The upcoming election
Nov. 3rd, 2006 06:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jaunthieI've been fairly quiet so far on the upcoming election, mostly because a) I've had a ton of other things going on, and b) because to me the issues are so clear cut. If you like the way things are going in this country right now - if you like the way the war in Iraq is being run - if you're okay with the idea of the Geneva conventions going out the window and the death of habeus corpus - if you like the ruinous fiscal policies - if you're okay with the Republican majority's congressional "accomplishments" over the last five years and its track record - if you don't mind being spied on or thrown in jail with no requirement for a warrant, charges, or legal representation - then go ahead and vote for a Republican congressional candidate (or Joe Lieberman, who is in their back pocket). If you DON'T like the way things are going, then vote for a non-Republican, or stay home. It's really that simple. And it's definitely patriotic. I've had Thomas Paine in my head the last few days - a little surprising since I haven't read Common Sense in years, but so much of it is appropriate to where we are now:
"THESE are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated. Britain, with an army to enforce her tyranny, has declared that she has a right (not only to TAX) but "to BIND us in ALL CASES WHATSOEVER" and if being bound in that manner, is not slavery, then is there not such a thing as slavery upon earth. Even the expression is impious; for so unlimited a power can belong only to God."
"To BIND us in ALL CASES WHATSOEVER". It was taxes then; it's the "War on Terror" now. The Administration would like you to believe that all of its abuses and atrocities are somehow necessary to victory in this "war", but what can we win when we lose the very essence that makes this country great, the very freedoms that we have fought and died to obtain, and the economic future to ensure our continued existence? We are in scarcely a lesser case now than Paine expressed then, with atrocities against the Constitution, the economy, and plain and simple common sense. In some ways, the threat is even more dire; our President has said repeatedly stated that he is above the law, that he is not bound by the legislative acts of Congress, even those that he signs. And the Republican-controlled Congress has rolled over and let him do it. Paine has it right:
"Yet panics, in some cases, have their uses; they produce as much good as hurt. Their duration is always short; the mind soon grows through them, and acquires a firmer habit than before. But their peculiar advantage is, that they are the touchstones of sincerity and hypocrisy, and bring things and men to light, which might otherwise have lain forever undiscovered. In fact, they have the same effect on secret traitors, which an imaginary apparition would have upon a private murderer. They sift out the hidden thoughts of man, and hold them up in public to the world."
The "War on Terror" and the gerrymandered panics about terrorism has indeed exposed the hidden thoughts and character of Bush, Rove, and the men and women like them. We must take control of our country back from those who cynically manipulate truth and ignore reality in order to further their own personal fortunes and causes at the cost of our country's good. That take-back starts 11/7, and it starts with each and every person who votes to remove the Republicans from their majority in Congress. Don't be a summer soldier; be a winter soldier, and a true patriot. Fight back against the tyranny that has grown up around us, that in many ways we have allowed to happen.
"There are cases which cannot be overdone by language, and this is one. There are persons, too, who see not the full extent of the evil which threatens them; they solace themselves with hopes that the enemy, if he succeed, will be merciful. It is the madness of folly, to expect mercy from those who have refused to do justice; and even mercy, where conquest is the object, is only a trick of war; the cunning of the fox is as murderous as the violence of the wolf, and we ought to guard equally against both. "
Don't fool yourself. The current powers in Congress are corrupt, as untrustworthy and destructive to the common good as Paine's metaphorical foxes. True conservatives know that this Congress and this Administration is no friend to conservatism. True Christians know that "What Would Jesus Do?" does not include waterboarding, lying, and protecting pedophiles for political gain. True patriots support the soldiers who are fighting for us in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere with everything from care packages to voting them better leadership in Congress and in the Commander-in-Chief slot. Whether you call yourself a Republican, a Democrat, a conservative, a liberal, a libertarian, or an independent, if you look at the facts surrounding what has happened in five years of one-party rule, you can agree that it's not been good for our country.
And if you have no idea about any of the above-mentioned issues, or if any one of those things is a surprise to you, for Gods' sake stay home on November 7th. The country doesn't need any more decisions made in ignorance or in blind faith.
"THESE are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated. Britain, with an army to enforce her tyranny, has declared that she has a right (not only to TAX) but "to BIND us in ALL CASES WHATSOEVER" and if being bound in that manner, is not slavery, then is there not such a thing as slavery upon earth. Even the expression is impious; for so unlimited a power can belong only to God."
"To BIND us in ALL CASES WHATSOEVER". It was taxes then; it's the "War on Terror" now. The Administration would like you to believe that all of its abuses and atrocities are somehow necessary to victory in this "war", but what can we win when we lose the very essence that makes this country great, the very freedoms that we have fought and died to obtain, and the economic future to ensure our continued existence? We are in scarcely a lesser case now than Paine expressed then, with atrocities against the Constitution, the economy, and plain and simple common sense. In some ways, the threat is even more dire; our President has said repeatedly stated that he is above the law, that he is not bound by the legislative acts of Congress, even those that he signs. And the Republican-controlled Congress has rolled over and let him do it. Paine has it right:
"Yet panics, in some cases, have their uses; they produce as much good as hurt. Their duration is always short; the mind soon grows through them, and acquires a firmer habit than before. But their peculiar advantage is, that they are the touchstones of sincerity and hypocrisy, and bring things and men to light, which might otherwise have lain forever undiscovered. In fact, they have the same effect on secret traitors, which an imaginary apparition would have upon a private murderer. They sift out the hidden thoughts of man, and hold them up in public to the world."
The "War on Terror" and the gerrymandered panics about terrorism has indeed exposed the hidden thoughts and character of Bush, Rove, and the men and women like them. We must take control of our country back from those who cynically manipulate truth and ignore reality in order to further their own personal fortunes and causes at the cost of our country's good. That take-back starts 11/7, and it starts with each and every person who votes to remove the Republicans from their majority in Congress. Don't be a summer soldier; be a winter soldier, and a true patriot. Fight back against the tyranny that has grown up around us, that in many ways we have allowed to happen.
"There are cases which cannot be overdone by language, and this is one. There are persons, too, who see not the full extent of the evil which threatens them; they solace themselves with hopes that the enemy, if he succeed, will be merciful. It is the madness of folly, to expect mercy from those who have refused to do justice; and even mercy, where conquest is the object, is only a trick of war; the cunning of the fox is as murderous as the violence of the wolf, and we ought to guard equally against both. "
Don't fool yourself. The current powers in Congress are corrupt, as untrustworthy and destructive to the common good as Paine's metaphorical foxes. True conservatives know that this Congress and this Administration is no friend to conservatism. True Christians know that "What Would Jesus Do?" does not include waterboarding, lying, and protecting pedophiles for political gain. True patriots support the soldiers who are fighting for us in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere with everything from care packages to voting them better leadership in Congress and in the Commander-in-Chief slot. Whether you call yourself a Republican, a Democrat, a conservative, a liberal, a libertarian, or an independent, if you look at the facts surrounding what has happened in five years of one-party rule, you can agree that it's not been good for our country.
And if you have no idea about any of the above-mentioned issues, or if any one of those things is a surprise to you, for Gods' sake stay home on November 7th. The country doesn't need any more decisions made in ignorance or in blind faith.
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no subject
Date: 2006-11-04 04:03 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-11-05 05:24 am (UTC)That being said, I do have opinions on the various initiatives themselves. Some I'll vote for, some I'll vote against, and some really make me wonder what the heck people were thinking.