Do You Love America?
No matter how much we might disagree about politics, ideology, even lifestyle, there is one place where we must all surely agree. That is that our American heritage - our country and the Constitution that has given us our way of life - must come before all other issues.
No temporary gain, no matter how important it may seem at the time, is worth the risk of undermining the protections set out in the Constitution. These protections have allowed our Democratic Republic to flourish for over 200 years. Throughout those years, wise men have warned us that we must be vigilant and not take for granted the freedoms we enjoy. Now is the time to heed these warnings because we can see them evidenced by what is happening in our country today.
Benjamin Franklin warned that the Republic would last about 200 years before greed took over and destroyed it. Do you see evidence that greed is tearing the fabric of our society? Isn’t it there in the financial scandals like Enron and WorldCom; in the subprime mortgage crisis that is bringing our current economy down; in the outsourcing of manufacturing resulting in lead in our children’s toys, poison in our pet’s food, and a growing lack of confidence in our food supplies?
Franklin Roosevelt, when our country was threatened, told us that we had nothing to fear but fear itself. Do you see evidence that fear is the impetus for allowing us to go against the most basic beliefs that we as a country stand for? Isn’t it there in our complicity by silence in the suspension of habeas corpus; in the acceptance of torture as necessary; in allowing our government to claim it must break the law in order to save us?
Dwight D. Eisenhower warned us about the military industrial complex: when he said, “We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together. “
Do you see evidence that liberty is suffering in the name of security? Isn’t it there in the warrantless spying and abuse of national security letters; in the use of signing statements to hijack the Legislator’s constitutional authority to make the laws for our country; in the excessive misuse of executive privilege to thwart the constitutional authority of Congress to executive oversight?
If we continue to allow greed, fear and the might of the military industrial complex to decimate our Constitution, we will wind up with an America that resembles other “Democracies” like Russia and Pakistan but bears little resemblance to the Democratic Republic we have known and loved these past 200 years.