- What is beyond the looking glass?
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- "And certainly the glass was beginning to melt away,
just like a bright silvery mist. In another moment Alice was through the
glass, and had jumped lightly down into the Looking-glass room."
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- Over a year ago, the comfort of my world severely diminished
as I took my journey through the looking glass and discerned the ugly truths
about the nation of my birth, the United States of America. "Logic
and proportion certainly seemed to have "fallen softly dead when I
discovered that much of what I had learned about my country as a child
had been a lie. My world was turned upside down. Now I passionately pursue
my goal to share my awakening with many others so they too feel inspired
to struggle to preserve the excellent qualities of America and to eradicate
the rotting decay.
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- Virtually each day I sift through a wealth of information
I glean from books, the Internet, and sometimes the mainstream media. I
also read (and respond to) many of the hundreds of emails I receive. Supporters
of my writing email me with thanks and observations. More neutral parties
send me information or viewpoints I had not considered and point out factual
or logical flaws in my essays. Antagonists and critics hammer me with ad
hominem attacks, invitations to leave the country, and even death threats.
I offer my thanks to each person who writes me. I welcome support for obvious
reasons, additional information expands the limits of my knowledge, and
attacks inspire me to pursue social justice with a renewed intensity.
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- As my base of knowledge and volume of communication with
people on political matters have increased, I have become increasingly
certain of an unpopular conclusion. Certainly it could be much worse in
America in some respects, but if one drills a bit beneath the surface,
the putrid stench of corruption and inhumanity is almost unbearable. The
United States of America is governed by an aristocracy with globally imperialistic
ambitions that is preparing to sweep away the remaining vestiges of our
Constitutional republic. My viewpoint is based on a wide array of eclectic
sources. While many derive comfort from labeling themselves and following
the herd, I align myself with neither conservatives nor liberals, Democrats
nor Republicans. I pledge allegiance to no party, flag, or government.
My loyalty is to my Higher Power, my family, my friends, my fellow human
beings, and to myself.
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- US democracy: the best government "The Moneyed can
buy
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- America's apologists can deny the reality to their dying
breath, but the truth is that the United States of America as a democracy,
a republic, or a free society is a fraud. While our nation was founded
on high principles, even our founders fell far short of the standards they
set for themselves. Many owned slaves, despite the fact that they may have
had misgivings about it. Some, like Alexander Hamilton, desired an overt
aristocracy because they did not trust the "people" to govern
themselves. Virtually all of our founders were wealthy, white land-owners.
Throughout its history, this nation has failed to deliver on the promises
of its Constitution. Even Lincoln, one of the finer men to serve in the
Oval Office, did not end slavery out of moral considerations. The Civil
War and political pressures led him to pursue the abolition of that abhorrent
institution.
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- In spite of the Emancipation Proclamation and the subsequent
Thirteenth Amendment ending slavery, Black Americans have continued to
face tremendous oppression, abuse, and racism throughout America's history.
The feeble response of the federal government to the crisis in New Orleans
(a predominately Black city) and Bill Bennett's recent repugnant remarks
provide poignant evidence that bigotry and racism are deeply ingrained
into American government and society. As it continues to pour $5 billion
per month into an illegal occupation in Iraq, the federal government plans
to cut entitlement programs to pay for the reconstruction of the city of
New Orleans. This will render a significant blow to the impoverished victims
of Katrina and to many other poor Americans, regardless of their race.
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- Despite intense opposition by the wealthy elitists who
dominated America's government, throughout much of the Twentieth Century
groups and movements fought to utilize the mechanisms available through
our Constitution to advance the cause of social justice. The Women's Suffrage
Movement, the Wobblies, the Socialists, the ACLU, the Civil Rights Movement,
and many others employed non-violent means to gain unprecedented rights
for women, the working class, Black Americans, children, the poor, and
other minorities. Many paid for their "crime" of standing up
to the ruling elites through loss of their careers and reputations, prison
time, beatings, deportation, and even assasination. Thanks to these brave
individuals, the soulless worshippers of money were curtailed in their
oppression of the people, at least for a time.
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- Stop! You have gone FAR enough.
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- Richard Nixon was a felon, but the Watergate scandal
was rather insignificant when one considers that his presidency marked
the advent of a new "Gilded Age". Starting with the Nixon era,
Social Darwinism began to recapture the hearts and minds of many Americans.
While fancying themselves to be part of a pluralistic society resting on
the pillars of freedom, equality, justice, and democracy, many denizens
of the United States have willingly enabled their government to become
one of the most avaricious, corrupt, and covertly repressive entities in
history. Nixon, Reagan, Bush I, Clinton, and Bush II have worked feverishly
to advance the "noble causes" of the enrichment of corporate
America, the expansion of the American Empire, the steady erosion of the
populist gains made during the Twentieth Century, and the substantial increase
in the wealth chasm between the rich and the poor. When we see Ronald Reagan's
face enshrined on the $50 bill, we will know that the tyranny of the wealthy
elite has reached a milestone in convincing average Americans of the "righteousness"
of their cause. Few worked harder than Reagan to advance their agenda and
to bring the social justice movement to a screeching halt.
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- Who needs the Constitution?
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- Consider the circumstances of Jose Padilla, a US citizen
arrested on US soil. He has been imprisoned by the US government without
charges or a trial for 3 years and 153 days. Violating principles which
originated with the Magna Charta, and which are clearly embedded in our
Constitution, the federal government has denied Padilla due process under
the law. In our Constitutional republic, civilian authority is meant to
supersede military authority, yet Padilla remains in military custody.
While Padilla's plight remains abstract to many Americans because it is
not happening to them or someone they know, the Padilla situation demonstrates
our government's newly self-endowed power to declare any US citizen an
enemy combatant (or "terrorist) and hold them without a trial. Do
we toss the Constitution in the trash, recycle it to help save a tree,
or keep it as a relic of the past to remind the ruling elite just how bad
it can get for them?
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- Abu Gharib and Guantanamo Bay serve as further harbingers
of the collapse of the Constitutional republic in the United States. Once
deemed unimaginable, torture inflicted by the "shining beacon of truth
and justice" has been exposed to the light of day. While the Bush
administration "cleanses its sins" by punishing the enlisted
soldiers who were carrying out their orders to inflict prisoner abuse,
it has promoted Alberto Gonzalez, the architect of the US torture policies,
to the position of chief law enforcement officer in the United States.
How ironic (and frightening) can it get?
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- Justice, one of the lofty ideals which the United States
supposedly exemplifies, is non-existent for those at Guantanamo Bay accused
of "terror". If those in US custody committed crimes or perpetrated
attacks against the United States, I favor punishing them to the extent
of the law. However, in denying them due process, we have become the very
tyrants our government professes to oppose. Try them or release them
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- "Patriots" champion the "nobility cause"
for the aristocracy
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- Since World War II, the United States has aggressively
vied to expand its empire through covert CIA operations, support of ruthless
dictators who support US interests, economic manipulation, and direct military
intervention. While many readers who email me agree with my condemnations
of US state terrorism (which has resulted in the murder of millions of
innocent civilians), a surprising number of bellicose, mean-spirited individuals
have indicated their strong support for such actions. The wealthy elite,
who are the true power-brokers in our nation, thrive on the support of
such spiritually shallow individuals who are blind to their own malevolence
and hypocrisy. Rallying for the cause of "conservatism" in the
face of the "weak", "whining" liberals, these blindly
patriotic individuals readily accept the false dichotomies such as the
"good American Christians" versus the "bad Islamofascists
perpetuated by government shills like Rush Limbaugh and Bill O'Reilly.
While these "patriots" wave the flag and rush to label those
who dare to challenge the actions of the hallowed US government as traitors,
Communists, or even terrorists, they unwittingly advance the cause of history's
deadliest and most powerful terrorist, the federal government of the United
States of America.
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- Forget "the majority rules": He who has the
gold rules
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- Ironically, many supporters of the current paradigm in
the United States still believe they are a majority. On September 24 in
Washington DC, I marched with over 300,000 others who support peace and
social justice, and who oppose the Bush regime. The next day, about 400
Bush supporters "rallied". According to the Associate Press,
a very recent AP-Ipsos poll shows that 28% of Americans believe the country
is headed in the "right direction" while 66% believe our nation
is "on the wrong track. The truth is that the enemies of peace and
social justice are in power because they carefully constructed a powerful
propaganda and campaign finance machine, not because they represent a majority
of Americans, interests. The fraudulent presidential "victory"
of 2000 represents their crowning achievement. Protecting corporate and
aristocratic interests is their goal, and they are accomplishing it quite
handily.
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- Despite the Machiavellian efforts of men like Karl Rove,
the Tom Delay indictments, Delay's connections with the Blunts, and the
ongoing investigation of Patrick Fitzgerald could spell significant trouble
for Bush, his corrupt cronies, and his allies in Congress. Possibly there
is enough integrity and power left in the US legal system to derail, or
at least postpone, the obscene power grab by the wealthy in the United
States. Sadly though, even if things end grievously for the current regime
of aristocrats, the American people will need to work vigorously to prevent
a new one from emerging.
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- Regardless of its legal difficulties, or perhaps because
of them, the Bush regime continues to push the United States closer to
the precipice of overt rule by an elite few. As many of their Religious
Right supporters demand a literal interpretation of the Bible, the elite
power brokers in the US government continue chanting their litany calling
for a literal interpretation of the Constitution. Lambasting the actions
of judges who "legislate from the bench", they continue their
insistence on judicial nominees who will "strictly interpret the Constitution".
Despite my disgust, I admire their strategic brilliance. Tyranny thrives
on reducing the populace to "black and white" thinkers. Iron-fisted
rulers crush dissent from those who attempt to introduce thorny complexities
which threaten the simplistic propaganda with which they manipulate their
subjects. Our leaders know that if the American public accepts the absurd
notion that there is no room for subjective interpretation of the Constitution
to adapt to the changes that come with the passage of time, they can utilize
the Supreme Court as an accomplice in crushing the gains made by the social
justice movement in the Twentieth Century. The white, wealthy patriarchy
is salivating over the prospect of its return to unabated power.
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- How many guns do you need? There are hungry people here
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- In the battle of guns versus butter in the United States,
guns are winning by a crushing margin. As the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina
clearly demonstrated, the militarization of America has severely weakened
the capacity and the will of the federal government to provide for the
general welfare of its citizens. Despite being the wealthiest nation in
history, 13% of our citizens live below the poverty level and the US is
the only industrialized nation which does not provide health care to 100%
of its citizens. There is no excuse for the existence of poverty in a nation
with such vast resources. The aristocrats build their fortunes on the backs
of the poor and working class, and the incestuous relationship between
the federal government and the corporate vehicles of the wealthy is one
of their primary means of maintaining the gross disparity of wealth which
exists in the United States. Former President Eisenhower warned us against
allowing the military industrial complex to become too dominant, but as
Andy Rooney recently opined on 60 Minutes, we ignored Ike's sage advice.
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- Among other things, Rooney said:
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- "We still have 139,000 soldiers in Iraq today.
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- Almost 2,000 Americans have died there. For what?
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- Now we have the hurricanes to pay for. One way our government
pays for a lot of things is by borrowing from countries like China.
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- Another way the government is planning to pay for the
war and the hurricane damage is by cutting spending for things like Medicare
prescriptions, highway construction, farm payments, AMTRAK, National Public
Radio and loans to graduate students. Do these sound like the things you'd
like to cut back on to pay for Iraq?
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- I'll tell you where we ought to start saving: on our
bloated military establishment.
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- We're paying for weapons we'll never use.
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- No other Country spends the kind of money we spend on
our military. Last year Japan spent $42 billion. Italy spent $28 billion,
Russia spent only $19 billion. The United States spent $455 billion."
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- One hand washes the other, brother
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- I have received a great deal of correspondence from "patriots"
who state that Americans in the peace and social justice movement owe a
debt of gratitude to the people who have served in the US military for
protecting our freedoms from external threats. There is truth to this,
and therefore I say thank you to those who have served in the military.
Meanwhile, I will remind the "patriots that they have the social justice
movement to thank for protecting their rights from the internal threat
of the US government. We may not be winning (but then neither is the US
military in Iraq), yet we remain in the struggle, and will not relent.
You are welcome.
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- It is about expanding the empire, not defending the homeland.
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- I do respect those who have served in the US military
with the intent to defend our nation. However, with the exception of World
War II, wars waged by the United States have not been defensive in nature.
Too often, our imperialist government has used US soldiers as pawns in
wars of aggression waged under the guise of "protecting" or "spreading"
democracy. To maintain the obscene profits of entities like Halliburton
and the Carlyle Group, our government has sold many Americans on the notion
that wild hordes of barbarians stand ready to storm the "castle gates"
of our nation to rape our women and plunder our wealth. Even if that were
the case (and it is not), the United States could mount a viable defense
on much less than $500 billion per year.
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- I believe in achieving goals through non-violence, but
I am not a pacifist. I own a gun and would not hesitate to act to protect
my family in the event of a real threat to their safety. As individuals
have the right to defend themselves and their families, nations possess
the same right. Yet why does the United States, a nation representing 5%
of the world's population, need to account for 50% of annual world military
expenditures while maintaining military bases in 130 countries? Were I
to follow my government's example, I would fill several rooms of our home
with a variety of munitions and explosives, and hire a squadron of private
militia to patrol our city, simply to ensure my family's safety.
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- Beware what you wish for.
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- While the avid supporters of the American Empire scorn
those who support a greater emphasis on the betterment of humanity, the
military they are so quick to deify is poised to nullify the very freedoms
it purportedly exists to protect. Throughout history, the state has been
a threat to the freedom of individuals. The principle weapon of government
to impose its will upon the people has been the military. For many years,
the US government has carefully crafted a covert tyranny of the wealthy
through the use of media and propaganda, but as more Americans awaken to
the true nature of their state, the Bush regime is becoming more eager
to employ its unparalleled military power on the domestic front.
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- Posse Comitatus, a law which essentially prevents the
military from policing the domestic populace, represents a thin veneer
of protection against the imposition of martial law. Since it is statutory
law and not derived from the Constitution, it can be altered or nullified
by further legislation. Reagan trampled Posse Comitatus when he used the
Air Force and Navy to fight the "war on drugs. Bush told us in his
address during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina that he wants to expand
federal authority and the military's role in domestic matters. In his recent
press conference he told us that he will press Congress for the authority
to employ martial law in the event of an Avian Flu pandemic. The presence
of Blackwater paramilitary security forces and the emphasis of property
protection over saving human lives in New Orleans provided a glimpse of
what the Bush regime has in store for America's citizenry.
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- Based on reader feedback I have received, it is apparent
that a fair number of Americans are prepared to sacrifice what freedoms
they still have for the "security afforded them by increased federal
and military authority. Obviously they have not read Orwell, or if they
have, apparently did not take his ideas seriously. The Patriot Act and
the Department of Homeland Security have broadened federal powers and seriously
infringed upon fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution. One of
the most dangerous aspects of the Patriot Act is that it empowers law enforcement
to act outside of the system of checks and balances so crucial to our Constitutional
republic. Consolidation of FEMA into Homeland Security was one of the causes
of the feeble federal response to the disaster in New Orleans. To those
so eager to rush to the "secure embrace" of Big Brother, I would
remind you that the fates of Jose Padilla, the prisoners at Guantanamo
Bay, the residents of New Orleans, or even those of the Japanese citizens
interned during World War II could befall you.
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- As Benjamin Franklin once said:
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- "They who would give up an essential liberty for
temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security."
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- In 1935, Sinclair Lewis published It Can't Happen Here,
his depiction of a "democratically elected" US president imposing
a tyranny on Americans. In 2005, life is imitating art. However, there
are those of us who are willing to sacrifice and endure whatever is necessary
for the cause of a more humane and just government and society. I will
stay in the United States to work for something better. I will continue
to teach my children to struggle for social causes. And yes, I will persist
in my writing and other forms of dissent against the tyranny of the aristocracy,
regardless of the consequences.
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- Jason Miller is a 38 year old activist writer with a
degree in liberal arts. He works in the transportation industry, and is
a husband and a father to three boys. His affiliations include Amnesty
International, the ACLU and the Americans United for Separation of Church
and State. He welcomes responses at willpowerful@hotmail.com or comments
on his blog at http://civillibertarian.blogspot.com/.
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