Let Freedom Ring

As I watch the events that are shaping the future of America, a growing sense of disbelief and sadness overwhelms me—as Republican state after Republican state adopts voter suppression laws in this country. To me it is a slap in the face to every man and woman who served, died or was wounded either physically or mentally to protect the freedoms that Americans cherish.

My father's generation sacrificed their lives to rid the world of "fascism", or as Mussolini called it "corporatism", an unholy alliance of the rich, aloof business class, a subservient military, prepared to obey even the most horrific orders—for "the homeland"—and an authoritarian government—that sought the enslavement of the "ordinary people"—all to satisfy rantings' of a megalomaniacal lunatic.

Those who saw the death camps first hand —that were euphemistically referred by cynical Nazi propagandists as "work camps"—were shocked to the core and were then outraged, by the piles of unburned corpses and the sight of walking skeletons—the victims of the same nexus of power hungry Nazi elite—the so called Übermensch. The "super race".

Those images were so shocking to me they still haunt me to this day as much as when I saw them in a LIFE magazine pictorial about WW II as a child—I can only imagine the devastating impact they had on the young soldiers who witnessed the sight first hand when accompanied by the sounds human anguish and the stench of rotting human flesh.

Many young soldiers who bore witness to such inhumanity said it was the first time they understood that, that was why they were fighting. It brought home to them in the most profound way the meaning and promise of America. It changed them forever. It changed America too.

That same vivid atrocity also struck Americans at home in their souls and played a large role in the accelerated end of segregation of the military under Truman—and a generation later, the expansion of voters rights, the end of the shameful Jim Crowe laws in the south, and the sham of "separate but equal education"—they were rightly exposed as just another form of oppression and completely intolerable to the vast majority Americans. Equality for all was the lesson of that generation! All men were created equal, reverberated in the American heart.

That sense of "equality and justice for all" sparked the Civil Rights movement and led to the Voting Rights Act—that liberalized and expanded democratic participation to every African American citizen finally keeping promise of full participation by all Americans in their own governance.

The Voting Rights Act was the fitting legacy of the aftermath of WW II—a culmination of a struggle that began with "emancipation" the slaves of the south nearly one hundred years earlier by a Republican president.

Today—because of voter suppression—that legacy is in peril.

Commentary: There are some things worth dying for—liberty is one of them. There can be no liberty without the right to vote—it is the foundation of all other rights. That is why Republican attempts to suppress that right are so utterly contemptuous in their implementation—it is so anti-American it is inconceivable to the vast majority of Americans—yet it is happening in every "republican held state" in the nation. In my view there is something fundamentally repugnant about a political party, that is so desperate to gain and maintain power they would deliberately engage in such treasonous behavior. It is a stunning repudiation of the sacrifices American veterans have made.

In a now infamous October 16th 2005 memo from Citibank* some of their the top executives, declared America, "a plutonomy" and except for **the peoples power of the vote they were advising that the rich would only get richer at the expense of the working and middle class. Their fear of a working class uprising is being realized in the current mobilization of the Occupy Movement. America wake up and rise up, now is the time to take back our country from these self-proclaimed "Masters of the Universe." These same plutocrats—who take everything and give nothing— keep us so focused on the enemies outside and pitting us against each other—that we fail to see them as the enemies of democracy in our midst.

A young Marine, Scott Olsen, who served his country for two tours in Afghanistan—who sustained head injuries that impaired his speech—not in Afghanistan—but at a Occupy Oakland protest—said with great eloquence, "I took an oath to protect the Constitution from enemies both foreign and domestic, that oath did not end when I took off my uniform." "I was simply exercising my first amendment rights to peacefully assemble and ask the government for a redress of my grievances."

I was moved by his courage and feel the same today as I did, when I too took that same oath as a young man. Duty bound to honor it. It occurred to me that it's time—that all Americans—whether you served in uniform or not—need to take, or reaffirm that oath—to protect and defend the Constitution against all enemies both foreign and domestic. It reads:

I, (NAME), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.

If not us—who? If not now—when?

We are the people.

We are the government we elect.

They cannot buy "our" government.

They cannot suppress our votes.

* ELITIST BASTARDS - Citibank Plutonomy Memo Scandal - YouTube

**commonsense: America:The United States of Plutocracy.

Voting Rights Act - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Time For Bloody Revolution: What Jefferson Didn't Say.

Michelle "if I only had a brain" Bachmann, the perennial embarrassment to Minnesota, has once again shown her stupidity by misquoting Thomas Jefferson and using that misquote as a call for a "bloody" revolution.

Bachmann is treading on dangerous ground and this is the second time she has used her platform, as a, nationally elected official to call for armed insurrection against the United states.

The people of the United States including the people of the State of Minnesota, in overwhelming majorities elected Barack Obama as their President and choose Hope over Fear in the last election. This was done in accordance with the mechanics of the Constitution of the United States of America, set forth by the founding fathers, that allowed for a peaceful transfer of power and, therefore, precluded the need for a "bloody" revolution.

Her utter lack of understanding of that disqualifies her from holding office. How can you defend and protect the Constitution if you are willing to ignore it and bend it to your own personal views? The people rejected Michelle Bachmann's views and the views of her Party and voted for change in the last election cycle.

Unlike, Michelle Bachmann, who is a moron—and frequently attacks intellectuals as elitists—Thomas Jefferson was a massive intellect and who knew that men's natural rights to freedom needed to be protected, he was considering how that could be accomplished short of a bloody revolution every twenty years. Which was a major concern at the time. Jefferson's "musings" about the nature of "bloody" revolution were not included in the Constitution, because, his expression of that thought, prior to the actual writing of the Constitution, led to the construction and mechanics of a Constitution that allowed for an ongoing peaceful revolution and how that peaceful transfer of power should take place—by voting and limiting the length of terms in office.

The fact Bachmann misunderstood the context of the quote and has used it to call for an armed insurrection against the Constitution, she claims to, "love", disqualifies her as a Representative, and is a breech of her oath of office, "to protect and defend" the Constitution.

How can you protect and defend what you don't understand? She is a radical reactionary, and dangerous to the peace and stability this country, and should be recalled, and if she incites the violence she is advocating she should be tried for sedition.

Michelle, If bloody revolution were ever to be considered I have Two Words: PATRIOT ACT. Where were you then?

That's when; YOU and your fascist regime signed away OUR rights to private phone calls, OUR right against unreasonable search and in many cases OUR freedom of speech.

That's when; YOU and your fascist regime were, kidnapping American citizens and holding them without trial or legal counsel.

That's when; YOU and your fascist regime were, torturing prisoners of war in my name.

That's when; YOU and your fascist regime, approved Special Forces Death Squads.

That's when; according to YOU, true American Patriots could no longer hold political beliefs (opposed to yours) and they should be considered, "Un-American" and investigated.

That's when; YOU and your fascist regime, authorized, and sent, private mercenary paramilitary, armed with automatic weapons, to prowl the streets of a floundering New Orleans, instead of sending them the help they desperately needed.

If anything is apparent, it is that the views YOU hold, ARE definitely Un-American. You don't have the first clue what this country is about or what its founders were talking about, and which, YOU and your fascist regime tried to destroy.

Sign the petition to recall Michelle Bachmann at:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/297/petition-to-recall-rep-michelle-bachmann-r-minn

What's in a word?

INalienable or UNalienable?

Does it matter?

I suggest that understanding the difference makes all the difference.

The context of language at any point in history is of primary importance when trying to understand the ramification of a word.

There was a debate about the two words, as originally written by Jefferson, who at first used the word inalienable to describe the rights that naturally flow from a humans' mere existence. His choice was based on his personal beliefs, which while not atheistic, precluded a belief in a personal creator from whom natural rights flowed. Today he'd be called agnostic. Some would argue that Jefferson original word should be used, but that is sophistry, and a moot point, the truth is the word unalienable was a definite choice that was ratified unanimously at the time and not subject to revision without a Constitutional amendment.

The fact is that, Jefferson and John Adams both understood that there is a distinct difference between what Jefferson was saying and the intent of the Declaration of Independence. INalienable rights come from the government and pertain to civil rights. UNalienable rights come from a higher source of life that cannot be given or taken away. To be clear Adams viewpoint won the day and UNalienable was used and unanimously adopted by the Framers.

Why is that important? It establishes intent. It tells us that the framers looked at every word that went into the Declaration and the meaning of every word held significant ramifications (consequences) and carried great weight.

They did not say anything they did not intend and they were precise to a fault. That is why its important—they were writing this document for us, their progeny.

As understood by the framers at that time.

INalienable is a right that can be given or taken away it can be bought or sold, in those times, it literally meant, property that could be placed in (a) lien (offered as security). It was transitory. It was the argument used by pro slavery advocates, to buy and sell African-Americans, who were considered property, sub-human, a class apart from the protection, set forth in the Declaration and therefore not subject to the Human Rights.

UNalienable is a right that cannot be taken away. It was a right that was and is un (a) lien able (it was fixed and unassailable). It was irrevocable, never to be taken away.

Given the fact that this Declaration was a condemnation of the monarchy's right to grant or not grant rights to his subjects the framers wanted to make sure that it was crystal clear that they rejected that presumption outright and choose UNalienable to ensure that distinction.

Today we act as though the two words are synonymous but within the context of history these two words had significant and different ramifications. To be sure there is a deliberate attempt by the far right to obscure the difference, which makes it even more important to preserve the Declaration as it was written.

UNalienable rights refers to individual human rights that cannot be abridged.

Human rights are universal rights, or status, regardless of legal jurisdiction or other localizing factors, such as ethnicity, nationality, and sex—that by their nature cannot be taken away, violated, or transferred from one person to another. They are considered more fundamental than INalienable rights, such as rights in a specific piece of property.

The debate over Prop 8 is about that very distinction.

Is the right to marry who you please, a human right (unalienable) guaranteed by the Declaration—or—as the proponents of Prop 8 argue, is it a civil right (inalienable) like issuing a drivers license to be regulated by the state?

The Declaration says: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain UNalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men."

It cannot be argued too strongly that, marriage is certainly, a basic part of life that promotes individual happiness, and we are at liberty to pursue and marry anyone that makes us happy. What heterosexual would tolerate being told, you cannot marry at all, or you cannot marry that person.

The states sole function in any marriage union is to witness the legal contractual aspects of the marriage for the purpose of real property that becomes part of that contract. Their only other restrictions apply the to age, and familial ties (cousins, siblings etc.) Which could also easily apply to homosexual unions. (period) They cannot bar the human rights of an entire class of citizens. It is true that we have both inalienable and unalienable rights which is confusing to us today, but what is not confusing is that the government is instituted to secure our human rights and not to abridge them.

It is indeed ironic that the radical, religious, far right are using—Thomas Jefferson's, an avowed agnostics', original word—INalienable, to prove their point. And once again shines the bright light of hypocrisy on their very UNchristian viewpoints. Ken Starr cannot be allowed to confuse this issue of fundamental Constitutional Human Rights with Civil Rights, and the difference between UNalienable and INalienable.

What's in a word?

The difference between—Life, Liberty, the pursuit of happiness and the repression of a whole class of citizens.

The Tyranny Of The Majority

The founders set the course of this Nation and it has wondered through its brief history with the steadiness of a drunken sailor. Lurching from the abomination of slavery to the bloody conflagration of the Civil War that ended it. From the shameful cloud of cruel genocide of the American Indians, from which it never emerged, to an uneasy détente to the belated an begrudged liberation of its women. From the tyranny of the Jim Crowe laws a legacy of the Civil War to the Civil rights Act of the 1960's.

Now once again a minority languishes in the grip of America's odious history of suppression. According to the self righteous right, Gays are less equal under law than other American's. So once again those without the slightest understanding of the founders intent, who wrap themselves in the flag and use it to deny the rights of others, let me say to you; NO. No you will not turn my country into an authoritarian theocracy. No you will not prevail, as long as there is one person that understands the true meaning of the Constitution we will fight you to the death. I am a real American patriot who loves my Country and will give my life to protect not only my rights but, the rights of every American. We are NOT A DOMA NATION. DOMA WILL NOT STAND. PROP 8 WILL NOT STAND.

Because, the Constitution of the United States is the Supreme Law of the country no State can pass a law that supersedes the Constitution, period. We fought a Civil War to establish that very point. Any law that violates an individual right is null even if the State or States in question passes a law that is direct violation of the Constitution. The word "marriage" is a semantic devised to deprive individual rights just like the Separate But Equal laws (Jim Crowe) that were passed after the Civil War to continue to deny the rights of blacks in the South. We settled that issue in the sixties and passed the Civil Rights Act that did away with those "laws." If the law or a law deprives anyone of an Unalienable Right it's a bad law and it will be challenged eventually and it will be struck down. Like it or not.

My question to you is, What do you gain when you deny someone else a right you claim for yourself? Certainly you must realize that in America everyone is equal under the law and that is the true American ideal. Freedom and equality under law. Without that America is just another rudderless ship-of-state adrift in the world and nothing very special. That was and is the true ideal that the founders shed their blood for; not some Rambo right wing fictionalized machismo bullshit.

By the way, originally "marriage" was a a contract that conveyed the woman in the union to the man as his property, she was his chattel, there was nothing "holy" about it, it was usually arranged to strengthen political alliances or to consolidate wealth. The woman had little or no say in the affair, it was strictly a business deal and frankly it has meant different things to different people, especially women, throughout history and the word "marriage", is no excuse to deny anyone's rights.

Would you really deny someone else the ability to make a legal contract that binds their life to someone they love? I understand that you may feel squeamish about the subject based on your personal beliefs, but how can you in good conscience be so petty as to strip another's rights to protect your personal idea of right and wrong.

That's why the founders wrote the Constitution so that we are not subject to the whims of others. This is not a debate that can be won it is a moot point, Prop 8 is unconstitutional. Its right wing sophistry to argue otherwise.

A Time For Change

We live our lives in a narrow context of personal history, family, friends, marriage, births, deaths, but, some events bring us out of ourselves and demand that we become aware of the broader picture of history. Such an event occurred Tuesday June 3rd 2008, when an African American man was nominated to become the Democratic, presidential standard bearer. His Name is Barack Obama. His mantra has been Change You Can Believe In.

The nay sayers and so called conservative right wing, belittle change as rhetoric without substance, ignoring the fact that from the foundation of this nation, freedom demanded change and that, that change, was forged in the crucible of revolution. What is revolution, but, the epitome of change?

When oppressed by a monarch the founders sought a change in the status quo and through violent change if necessary. Their enlightened manifesto declared that all men were created equal, and that they could, and should throw off the shackles that bound them to that old order, in an age where kings and tyrants were the only form of government men had known. But, not all were inspired and the Tories with their conservative mind set sought to cling to the past to preserve their privileged life style. They were defeated.

When those ideals expressed by the founders fell short this nation went to war—at the cost of hundreds of thousands of lives—with itself to seek a change that extended that expression of freedom even further, that civil war led to the emancipation of blacks.

We have a constitution that calls us to change over and over again, and as Lincoln put it, "to listen to the better angels of our nature". The Constitution is our beacon, a guide and conscience, a moral compass that always points towards freedom and equality no matter the cost.

We as a nation continuously call on the world join us to change and are willing to send our young men and women to force change as we did in World War Two. We set Europe on a democratic course that has seen Europe change from despots and monarchies to democracies. All the while we maintained segregated black army units under the Jim Crow laws white legislatures had enacted after the Civil War.

In my lifetime I saw a small petite woman named Rosa Parks refuse to give up her seat, and force a change in the fundamental rights of blacks. She began a tidal wave of change that culminated in the final death of the oppressive Jim Crow laws that continued to subjugate blacks in this country for over one hundred years after blacks had been emancipated by Abraham Lincoln.

I saw a black man exhort a nation to share his dream to change its racist nature and embrace ethnic diversity so that a man was judge by the content of his character not the color of his skin. He was murdered by a conservative mind set that feared that change. The nation changed anyway. Lyndon Johnson signed an all encompassing Civil Rights bill.

I saw the youth of this nation demand change in the conduct and an end to the prosecution of an unjust war. A conservative mind set responded with tear gas, billy clubs and finally the murder of students at Kent State. Which brought about the very change they feared, the war came to an end, but, the communists did not take over the world.

Looking back through the prism of my personal history and the broader history of this nation I see change need not be feared, it needs to be embraced. The message of change resonates in our very souls as Americans.

History shows us that we have often fallen short of achieving the full promise of equality and freedom the founders intended, but, because we will not allow the flame of liberty to be extinguished by our fear, we pick ourselves up and advance its cause one change at a time. Freedom and equality are not static things that once written can be put on a shelf to be admired. They are ideas that must be written on our hearts and proclaimed by our words and brought to life through our actions. The world will once again take note of Americas' journey towards the fulfillment of freedom and equality for all.

As a 64 year old white male it may seem odd that I can identify with Michelle Obamas' statement of pride in her country, but, as a patriot I too, have never been more proud of my country and its promise, than at this time.

Sweet Land Of Liberty

What's wrong with this country? I could write a list a mile long, if I thought about it.
But, that's not where I want to dwell on this cold January morning.

Today, for this time, and in this space, I'd like to express why this country is worth every drop of blood we have shed to establish and defend it over the past two hundred and thirty two years, since the Declaration of Independence was signed.

I just read a blogger's latest post. Her username was, "carebear". She was trying to express something admirable to write about America, to a foreigner who had ask her: "What's so great about America?" Her response was, to be kind, rather tepid. There was no fire or spirit, or pride in the answer which clearly left her feeling somewhat embarrassed. I could tell from her response that she was young, and didn't have a true understanding of the legacy she and other young Americans were about to inherit. She said she was a Fillipina. In a real sense, that is one of the beauties of this country. Every one of our family trees started somewhere else. Even Native Americans came from Siberia long ago.

So, "carebear", from an older American who still cries when the national anthem is sung, and is steeped in the history of this wonderful country, I'd like to give a very short list that you can share the next time someone asks you, What's so great about America?

1. The Constitution
We are a nation of immigrants, founded by immigrants, on the principle of law. Not just any law, but the mother of all laws. The Constitution which establishes, a government, of the people, by the people, and for the people, and protects the rights of every citizen. It says we are all equal. It says we have a right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

That is not startling news anymore. But, it rocked the world when it was written 232 years ago, because there was not another country on the face of the earth that protected the rights of the individual.

If you lived anywhere else at the time, you were basically a slave in the service of whatever monarch or war lord on whose land you may have been living. You lived and died a slave and all of the fruits and products of your labor belonged to the king. He could kill you if he wanted.

2. The Bill of Rights:
The Bill of Rights state without equivocation what your rights are under the Constitution. One of the most important rights enumerated in the Bill of Rights is the freedom of speech. We have the right to say what we want, to criticize the government, to criticize our institutions, to criticize our fellow citizens and to criticize other countries. In many countries, the punishment for speaking-out can be imprisonment, or even death. In America it is not just a right, but, a responsibility and civic duty. In fact that is what this blog is about.

Other Freedoms it enumerates are freedom of press; freedom of religion; freedom of expression; freedom of ownership of private property; freedom of marriage; freedom of employment; freedom of assembly; freedom of education, and freedom from cruel or unusual punishment. Even law-breakers have rights. The government cannot cut off a part of your body like in some other countries.

Would you like to live in a country where a woman is raped and then she is arrested for adultery, which is a capital offense by stoning? Would you like to live in a country where a woman is murdered because she fell in love and had an affair, and her murders were not brought to trial because she had dishonored her family? Would you like to live in a country where your government hunted you down because you weren't a Muslim? I could go on, but, I think you understand that there are places in the world that still live in the Dark Ages.

3. Public Education
We are a country that boldly declares all men were created equal in the eyes of God. The government can not hold us back from reaching your full potential. And in someways it even demands that you reach that potential. It requires that every American child is educated at public expense. There was nothing like it anywhere else in the world at the time. Education was for the rich and upper classes. With an education you can reach your maximum potential, even become the President if you can meet the requirements of the office. Which means there is are no cast systems, where you are destined the stay an untouchable the rest of your life, like there is in India, for example.

Lack of education is sadly why other countries are not able to compete in the world markets. That is still true in much of the world. Some countries only educate the men. Some only provide a very limited religious education that leaves its people warped, without knowledge to improve themselves and the world they live in.

That's why it saddens me even more when I see young Americans squander the opportunity to enrich themselves, and don't take advantage of that education, because they are America's future and the world's best hope of remaining free.

4. The Spirit of the American People
I've listed this as the fourth item, but carebear, its probably the most important item on the list, because the first three items, sprang forth from the enlightened minds and spirits of our immigrant fathers. Those first Americans were the first people in the world to govern themselves. It was those people, armed with those rights, that recognized that with those rights went tremendous responsibility.

The spirit of the American people is what:
Freed themselves from the yoke of oppression by a foreign king;
Abolished slavery by paying a heavy price in blood by forcing its own citizens to respect all human life;
Fought Two World Wars to save other countries from the oppression of Kings and Dictators and then rebuilt those enemy nations as democracies;
Ended the oppression of blacks by state governments from Jim Crowe laws;
Enforced the rights of blacks to education and enacted laws specifically to protect them;
Fought Communism, that enslaved its people, and freed Eastern Europe from its grip;
Sent more aid to impoverished countries than any other nation on earth;
Created the Peace Corp that sent its best and brightest young people around the world to help others;
Put men on the moon and advanced the technology;
Creates more new medical technology;
Been more willing to fight wars and shed their own blood to free others from the oppression of cruel dictators.

Finally dear, carebear, you are a Filipina, but, honey, first of all be proud to be an American. Learn about this country and what it stands for because it is a precious inheritance and deserves more than, "its OK I guess." I could go on with an endless list of other contributions this country has made to the world, but, I hope these will give you enough information, so you'll never be embarrassed ever again about being an American.

My grandmother was a wonderful woman who told me stories about my family history. The lesson that taught me was this, we find pride in knowing where we come from, that's also true about knowing the history of this country. The blood of many Americans fell on foreign soil, so that other people in the world could be free, including the Philippines. That might be a good place to start learning about the American Spirit. World War Two in the Philippines. God bless you. And God bless America.

Question for discussion: What's right with America?

My country, 'tis of thee,
Sweet land of liberty,
Of thee I sing;
Land where my fathers died,
Land of the pilgrims' pride,
From every mountainside
Let freedom ring!