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Technorati'It is Their Right, It is Their Duty, To Throw Off Such Government '
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.
-- Declaration of Independence, 1776
Since we declared independence from a tyrannical government 231 years ago, we've done the best we could with the idea of democracy. It hasn't been very good, but it got us by until a few years ago.
As we grew in population, wealth and power we created ever larger systems in both the public and private sectors. We mostly managed those systems with Command & Control, providing democratic processes and Constitutional "checks and balances" to keep power from accruing to individuals or private entities in government.
But in the last few decades the idea that the marketplace/private sector will provide everything people want and need, including their inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness - as well as self-government and equal justice - has seduced a lot of people, and gone unnoticed by too many more. That idea has eaten the heart out of the best experiment in democracy in the history of mankind, and put George W. Bush and Dick Cheney in Command & Control of our nation.
He is, at this Time, transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the Works of Death, Desolation and Tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty and Perfidy, scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous Ages, and totally unworthy of the Head of a civilized Nation ...
The Bush-Cheney White House has enlisted "Armies of foreign Mercenaries" (in this case multinational corporations) to do the works of death, desolation, and tyranny. These bright angels manipulate public policy and public funds: Big Arms - corporations that profit from making deadly weapons and materials for war; Big Energy - profiting from fossil resources, nuclear technology, and human poverty and overpopulation; and Big Brokers - of services ranging from student loans and health care to mercenary soldiers, "extreme rendition,"commercial spying, and propaganda for governments, businesses and ideologies.
It is increasingly evident that Bush and Cheney believe they Command & Control the U.S. government, its people and its resources, that they need not obey its laws, or even let citizens know what they do with our money, our government, our young soldiers and our venerable ideals.
A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the Ruler of a free People
And war. David Ignatius noted recently: "The insurgents who kill our young soldiers are ruthless ..." Well, yes. We may equally say that our young soldiers who kill insurgents are ruthless. They are trained and expected to be ruthless. Wars are contests of ruthlessness; the Iraq war is a race to new depths of ruthless.
At 19 my son wanted to be a Green Beret. "Why," I asked him, "do you want to become a professional killer in an authoritarian organization? "No, mother, you have it all wrong," he replied, "I don't want to be a killer, I want to be a survivor - I want to be better than everyone. If you slip up, you're dead, because you weren't good enough."
The appeal of the myth of heroism is strong: serious young Americans choose to risk their lives and their humanity by becoming professional soldiers. They make conscious, informed and courageous choices to kill and be killed in wars they don't choose, often for ideals they do not believe in.
Serious young persons of other societies also choose to risk their lives and humanity in personal acts of terror with explosives and improvised weapons. Because they recite unacceptable tropes like "Death to Infidels" we assume them to be deluded, misinformed and cowardly, deserving of death or torture.
At this time, dark angels of violence flourish in our whole society. We as a society propagate myths of good guys & bad guys, Good & Evil, heroism, sacrifice. We entertain ourselves with wars, war-games, crime, murder and mayhem. We justify torture and accept genocide. We tolerate a horrific level of gun violence, leaving the sale of handguns unregulated, and allowing people to hide guns in public. (If the point of owning a gun were deterrence, wouldn't it work better if the gun was visible? Aren't gun-owners proud to be packing?)
... it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government ...
It's time to declare our independence from "the works of death, desolation, and tyranny," and from "the circumstances of cruelty and perfidy" that led to them. It's time to recognize the unwisdom of secrecy and lying in democracy, the brutality of handguns and cluster bombs, the shame of torture and mistreatment of human beings, the dire consequences of myths of heroism and sacrifice, and the idiocy of the race to ruthless.
Each of us must deal personally with the dark angels of war, weapons, killing, torture and genocide. But it's time for loyal Americans to rise up and throw off the tyrants Bush and Cheney.
More: It is our right, our duty to impeach these unfit Rulers. Because if we do not restore safeguards to democracy and justice, there will be no life, liberty, or pursuit of happiness, and no future security, only endless war, more ruthlessness, and a polluted, depleted, hot planet, hostile to all life.
Caroline Arnold (csarnold@neo.rr.com) served 12 years on the staff of U.S. Senator John Glenn and is now active in community and environmental affairs in Kent, Ohio.
46 Comments so far
Show All"Why do you refer to the US as a democracy? It was never mean to be a democracy. Democracy is simply communism by stealth."
Dont be fooled by those who think communism is a government of the people, in reality democracy and communism are exact opposites because in order to achieve the communist state the people have to relinquish all control to the state, also called the "proletarian dictatorship", which takes control of the lives of the people, even its very property to distribute it arbitrariously among its citizens, under that concept the state or the liders of the state must protect the communist process even from its own citizens, thats why they called the socialist states "a government for the people but without the people"
Governments are not real entities, but are individuals acting alone or together to create and sustain an illusion of authority. Such individuals are usually ambitious, well-informed only about a few things, and think themselves capable of solving all types of problems merely by writing their ideas into laws. We are mistaken to trust them to act in our interest, except in the most unusual of instances.
What makes Bush's Rampage any less than Sadamm Hussein's Massacre? Both ordered the slaughtering of hundreds of thousands. Sadamm was hung, Bush is awaiting trial. Is Peace over the horizon? Will they ever turn their "spears into pruning shears" or does that refer to them? The Isaiah Wall at the United Nations is nothing less than an affront to God Almighty and I hope that soon he will rid us all of this hypocrisy. In the book of Revelation, it does say that, "God will bring to ruin, those ruining the earth." I too, wonder when? Could that time be near? Do you think God has had enough of man's inhumane acts of cruelty? I do! It looks like you all might be onto something. Rome fell and Jerusalem was sacked. Sodom was destroyed by fire and the floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, tsunami's, forest fires, snow storms and civil uprisings keep occurring. Is this not any indication that something cataclysmic is about to happen? Just food for thought! A "new heavens and new earth" is truly needed ASAP!
Sorry, my mistake. I forgot to call you guys idiots and morons. I apologize for the oversight. It won't happen again.
Aquarian Moon? Have we lost all sense of rational discourse? Patriot Militia and Siouxrose, you two are closer to one another than you think. One blind with hatred of Jews, the other blind with hatred of rational thinking. Both have tossed rationality out the window. Let's start a new progressive movement, based on astrology and hatred of Jews. There is hope for America!
This article starts out well and then degenerates into rambling nonsense.
It's nonsensical to attempt to attached concealed weapons permits and 'unregulated handguns sales' (which is a bald faced lie) to throwing off tyranny.
The final claim, to "impeach these unfit Rulers" is also nonsense. Impeachment doesn't work, obviously. And if we are really going to deal with the "dark angels of war, weapons, killing, torture and genocide", we're going to have to do a hell of a lot more then throw off Bush and Cheney. The entire military industrial complex would have to go too.
And just how do you propose we get rid of these monsters of mayhem? Vote our way to freedom?
It's time to GET REAL. There WILL be no "life, liberty, or pursuit of happiness, and no future security" on a polluted, depleted and overheated planet from here on out. I don't like it anymore then anyone else, but vague and powerless claims to regain control by "impeachment" or hand-wringing are ridiculous. There is a gigantic, global and monstrous apparatus at work to continue the death, mayhem, exploitation and destruction, and to have any hope for a future of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness would require the total destruction and dismantlement of this apparatus. And other claim it total bullshit.
Powerslave thanks for trying, but the Aquarian Moon today is rousing my Artemis and I can't let this one go...
to Patriot Militia: Why don't you just jack off on Mein Kempf?
mwildfire: I think you are on to something. I'm in if it can be organized. My past experience though, is that when these kinds of things are organized, I'm the only one who participates, and it's only going to be effective if a sizable percentage of the population participates. We recently had "Ride your bike to work" day here. I saw lots of bikes on the road. If that can be organized, maybe this can too?
I'm with Bongofury. We can't do it with guns (they have much bigger ones, and what is taken with blood will have blood all over it)and we can't do it with the vote as long as they have that game as thoroughly marked as they do now...but how about a genral strike? We demand that Congress impeach Bush and Cheney if there is an attack on iran or we demand that the money for the Iraq war be rescinded and used to begin bringing the troops home immediately (and some left over for reparations, with the stipulation that 99% of the jobs created in the rebuilding must go to Iraqis). If Congress does not do this, then the following Monday, nobody goes to work, or class, or spends any money. Back to normal Tuesday but if there is no action by the time the next Monday rolls around, we strike Monday and Tuesday, and the following week it would be a three-day strike--but they won't let it go that far. The beauty of this is that no one has to drive or fly to Washington DC, no one has to come up with lots of money for an action, no one even has to risk arrest. Just DON'T drive to work on Monday, or anywhere else; DON'T spend any money. We could use this little extra vacation for teach-ins and film showings and potlucks on a neighborhood level...
Mmm, lots of good comments.
gwmRNpozSC:
Obviously I'm concerned about the state of the US since I'm here. Something in your post felt right so I went to www.roage.com. Wow, he sure gets one thinking! So whatever the answers (or not), I guess we can always be open to learning. Peace and {} be with us.
My Friend Caroline: The days just seem to be getting darker. When you mentioned your son (you never mentioned him before) a shiver went down my spine. Yesterday while attending a men's recreational soccer match (my older son oragnized the league - he's crazy for soccer) a young man got up and smilingly said "Hi Mr. Lawrence - Dave McGurn, remember me?" Well of course I did. I had helped mentor him as one of our better young soccer referees. We talked about little things through the course of the game and and as he was going he said that he was leaving the area for awhile as he had joined the Army.
I knew that Dave had been a paint-ball war afficianado and had organized many "battles" here in the woods and fields around the township. A good Christian family he and his brothers and parents the nicest folks you'd ever want to meet.
The words caught in my throat. "I'm sorry to hear that" never made it to my lips. All I could mumble was "I hope you come back Dave." I've been there and done that and I wanted to tell him it wasn't a game and real people get real killed, and besides it's all a lie, and if you're doing this to go fight "those people" that those people have wishes and dreams also. I wanted to grab him and tell him he couldn't go, to tell him...Where to start?
Caroline your words and your thoughts have always inspired me, as you well know. Every day is getting harder, and I feel like I'm a stranger in a strange land.
Encouraged by the November '06 election results (before it became apparent that nothing was going to change) I called my county board of elections and volunteered to be a poll worker, answering an earlier appeal in the paper. Turns out they pay you for it. I would have done it for free. (Isn't that what volunteer means?) When the next election rolls around I'll find it hard to explain that I'll do my bit, but I'm not voting anymore.
AHHH! Now we have the truth. Those stinking JEWS are at it again. Thank you, patriot, for enlightening us. You can go back to your Klan meeting now.
Caroline, Caroline, Caroline,
Your quote from the Declaration of Independence about throwing off Government and your expression of your liberal, anti-gun bias are antithetical. Just how do you expect to do the throwing off? With the vote? Give me a break, the vote is dead. Arm yourself. The second ammendment was put there to protect the other nine. 150 million guns in this country is the only reason we aren't in camps yet. As Neo said in the Matrix. "We're going to need guns, lots of guns." Incidentally, CHENEY DID IT. Pass it on.
And I quote....
"Tar and feathers and then a nice public trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity. To include the others in the house and senate who enabled this bloodbath.
And then those who profited.
And those who manipulated the elections.
And those who used the media.
Pretty soon everyone is at fault.
funeocons July 1st, 2007 9:23 pm
And all those who benefited from it and didn't try to stop it.
You are right, everyone is at fault."
EVERYONE IS AT FAULT HERE. And mainly US, the PUBLIC. We have been nothing but accomodating to the tyrants that are stealing our lives away. They say, "Jump", we're all too eager to ask the proverbial, "How High?". It's our fault we're in this mess, because no one has the odacity to stand up for what they believe anymore, only what their told to believe by the slave masters in the White House. No one has the balls to stand their ground here, and the very few that do, stand alone, and wind up either dead, or in prison. If things are going to change people, it has to be through a group effort. Perhaps at the right time and in the right place, one man or woman can change things for the better, but in this day and age, there are just too many bad guys. In order to even out the numbers, there needs to be some coordination, planning, and initiative. The future of your children should be initiative enough. Look at the attempted terrorist attack all over the news in Europe right now. The U.S. stepped up it's security in response, and now everyone is buying into the fear-mongering that the Reptilicans and Demoncrats are spewing forth. Many of you don't realize this. Our life, our way of life, can change in one day, in one instant, at anytime, any day. It will only take one more attack, inside job or not. One more attack, and your current way of life becomes a memory. Think on that. It won't change the fact that we're all guilty of complacency, but any day that there is not an attack in this country, is a day we have to effect change before it is too late. Coordinate, Plan, Initiate... Assume nothing. Assume = Ass + U + Me
Perhaps some of you have noticed that you are receiving appeals for money from politicians and their political organizations (just what election year is this?). Here's what I have been doing: I write "Impeach Bush and Cheney first" on the sendback. It can't hurt. I am frustrated with Pelosi; I hoped her ego at least would urge her to make a real difference as the first non-male Speaker of the House.
"Nancy Pelosi will be denounced now and forever not for failing to impeach the President and Vice President, but for not having the courage to really try.
For this reason alone she deserves not to be elected again. For this reason alone she deserves to be shunned by all Americans."
Great posts and great article except the typo about Bush/Cheney/Corporations being "bright angels".
On peacefulness --
Do you remember the WWII appeasers? They did not want to force Germany's hand, but preferrred to sign treaties. Were they in the right?
Do you remember the WWII underground movement(s)? Do you think that they were constrained by a "achieve your ends by peaceful means only" requirement?
Do you think that our situation today is significantly any different than what they faced? Or perhaps the question is, if we "peacefully" allow things to continue as they are, in what period of time will we say that we have a Corporatocracy as Nazi Germany had? Should we remain peaceful now, and remain peaceful then too?
It's going to take more than words to fix this problem.
Ommmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
Ommmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
Ommmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
At this point I think a little supernatural inspiration from on high might not be a bad idea......
Wish Commondreams had a real life "mixer" in different regions. It would be fun to meet all you guys (and gals!).
VOTE RON PAUL for President 2008!
http://www.ronpaul2008.com/
For Liberty, Prosperity, and Peace!
For smaller less obtrusive government and lower taxes.
An experienced statesman with a proven track record.
-has never voted to raise taxes.
-has never voted for an unbalanced budget.
-has never voted for a federal restriction on gun ownership.
-has never voted to raise congressional pay.
-has never taken a government-paid junket.
-has never voted to increase the power of the executive branch.
-voted against the Patriot Act.
-voted against regulating the Internet.
-voted against the Iraq war.
-does not participate in the lucrative congressional pension program.
-returns a portion of my annual congressional office budget to the U.S. treasury every year.
Ron-
Thanks for correcting me. I'm totally discouraged with this system, right through to its very core. I could list the things "wrong", but it would be too long of a list.
I'm old, enough to remember discussions during the times of the black panthers concerning peaceful vs. non-peaceful, and how some in that group could see no other way to change this system.
Also, reading some of the posts here convinces me that as long as the other side uses violence, our side cannot win. And they have used violence, and use it today, and will use it with impunity whenever they feel the need.
So when I wrote what I wrote, it was not a flippant thing, but a studied thing. I don't care what they do to me personally. I'm sure it'll be a bad day. But something has to "give" here. All this talk is not doing much, unless I'm missing some evidence of progress. I don't see it. Every day brings another bit of news that is shocking, numbingly so. Should I just meditate?
How did a chickenshit bully like George Bush get away with declaring himself the Unitary President, essentially DICTATOR.
Easy, because "nobody who is anybody," disputed him.
The silence from Democrats and the Monopoly Media was deafening.
Cowardice give bullies power, and the only thing to check bullies is courage. None of our institutions or leaders opposed Bush, so he just kept grabbing power, and will continue to do so.
Only the "Little People," bloggers for instance, had the courage to dispute the "Decider."
.
Why do you refer to the US as a democracy? It was never mean to be a democracy. Democracy is simply communism by stealth.
Spent the weekend in the woods...with all the critters that live there...Watched the clouds in the sky...the stars..planets..and moon at night..the sunlight filtering through the trees...
Sat around the small campfire...Life is good...Only been around 112 years since the last of the Tribes were rounded up...put on the Reservations..or in prison...
Now it is your world...I am just passing through your world...doing love & peace...
If your world is this bad now...Things will only get worse...simple mathematics...
I don't think any of the Boomer generation has sufficient imagination or sense of imperative to undo the damage. The majority happily settled into the suburbs & conformist consumerism & technofascism.
The upper end of X'ers aren't much better, but the under-40s have received a political education like no other American generation in the last forty, or even seventy years has received.
Liberalism only extended the lifespan of the security state; the right wing wiped out its chief protector in the political process, and the new generations will not be as timid in handling the reactionary thugs.
When we have a President Pelosi we had better cease our partisan horseshit.
And all those who benefited from it and didn't try to stop it.
You are right, everyone is at fault.
Tar and feathers and then a nice public trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity. To include the others in the house and senate who enabled this bloodbath.
And then those who profited.
And those who manipulated the elections.
And those who used the media.
Pretty soon everyone is at fault.
The Constitution and Declaration of Independence are quaint and outdated documents. The war on 'tare' means that to enjoy freedom and democratic institutions we must blindly follow our dear leader, Bu$h the inferior.
Terrorism kills an insignificant % of the world's population. Tobacco, preventable disease and poor diet kill many more: not to mention Bu$h the inferior.
"I hate to say this, but I'm beginning to think we're too far gone. We're too big. Maybe the best answer is to break up and let regions become nations. I live in the South and can't really move to a more progressive area of the country. We could then form a confederacy or something. Kind of like the European Union. Our government has become unmanageable. We no longer have any control or means to hold the federal government accountable. I don't know the answers, but I sure have lots of questions."
If you go to www.roage.com he has a LOT to say about this, along with other things, and he points out that the ORIGINAL LEGAL DOCUMENTS referred to us as
the united States of America, and that legally speaking capitalization is everything, and how we went from being a REPUBLIC to a DEMOCRACY, what the difference is, and how we're really now just a CORPORATE-OWNED GOVERNMENT and why that is TRUE.
I'm not saying that man has ALL the answers, but he's thought a lot of this out, and I think, IMHO, very insightful.
We need to stop thinking about our "government" in the old, pre-911 Constitution way, and accept the fact that we are now officially battling a corporatocracy.
The only thing a corporation cares about is money, not little pieces of paper written a long time ago, not a bunch of feriners with electrodes shoved up their butts - money money money. Period. Hence, corporations actually live in fear of us - or, they live in fear of the day we wake up and decide no more money for you. And the only weapon we have at the moment is our money. Stop paying taxes, stop buying from the Exxons of the world, stop patronizing FOX sponsors, stop supporting candidates, etc. No money, no power - that's the America we live in today.
Fran, don't get fooled by yet more bs from the Democrats. Nothing will happen there. Most likely, they'll do some more symbolic votes, maybe something they know Bush will veto, then the veto won't get overridden.
Or the fine print of what comes out of the Senate will be so loophole ridden as to be useless. For instance, Pelosi is running around talking about language that will withdrawal all troops except those fighting terrorist, training the Iraqis, or protecting those forces and the green zone.
But guess what? That's exactly what Bush says they are doing today. So Pelosi's crap language changes nothing.
Do not trust, nor put your hope in the Democrats. They have no intention of changing anything. If they did, the money bills were the place to act, and there the Senate has firmly declared its support for Bush and the Pentagon. Now that they've acted directly against what 70% of the people want, they will need to do some cover-their-rear PR work to create the illusion they want change. All you are seeing in the Senate now is lying politicians trying to fool you in to not believing that you just saw them vote full money for the war.
The only goal of the Democrats is to deflect the anti-war energy back into their worthless, lying campaigns. They have no real intention of changing anything. If they wanted to change anything, they would have already.
Yeah, Gandhi had no luck at all without weapons.
Two things to do for fun this week.
Call this holiday "Independence Day" We are celebrating our independence, not the fourth day of the month.
Read the bits of the Declaration of Independence aloud that don't get read anymore in this country. Almost every speaker or TV yuck will read the bit about "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness", and then stop there like there is nothing more. Go on and read the bits to people ... the parts about how governments are instituted among men to protect and defend these rights, then the part the fabulous Ms. Arnold quoted above. Just make sure to read all of Jefferson's words, not the officially approved bits.
It is hard to throw off the government if you do not have weapons. Since progressives have been trying to disarm the American people since day one, I do not see it happening, not by progressives anyway. If the 100 million or so Americans who own firearms decide to change things, it might get interesting.
HanoverPa:
Now is the right time for extreme civil disobedience. Now is the time for revolution.
It gets stranger and stranger by the day.
There is no means but revolution to change our nation's course.
The key phrase would seem to be "... it is their right, their duty, to throw off such Government...". Will impeachment "throw off such Government"? Impeachment will dispose of Bush and Cheney. But then what? Removing Bush and Cheney will not, in my opinion, stop the "long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object". No, impeachment would simply give us a different pilot steering the same course: corporations and their puppet politicians would continue to wield control of the government. Corporations and politicians have a symbiotic relationship and are not about to yield their control (ie., their power and wealth making/amassing possibilities) to others who would, at the expense of these elites, strive for greater equality.
Is it now the right time for extreme civil disobedience? For trying to slow down/break down the fascist machine that has been guiding our country for so many years now?
Maybe.
Well, I'm in agreement with the sentiment expressed by Caroline Arnold, completely. And you may be right, 'ballsy,' that impeachment may never happen.
That's why I'm putting my energy into getting a short-term deadline for bringing our troops out of Iraq, because ending this immoral war will tend to restore our energy and will to change the other problems in this country, none of which can really change until we bring our forces and our money home.
Check out the website for this project:
www.wethepeopleforpeace.org
The senators are already turning in the right direction as we saw last week. This is something this Congress can do. Let's help them get the will to do it.
Fran
I hate to say this, but I'm beginning to think we're too far gone. We're too big. Maybe the best answer is to break up and let regions become nations. I live in the South and can't really move to a more progressive area of the country. We could then form a confederacy or something. Kind of like the European Union. Our government has become unmanageable. We no longer have any control or means to hold the federal government accountable. I don't know the answers, but I sure have lots of questions.
The only "reason" to vote ron paul is that you're an ignorant right wing hack who is either rich or wishes to shoot themselves in the foot by voting in a person who will speed up the expanding divide between the rich and poor.
nietzsche, it's the declaration of independence, but point taken.
impeachment is a good & necessary start, but it will never happen. to impeach the prez & vp would expose too much about how the US really works, and it would also expose complicity in their crimes at all levels of power in this country: dems, reps, congress, the MSM, corporate america (KBR, halliburton, blackwater, defense contractors, etc.) even SCOTUS. certainly america's most beloved and trusted institution of all, the military.
not gonna happen.
pfutrell: The "government" reads these posts. A call for revolution in peace time constitutes the crime of sedition; in war time it is the crime of treason. Are we in war time now? I don't know, but the difference is entirely semantic anyway; conviction of either crime will ruin your day. So always be sure to make it clear that you, like the rest of us who read commondreams, advocate peaceful revolution only. If we attain our ends by violent means, we are merely acting like those we oppose.
Remember the Maoist-inspired Shining Path? Their spokesman said: "Millions will have to die, but we will create a beautiful world." A world created by millions of deaths could not possibly be beautiful; a good end cannot come about through bad means. This country was born through military prowess and look what a mean bully we are now. Afraid to attack countries our own size but ever eager to teach little guys a lesson.
A note to all commondreamers: Let's stop praising military employment as "service." It's just another job, and one with ill-will at its core.
It's a good thing Arnold is quoting the constitution. Subversive talk like that could get somebody into a lot of trouble.
If we want to bring this government down a good place to start would be organizing a general strike. I advocate this because it has never happened in this country. They do it all the time in Italy and a new government is formed. IT works! Also, keep you guns clean and your ammo stored in a dry placed. Even Gandhi had an army to back him up if peaceful protest didn't work. We are human and as such are all hopelessly insane.
Faith and Constitution, Patriots.