Let’s believe in righteous indignation and toss those out of office who are unjust and cynical. Especially those who believe truth is simply another political opinion that can be overcome by the use of distortion and distraction. Let us gather together as one in keeping our great political experiment alive and well.
The way to lose the memory of our Declaration of Independence, our Founding Fathers, the 1787 miracle in Philadelphia, the Gettysburg Address, the victories of World War I and World War II; and music, like the Battle Hymn of the Republic, America the Beautiful, My Country Tis of Thee, and of course, The Star-Spangled Banner? How do we lose all these? Simply by allowing an autocrat to take political control of our great Republic. Voters should never forget that autocrats and wanna be dictators are controlled by two major concepts, power and money. Their big target is to secure complete and full control of a nation and to discontinue and destroy the meaning of foundational documents like our U.S. Constitution.
Let us review when, why, and how the U.S. Constitution was created. In 1782 the American colonists surprised the world and themselves by defeating the greatest military force in the world, the British Army.
Now, after saving themselves from a hanging, the victorious Americans had to come up with their own methods of governing. They created the Articles of Confederation. In a brief time this resulted in a disaster because there was no central authority, no common currency, weak means of taxation, no military, and too much diverse direction of political actions. George Washington was distraught over the predominance of chaos throughout the new experiment of self-government.
What to do? They decided to have each state send representatives to Philadelphia in the summer of 1787 to search for a remedy for their disorganized governmental plight. They studied past political means of governing going back over 3,000 years. Did they end up with power and money as the route to success? No, they did not! Those 55 successful men, after much debate, decided on a simple political solution. Give the power to the people, let them decide over how to govern themselves. The vehicle they used, the U.S. Constitution, was created in 3 major parts, the Legislative, the Executive, and the Judicial. All elected officials took an oath to enforce the balance of power against one another. After 3 months of that hot summer, they had sketched a plan ready for acceptance or rejection. Was it accepted as a more perfect union this time? Yes, it was. How has it worked out so far, 240 years later? Except for the Civil War, the U.S. Constitution has held. But is it now a shaky proposition? You betcha!
Dear reader, many Americans are willing now to surrender their own freedom, for what? For an autocrat? A dictator is exactly what our Founding Fathers wanted us to reject now and forever. George Washington could have been our king, or our dictator. He was the most popular politician in America. He was the hero of the War for Independence. He was one of the richest men in America, yet he chose service to his fellow man rather than embracing the rights of a king or a dictator. Our Founding Fathers created a rule of law by granting us the U.S. Constitution. All citizens must be bound legally to that document. Get it? George Washington already had everything and he decided to reject having more. That is why he is called the Father of his country. That is the ideal and the magical gift of our system of government.
Now we are very, very close to losing one of the greatest political documents ever written, because of a vagabond ambitious autocrat who takes his cues from Vladimir Putin of Russia and Viktor Orban of Hungary. These three are driven totally and completely by two things: power and money. And the power is all theirs and other people’s money is theirs also. You may be able to keep your money as an ordinary citizen but only if you swear allegiance to the autocrats, kissing their ring, and accepting their total political dominance.
We have over 1,000 billionaires in the United States. Most of them consider our government as an obstacle which gets in the way by too much regulation and too much taxation. They seldom give credit for the American business environment that allowed them to acquire their good fortune. Many of them just want to be left alone to accumulate more wealth.
Well, dear reader, our many billionaires had better do their homework because autocrats do not share the spotlight. You are forced to go along with their programs or lose your money (and in the case of Vladimir Putin, you may lose your life). What’s my point? In the U.S. you can have a lot of money and keep it, and your freedom as well. But dictators decide all issues of freedom and money when they corner power. How do we avoid such a crazy outcome to our great valued Constitution? Well, try Civics, try educating yourselves on where we came from. Try to remember in the U.S. we are blessed and fortunate to have more wealth and opportunity than 99% of the countries on Earth. Immigrants often vote with their feet by trying to find countries of opportunity. We have several million a year trying to cross our borders. Meanwhile, the country of Finland has had to close its borders because of so many Russian citizens trying to flee Putin’s country, and now we see Hungary is not a paradise of freedom. Never forget that freedom of movement and freedom of speech, in the country of dictators is restricted. Now we are gripped in the United States by many misfits who no longer believe we are a vital part of the world’s governance.
Too many forget at this moment, business opportunities are way up and in the past three years we have generated 15 million new jobs adding to our U.S. Treasury and our Social Security surpluses.
Every American should be aware that our Founding Fathers would not desire any of our citizens to take an oath to a person, instead of the Constitution. They wanted the laws to prevail, not a man or a woman. Military men in our wars did not die for a man. They fought for their flag. We forget that at our own peril.
We have a wonderful opportunity to create a rebirth and a reaffirmation of our American Constitution. We must all keep it alive and well with the original spirit spun by those 55 men in Philadelphia in 1787. We all must hold tight affirmatively believing and practicing how to maintain a more perfect union. One our Founders created so generously for all of those that follow.
If we gather together at freedom’s gate, we cannot only defeat despotism but we can create greater successes in American politics. We can do more problem solving over so many political issues. We must never give in to power mongers, those who disregard oaths as they seek political power improperly against principles. No one who creates and promotes lies on a regular basis can or should be tolerated. Remember, truth wins out, not lies. Are there honorable, honest politicians still left in the U.S. to do the job? There absolutely are, on both sides of the aisle. Autocrats want you to believe that no one is worthy and politicians all fall short of truth and honesty. It is a crock, sown by the cynical and disingenuous.
Let’s rally around our flag. Let’s believe in righteous indignation and toss those out of office who are unjust and cynical. Especially those who believe truth is simply another political opinion that can be overcome by the use of distortion and distraction. Let us gather together as one in keeping our great political experiment alive and well.
Opening Image Photo Credits: Getty Images, Joe Rosenthal/AP Photo, The Ohio State University, Underwood Archives/Getty Images, Design Bundles, Getty Images/iStockphoto
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