Follow Through. . .

"The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions, that I wish it to be always kept alive."
~Thomas Jefferson

"There are only two things we should fight for. One is the defense of our homes and the other is the Bill of Rights."
~General Smedley Butler

OK, let's get real, people. I know we all can agree that this country's fucked up at the moment. The government has run amok, pursuing its own selfish, greedy, fascist/imperialistic agenda and has ceased to serve the will and benefit of the people. The Constitution has been denigrated to the point of insignificance. Checks and balances have been eliminated and the Executive Branch enjoys unlimited power and authority. Congress has cowed by removing Impeachment from the table and allowing another year of bloodshed of and by our military in Iraq. The corporate media is filling our every breathing moment with propaganda, pushing the population farther to the right every day.

"Paramount among the responsibilities of a free press is the duty to prevent any part of the government from deceiving the people..."
~Hugo Black, Supreme Court Justice

"We must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex."
~Dwight D. Eisenhower

Despite knowing all these facts, what are we doing? We write blogs, attend rallies, and join groups that supposedly align themselves with our values. Then what? After writing our measly rants, attending our rallies, and paying our dues, we go back to our safe little normal lives. We through away our protest signs in the Metro terminals. We carry on with our work-a-day consumer existence, just as we did before September 11. What good is this? What is this supposed to achieve other than making us feel better? Where is the anger? Where is the contempt? Where is the outrage?

"The voice of protest...is never more needed than when the clamor of fife and drum...is bidding all men...obey in silence the tyrannous word of command."
~Charles Eliot Norton

"A state of war only serves as an excuse for domestic tyranny."
~Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

How are our rallies, blogs, or group emails to Congress supposed to change anything if we don't change our lifestyles? We go right back to driving our SUVs, working our jobs, buying our comfort items--living in excess as good consumers. We remain calm and peaceful, orderly and evasive of conflict. How is this supposed to create change? How is this supposed to influence our Legislature or media? How is this supposed to win back our government?

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."
~Martin Luther King, Jr.

"I am not blaming those who are resolved to rule, only those who show an even greater readiness to submit."
~Thucydides

I think anyone who thinks that by peacefully assembling, petitioning Congress or submitting commentary to the news media will change anything is forgetting the struggle of our Founding Fathers. Those of you who are vets are forgetting your Oath of Service. That oath didn't have a statute of limitations. Even after our service contract expires, the oath remains. ". . . To defend the Constitution of the United States. . . from all enemies, foreign and domestic. . ." Right now we are sitting by watching as that same Constitution is rendered powerless under this administration. The provisions of the USA Patriot Act and the Military Commissions Act of 2006 are in direct violation of the Constitution in almost every aspect. Why are we Americans sitting by and allowing this to happen? Why are all veterans not speaking in outrage and the military refusing to fight? We cannot bring to others what we don't properly have at home. When our Constitution is subverted by our president, all military orders are from then on unconstitutional and illegal. No service member is obligated to obey any illegal command, whether given in peacetime or war.

For four years, we have protested. For four years we have petitioned Congress. Even with a Democratic majority in Congress, the attitude is the same, "Impeachment is off the table" and "We'll give it one more year." The Justice Department has been turned into a strong arm of the Executive Office and the Supreme Court has been stripped of nearly all credibility in exercising any independence or the honest pursuit of justice.

Let us not forget the struggles of our Founding Fathers. Let us not forget the nature in which our Nation was born. It was christened in blood spilled by wise and just men, for the greater good of all Americans. Are we not an oppressed people? Are we not forced to abide by a government that fails to acknowledge our will? Has our hum-drum, comfortable lives so completely insulated us from the reality of autocracy in our midst? Have we so completely forgotten the true nature and justification of the 2nd amendment?

We need more than just a shell of effort; more than just an impression of dissent. We must go beyond that to demonstrate a depth of intention that reaches our very souls. Our lives, our future, our Nation hangs in the balance. This is what's at stake. Will we just wait 'til the next election to be stolen? Will we realize a regime change that turns everything around? Can we afford to wait? How many more thousands will be killed in the meantime? If we sit by complacently, will not the blood of innocents be on our hands as well?

"There is no flag large enough to cover the shame of the killing of innocent people."
~Howard Zinn

Liberty and democracy become unholy when their hands are dyed red with innocent blood.
~Mahatma Gandhi

War is not the continuation of politics with different means, it is the greatest mass-crime perpetrated on the community of man.
~Alfred Adler

We, the People, have been ineffective in changing the direction of our government. Our efforts lack teeth--they are docile and incomplete. We must take action, it must be deliberate, directed and replete. We must show them what we are made of, what freedom and justice really mean to us. We will not cower to unjust might. For the sake of liberty and justice we will stand and fight.

"If ever time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall posses the highest seats in government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin."
~Samuel Adams

Very well said. I think though, that most people will not act much beyond the posting, blogging, joining in discussions and most of all VOTING! I do think that it will take another stolen election to bring about the level of outrage necessary for the type of action you seem to be advocating. We do have a chance to put someone better in our highest office and most people seem focused on that. I do agree that in the meantime, more soldiers will die and more innocent civilians will die and Bush will go on pushing the use of executive power in unprecedented ways to advance the right wing agenda at all costs.

looks like you'll be quite an asset to our little community. :patriot:

Things are changing. Our representatives are listening to us and investigating the regime. Millions of good people writing, talking, emailing, telephoning, marching and visiting are making good things happen.

Your are so wrong about giving up on peaceful action.

Is that Karma and Restitution?? I'm at a loss here, ClayZ. Help me out will you?

K is to kick the thread back to the top of the heap and R is for Recommending it. If 5 people recommend it ...up it goes.

Thanks for your service! Welcome to Du. And thanks for writing a great post!

do you have any ideas on what we can do besides what we're doing? I'd be very interested in hearing how you might resolve our inaction, short of armed rebellion.
Thanks.

The oath I took in 1963 is still operative.

I ranted about that oath on last year's Memorial Day. It appears nothing much has changed since then.

The Torture Act of 2006 really pissed me off. I completely agree with Justice William O. Douglas' thoughts on habeas corpus; we need to restore the foundations of this Republic. The sooner, the better.

J. Sagle suggested that things are already turning around, that peaceful action is having the desired effect. Well, how do we define acceptable progress? When do events become real change, more than just appeasement? The government can give inches here or there all day long, but still be taking miles elsewhere? And what of the miles that have already been taken--is getting a foot back progress or appeasement? How much is designed just to keep the people under control?

So long as we still advocate peaceful action, we are not a threat to the administration. Our entire political system has become a haven of "Contributor Quid-Pro-Quo". Whoever makes the largest campaign contributions gets the greatest influence in office. This is just as true for Democrats as it is for Republicans. Until we have publicly funded campaigns and mandated term limits in Congress, the common people will always play second fiddle in the orchestra of influence. Furthermore, so long as the media is corporately controlled, the people will be outwardly influenced by the same corporations that influence our officials.

When Pelosi announced before she took her new post that Impeachment was off the table, I knew this would be a lame Congress. Her loyalties lie elsewhere than with the people and the Constitution. Impeachment is a Constitutional right. No Speaker or other elected official can deny the citizenry of America the utility of any provision established and guaranteed by the Constitution. That was an act of subversion. Any official who takes any action to subvert the Constitution shall be Impeachable!

Even though the Democrats have a majority in both houses of Congress, that majority is not enough to override a Presidential veto. Furthermore, so long as most Republican officials maintain the "party line" then that will remain the case. They know that enough of the people can be manipulated by fear and religion to maintain support for conservative politics. Rupert Murdoch and the entire Evangelical Christian movement will see to this. We patriots are up against more than the President, his staff, and weak Congress--we're up against unregulated institutions that have no morals, no conscience, and will go as far as it takes to protect and expand their profits.

Thanks to the efforts of Ed Bernays, the collective mind of the people has been manipulated through mass media since the 1920's. I suspect all of us have lived our entire lives under the influence of mass media--be it marketing campaigns or governmental propaganda. We have been conditioned from the time we were old enough to comprehend. Just as September 11 was the catalyst of fear to rally the people to war, so too must there be a catalyst of justice to rally the people to exercise our rights as outlined in the Declaration of Independence and protected in the Bill of Rights.

We can still write, march, and vote. . . for now. We've had all these abilities all along. We've used them all along. Still, we have lost control of our government. So long as we can do these things we have the "impression" that we have an affect on government. That illusion keeps us in control--we're still Sheeple until we revolt.

"Naturally the common people don't want war; neither in Russia, nor in England, nor in America, nor in Germany. That is understood. But after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country."
--Hermann Goering

For those of us who have pledged that oath, we take it seriously. This is why we can accept no common ground with those that dismatle our constitutional rights and foundations and cannot tolerate those that will compormise it for any political expediency.

http://depression2.tv/d2/node/261

Complimentary to your post I think.

Cheers

That's definitely complimentary to my post. It's encouraging to know that I'm not alone in my frustration and passionate desire to enact a change. Let's see if we can't get more out of the woodwork!!