Sitting in front of our televisions

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A

Sat, 17 Sep 2005 17:48:41 -0500

Sitting in front of our televisions

 

 

 

 

Sitting in front of our televisions, watching the latest

bloody overthrow of some government in a far-off land

on the evening news, most Americans are complacently smug

that we are guaranteed such a thing could never happen here.

 

Do we not have the greatest democracy

in the history of the world with a strong constitution

and carefully balanced branches of government?

 

Besides, it'd be unthinkable for some extremist bunch of crazed zealots

to storm the capitol and stage a forced takeover of our government.

But that's exactly what is taking place under our very noses,

only minus the blood and violence.

 

After carefully laying the groundwork over a period of years,

a radical wing of the Republican party is now in the process

of pulling off a bloodless coup.

Their mission, which has been quietly in progress

over the past five years, is to steal complete

and permanent control of the United States government.

 

By systematic and ruthless intimidation, sometimes by threatening

to ruin the careers of those who dare to follow their own conscience,

these radicals have succeeded in forcing most Republicans

in Congress to march in lockstep with their plan.

By intimidation and control of the mainstream media,

and careful but insidious manipulation of the American public,

they have managed to divert attention away from what they are up to.

And by subverting and controlling the election process,

they have come very close to infiltrating every level of government

in the United States from school boards to the presidency.

 

Slowly but surely, policy and laws are being enacted

to curtail freedoms we've always taken for granted,

such as freedom of speech and personal property rights.

We now have " free-speech zones " which " protect " politicians

from ever being exposed to dissidents and protestors, and soon,

if you choose to symbolically burn the American flag

inside one of these zones, you will be immediately arrested.

 

In some cases, people been turned in to law enforcement

and even the FBI for being overheard by their neighbors

speaking negatively about the president.

And now, thanks to a decree by the U.S. Supreme Court,

local governments may now legally seize your property

to turn over to private developers for " economic development. "

 

Is the highest court of the nation on our side or the side

of politicians and big business? That's a rhetorical question.

 

Of extremely serious concern are the laws being introduced

and passed that are gradually concentrating the majority

of governmental power in the Executive branch, slowly relegating

the other branches to the role of doing the bidding of the president.

The White House has been pushing for lifetime appointments

of radical right-wing judges, in order to be assured

that the Judicial branch will be dominated by those

who will rubber-stamp whatever the White House wants to do.

 

The Legislative branch is already there.

This virtually assures that the White House

will never be held to account for anything,

no matter how illegal.

 

If there remains any doubt whatsoever that this bloodless coup

is indeed taking place, that these self-serving

radical ideologues are, in fact, attempting a permanent takeover

of this great nation of ours, consider a bill

 

-- HJ Res. 24 -- that was introduced in February, 2005,

to repeal Article 22 of the U.S. Constitution,

calling for the elimination of the two-term limit for the presidency.

 

If this passes, it will all but insure that the president will rule for

life.

 

You argue that we still have free elections? Think again. Florida and Ohio

were proving-grounds for the wonder of computer voting and being able to

engineer the outcome of an election.

 

So how is this more than just partisan majority politics? Just ask

yourself these questions:

Does this current United States government represent all that you have

ever believed to be good and right about our nation?

 

 

Is kidnapping people off the streets in foreign countries by our CIA and

sending them off to other foreign countries to be tortured something that

America stands for?

 

Is permitting depleted uranium to be used in the manufacture of munitions

that cause sickness and birth defects in the people they are used against

as well as our own soldiers something America stands for?

 

Is forcing religion into politics and into our laws so as to make all but

one religious doctrine seem unpopular and even wrong something American

stands for?

 

Is bombing countries to smithereens who have not threatened us something

America stands for?

 

Is lavishing huge tax breaks on the richest citizens while health-care

programs for the poorest children are all but eliminated something America

stands for?

When our government no longer represents all of its citizens, but instead

represents only the interests of big corporations as well as the very

wealthiest in the land at the expense of the rest of us, then this is no

longer the America of the people, by the people. It is a fascist regime.

 

Has it gone too far? Is it too late to rescue our democracy from this

brink of disaster before we fall off the cliff into totalitarianism? I

don't think so. After all, there are only a few of them, and millions of

us Americans who love our country.

 

But what can we do? The answer is something so simple but at the same time

not easy to do. We each need to speak the truth, despite our leaders

trying to force us into thinking it's unpatriotic and un-American just

because this happens to be a time of war. Saying the truth about what is

wrong about our government is the most patriotic thing an American can do.

If you believe the president is wrong, say so.

 

If you believe war against people who haven't threatened us is immoral,

say so.

 

If you believe that shooting at enemy ambulances and blowing up their

hospitals is not a noble way to fight a war, say so.

 

If you believe that torturing prisoners in our custody is sadistic and

wrong, say so.

 

If you believe that denying any group of citizens in our society basic

human rights is un-American, say so.

 

If you believe that one small segment of society imposing their religious

beliefs on the rest of us, in the process preventing the advancement of

science that could cure the scourge of disease, is wrong and defies common

sense, say so.

 

If you believe that our government is wrong in protecting big corporations

at the expense of the well-being of individuals, speak up and say so.

A hostile takeover of the United States government is underway, and it's

happening from inside the capitol. But you don't need to join the

resistance that, no doubt, will soon be marching on Washington. No arms

need to be taken up, and no blood needs to be shed. All that needs to

happen is for each one of us to stand up, right here, right now -- stand

up for what is right, and dare to speak the truth. It won't be the whimper

of one voice, but the roar of many that finally topples this unholy gang

of thugs who want to steal America from us