Throughout the book, Hartmann supports his assertions with a blizzard of factoids, held together by a quick-moving narrative, spiced with timely historical quotations from Thomas Jefferson, Tom Paine, and various other worthy thinkers. I found this method of presentation to be exciting and invigorating, but not totally satisfying. The top Neo-Conservative commentators use this very same method, but with different factoids and quotations to support their very different conclusions.
Even so, Hartmann's book covers a lot of territory in an interesting and compelling manner. I hope that other writers will build on his work and provide additional depth and legitimacy to the important points he has clearly identified in this book.
Hartmann ends his book with an urgent call to action: "We are fighting a war in America for the very heart and soul of our country. But it's a war we can do something about. Don't let yourself be screwed. Speak up, fight back, and never, never yield."
WE HAVE THE LEGITIMATE AUTHORITY AND THE RESPONSIBILITY
Every American receives a legitimate inheritance, handed down by those who lived and died here before us; and that inheritance is our Government, as set forth by our Constitution. This Constitution gives to each American the exact same rights and protections it gives to every other American, including an equal share in the power of Government.
The American People of an earlier time created this Government, and they clearly announced its purposes and objectives . . .
"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."
- Preamble to the United States Constitution
And we, the American People today, are the "Posterity" mentioned above by the Founders. We have now inherited the authority and responsibility to maintain this Government according to the specifications established by the Constitution. This authority does not belong to any King or any Upper Class, or Nobility, or Corporations, or Religious Authorities, or Rich People, or Well-Educated People, or Elected Politicians or any other special person or group.
The American People are the sovereign power. We are self-governing. Acting through our Government, under the Constitution, we can make or modify any or all of the rules by which our economy and our country operate. We make the laws; and we can unmake them. We create the corporations; and we can un-create them. We have allowed some people to accumulate disproportionate wealth and power; and we can disallow it. We even have the power to change the Constitution, following the procedures set forth in the Constitution for its own amendment. Our Government is a Democracy; it is ours. And it belongs equally to all of us.
I hope and pray that We The People will be strong enough, and smart enough, and diligent enough to take back this wonderful gift we have inherited, and not let it be soiled and corrupted any further by this misguided band of Neo-Conservatives who think it now belongs to them alone.
Rev. Bill McGinnis is an Internet Christian minister, writer and publisher. He is Director of LoveAllPeople.org, a small private think tank in Alexandria, Virginia, and all of its related websites, including InternetChurchOfChrist.org,CommitteeForTheGoldenRule.org,CivicAmerican.com, and AmericanDemocrat.net. His agenda is to help maximize the happiness and well-being of all people. His blog is located at http://blog.myspace.com/revbillmcginnis
You are hitting the nail on the head. What is so disapointing is that many of the people who have allready fell victim to the war on the middle class still support the very people or parties that screwed them over.Clever use of wedge issues and other distractions hide the well thought out war plans. Allowing our country to be ran by multinational corporations is a threat to national security in many ways.How can you promote democracy abroad when you are busy destroying it at home? How can you produce and maintain a strong military when all your factories and technology secrets are in China because of the slave labor there. If average Americans dont step up and fight back our democracy will be destroyed by the unrelenting greed of mutinational corporations. Multinationals have no sense of patriotism or the U.S. best interests in mind, our elected officials should not kneel down to them as they do. Our presidents since 1981 have all been corporate puppits.We need a man like Teddy Roosevelt or FDR.
by
Gary Denson (2 articles, 0 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 208 comments)
on Sunday, September 24, 2006 at 10:00:27 AM
I was living in Seattle (I am a native North Carolinian) when the Witless One in Washington, DC stole his first election as president. I was still living in Seattle when this amoral tool of Corporatists went to war illegally by failing to get the Congressional permission to do so (as have all the presidents since FDR).
I was active and vocal in my opposition to Bush's 'election' in 2000. A fat lot of good that did when Americans watched as this thief and his cohorts stole an American election.
I was active and vocal in my opposition to Bush's invasion of Iraq. based on what even then, seemed to be spurious 'evidence' and his war cry of remember 9/11 when he knew that Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11. Once again, the American people wrapped themselves in the flag and followed Bush and his lying administration into this 'war'. This country is now into the 1,245th day since the Craword, TX village idiot landed on an aircraft carrier and declared "mission accomplished" in Iraq. Mission accomplished...NOT!
Bush has enjoyed five years of national 'sleepwalking' while the American economy went into the toilet. The administration has somehow been able to hoodoo many Americans into believing that the economy was improving. It was...but only for the richest people, corporations, accountants and stockholders. For the Middle Class (a disappearing part of our society) the economy has not improved in any measurable way.
More and more factories are being closed forever here. The work that used to be done by Americans has been outsourced and 'offshored' to Asia, Mexico, India etc. Many of the so-called "high tech" jobs that the last several presidents and 'talking heads' insisted would replace the lost "smokestack" jobs never materialized. Furthermore, many of those "high tech" jobs that did matertialize have been 'offshored' especially to India. Additionally, many of the Indians that were imported to the US at the behest and insistence of Bill Gates to be trained/educated as lower cost workers for Mircosoft have been trained/educated here and returned to India to start up companies to snatch even larger numbers of these "high tech" jobs from Americans. Have you called a corporate service center (banks, internet service providers, credit companies etc.) lately? If so, it is much more than likely that you were speaking to Indians in India that are carefully trained to sound American. And that's just one example among many.
The New World Order, globalism whatever you wish to call it is most definitely not good news for America's middle class workers. The Bush administration has proven to be the premier tool of corporatists. Corporatists have no interest in the welfare of their workers. Ask any corporatist, they'll tell you that the planet is full of cheap and trainable labor. That doesn't even take into the effect the field of cybernetics. Most of the work now done by semi-skilled labor will very soon be done by computer contolled equipment that even repairs itself.
An interesting thing is this. Back in the mid 80's I read an article by the late Malcolm Forbes. He described in great detail and with precision this very War on the 'Haves' against the 'Have-Nots'. He stated without equivocation that the "Have-Nots" would not win.
As posited in a book by Jeremy Rifkin The End of Work, that as long as the value of a person was tied to "productivity" in creating things that our society had little hope for the middle class. He stated that there already exists the technology do away with almost all production jobs. He further posited that quality of life jobs would be the answer for employment of the future (e.g. teachers, nurses, childcare etc.). I recommend this book to you. It is not the easiest of reads but it is worth the effort.
The one thing that is certain is that middle class Americans have no one working in their interest in either the corporate world or the US Government. You may believe that.
It is my sincere hope that Americans will awaken and return our nation's government to a true two (or more) party system in the election this November. Furthermore, I hope that there will be an awakening to the fact that we are each and every one in the smae boat together and that boat is sinking...fast!
There are answers to our dilemma. I personally believe that a real return to comittment to and worship of the Living God.
Simcerely,
Rev. Michael Weaver-Robbins,retired
by
Michael Weaver-Robbins (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 30 comments)
on Friday, September 29, 2006 at 4:44:07 PM
