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What kind of 'patriot' supports a tyrant?
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by Helen & Harry Highwater, Unknown News
Feb. 3, 2006
When the Revolutionary War ended, America's founding fathers -- having lived through tyranny -- drew up a Constitution designed to prevent tyranny's return.
Commonly called "the separation of powers," the idea was to split the awesome authorities of government three ways. Instead of vesting one man with absolute power, they set up an
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elected Presidency with strictly limited powers, held in check and balanced by the legislative and judicial branches of government.
It is this document, the US Constitution and its separation of powers, that American Presidents, members of Congress, and members of the Judiciary are sworn to protect and preserve.
It is this document, the US Constitution, which President George W Bush is now violating daily, as he usurps more and more powers from a compliant Congress dominated by his own party, and as he stacks the judiciary with members of the frightful Federalist Society -- a group which purports to support freedom while arguing against equal rights for women, against equal voting rights, against the First Amendment's separation of church and state, against virtually any manner of federal regulation, and against meaningful checks and balances on Presidential power.
President Bush has ordered eavesdropping on Americans without a warrant. That's a direct violation of the Constitution's Fourth Amendment provisions, and also a felony. This is not Bush's only criminal act, of course, nor is it his most serious criminal act. It is only the best known and best proven, since he has openly admitted ordering these warrantless wiretaps, and publicly promised to continue doing so.
Among his other, less well known violations of law, Bush is known to have sidestepped America's legal obligations under the Third and Fourth Geneva Conventions and the US War Crimes Act, known to have incarcerated at least two American citizens without charges and without trials, and known to have diverted $700-million appropriated by Congress for the war in Afghanistan to instead fund preparations for a then-unauthorized war against Iraq in 2002. The list could go on, but this is intended as a brief article, not a legal brief.
The fact is, President Bush is seeking and accumulating more and more power, while circumventing more and more of the checks and balances written into the US Constitution. In so doing, he is discarding the
protections against tyranny established by our founding fathers who fought the Revolution.
Sadly, shamefully, many misguided Americans stand with Bush as he violates the Constitution, breaks the law, and ignores the checks and balances designed to
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After two centuries of sacrifices by American soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, and other heroes who fought to protect and preserve precious American freedoms, what kind of leader would ask Americans to sacrifice their rights?
And what manner of "patriot" would willingly comply, handing over those hard-earned freedoms on request?
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The Presidential oath:
"I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."
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Sadly, shamefully, many misguided Americans stand with Bush as he violates the Constitution, breaks the law, and ignores the checks and balances designed to safeguard Americans' freedoms.
Calling themselves "patriots" when they seem to have no notion what the word means, these Americans politely surrender the freedoms our founding fathers fought and died for.
Fearful of bogeymen called terrorists, or proclaiming that they "have nothing to hide," these Americans acquiesce to any outrage, capitulate to anything their leader asks, and proudly support increases in Presidential power and reductions in Americans' expectations of liberty.
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safeguard Americans' freedoms.
Calling themselves "patriots" when they seem to have no notion what the word means, these Americans politely surrender the freedoms our founding fathers fought and
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"If this were a dictatorship, it'd be a heck of a lot easier, just so long as I'm the dictator."
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capitulate to anything their leader asks, and proudly support increases in Presidential power and reductions in Americans' expectations of liberty.
After two centuries of sacrifices by American soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, and other heroes who fought to protect and preserve precious American freedoms, what kind of leader would ask Americans to sacrifice their rights? And what manner of "patriot" would willingly comply, handing over those hard-earned freedoms on request?
Mr Bush eavesdrops on our conversations. He cooperates with no inquiry or oversight, on any matter from energy policy to the attacks of 9/11 to the response to Hurricane Katrina. He sternly lectures Americans on the limits of political debate, while imprisoning and torturing men,
"The promise of democracy begins with free elections and majority rule -- but it is fulfilled by minority rights, and equal justice, and an inclusive society in which every person belongs.
"A country that divides into factions and dwells on old grievances cannot move forward -- and risks sliding back into tyranny."
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women, and children in secret prisons. He sends American troops to fight and die for nebulous, slippery causes that have nothing to do with defending America.
And as he does all this and so much more, Bush's supporters cheer him on, and ask only what more freedoms and rights they can yield?
Americans who love their freedoms and love
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their country are demanding that the Bush administration be removed from power, through the Constitutional means of impeachment. True American patriots stand against tyranny, not for it.
Bush's America is not the America that Americans fought to defend in numerous wars through our nation's history. It is emphatically not the America that our founding fathers fought to establish in 1776.
More and more, President Bush is giving America the opposite -- the tyranny Americans have always fought against.
© by the author.
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You're invited to respond:
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This is an archived Unknown News page. For newest material, visit our main page.
I can't afford therapy, but boy do I need it. So as an affordable alternative, I pound my anger into a weekly column here.
Fair warning: My parents were repressed -- using any bad words would get my mouth washed out with soap, literally. I still remember the sickly flavor of DoveTM. So as an adult, vulgarity helps with the healing. If naughty language offends you, beat the rush and get offended now.
This page is for my own good, not yours, so you may not like it, but I don't care.
About the authors
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Helen and Harry Highwater have published Unknown News since 1997. We're a married couple sharing a byline à la Lennon and McCartney, and "I" can be either of us, or both of us. If you're consumed by curiosity, it's safe to assume the more boisterous and aggressive bits come from Helen, and anything ladylike or demure is probably Harry's work.
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There's much more than this at Unknown News.
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We appreciate the heck out of everyone who helps.
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