim to be proponents of so-called "original intent." Being a proponent of a "unitary executive" and a subscribing to "original intent" or "strict constructionist" views are contradictory at best and hypocritical and nefarious at worst.
Even the theory of "original intent" is conclusive that the framers put all into the constitution that they (in collective agreement) thought suitable and necessary to guide the nation. Nowhere in there is anything close to a "unitary executive." That is unless you are a judicial "activist." And it would be the height of hypocrisy for those who have so vocally claimed that they are "original constructionists" and have railed against judicial "activism" to back such a brazenly "activist" reading of the constitution. If they do, they are simply political opportunists, and not worthy of leadership positions, including positions on the Supreme Court.
Clearly, to me, the terrorists are winning and must be laughing as we not only make just about every mistake we possibly can regarding the Middle East, but as we sit silently by while the powers that be attack, surreptitiously, the very fabric of our nation. The million dollar questions are how much damage has been irreversibly done already and how much more will be done before the citizens of this country WAKE UP!
Like the quote from Sinclair Lewis at the beginning: "When Fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross."
We need to WAKE UP!
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