Inside My Fascinating Mind - Part 2
by bobby_p at 7/17/2008 1:18:11 AM
I do not consider myself a Republican or Democrat, although I have voted Republican more often than not. I tend to chose those I vote for on their stands on individual issues, rather than ingest the pabulum spewed by the leadership of EITHER party. I suppose, if I must have a label, I’m an independent free-thinker.
I believe that if this country is to survive, it needs to return to its constitutional roots, and keep out of unnecessary foreign entanglements, i.e., we should have troops in Afghanistan, but not Iraq (the subject of an upcoming column.) We have strayed too far from the ideals of liberty and personal responsibility upon which this Great Republic was founded.
The Constitution, as originally written, was not intended to give power to the new republic, but to specifically LIMIT its power – and that was the beauty of it. With this document, Americans were given the freedom to live their lives as they saw fit, free of the oppressive British Crown, and with limited interference by the new government. Over the years however, our elected officials have desecrated the Constitution by changing it in order serve their own selfish needs, rather than the needs of the people for whom it was written. Our elected leaders seem to think that remaining in office is the end all, be all, of their purpose in life, when their purpose should be to SERVE the people and carry out their wishes.
American colonists, loyal subjects of the British Crown, were being taxed and smothered by King George, yet their interests were not being represented in Parliament – and that is why they rebelled. All they really wanted was a voice in their own governance. The Declaration of Independence clearly spelled out why they intended to sever their ties to the British Monarchy.
Preamble to The Declaration of Independence
“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, deriving their just Powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new guards for their future security…”
Since the terrorist attack on 9/11, President Bush has singlehandedly changed the way we are governed to a point where the Framers could quite possibly feel justified in fomenting a second Revolution. At the very least, they would turn over in their graves if they knew how our individual freedoms have been curtailed, and our personal privacy invaded, in order to protect the citizenry as a whole from the threats posed by Muslim extremists. As Americans, our lives are over-legislated, over-regulated, and over-taxed. We no longer have the freedom to live our lives as the Framers, or God, intended.
Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin, John Adams and their contemporaries, would be aghast if they saw the state of our union today. The United States was founded on the model of the early Roman Republic. If you doubt that, please take a look at pictures of the monuments and other government buildings in Washington D.C. Remember, Rome was the greatest empire the world had ever seen up to that point in history, but at the height of its power, the empire was laid waste, when Rome was sacked by the Vandals and the Huns - Barbarians at the Gates. Interestingly, these forces were considered at the time to be part of the Roman Empire, but they too were not adequately represented in the Roman Senate.
Granted, we face entirely different challenges, and threats, than any other nation in the history of the world. Therefore, we need to create new defenses to protect ourselves from the deadly, bloodthirsty, and horrific threats facing our nation – indeed, ALL nations - but not at the cost of our civil liberties, which were paid for with the blood of our forefathers, as well as that of the brave men and women, soldiers, airmen, and Marines, who shed blood daily in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Today, we face the same dilemma as ancient Rome, but our Barbarians are Islamo-Fascist terrorists who would like nothing better than to see this Great Republic fail, and fall, just like the Romans. Their argument is so weak, that they must resort to the most Demonic forms of terrorism to achieve their aims. They brutally behead any who fall into their clutches, and use suicide bombers to kill innocents whose only crime is going to the market, randomly murdering women and children to advance their bloodthirsty ideology.
These insane bastards even stoop so low as to strap bombs to retarded women, setting off the explosives with a cell phone remote control. Who were the victims in this incident? Families looking for pets in a Baghdad market. Nobody is safe anymore. Muslim extremists respect no boundaries, kill and maim innocents who have never harmed them, and will never stop unless we stop them. And “We” includes sane, moderate Muslims who are tired of these animals twisting the message of the Koran to justify wanton, wholesale murder, and then hide like cowards - finding sanctuary among civilians, and the Muslim communities in western countries. The unfortunate situation in the United States is that we seem to be doing our enemies work for them. The changing face of The Constitution will be the subject of my first column.
As an ardent patriot and a student of history and Enlightenment thought, I feel compelled to share my opinions with as many people as possible. I want to thank you all in advance for taking the time to read my column – for some reason, calling it a “Blog” just doesn’t feel right. I will inevitably piss off a few people, but some readers may come to see, and hopefully understand, a viewpoint different than their own - taking away a new understanding of the issues confronting us as individuals, and as citizens of the world in which we live - One mind at a time.
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