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June 17, 2006

Now is the Time to Stand Up for America

By Michael Youther

After 230 years as a nation, the Founding Father's worst fears are coming true, while too many Americans sit silent as our nation goes down the drain of history.

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There is a celebrated quotation about the fate of civilizations:

“The average age of the world’s great civilizations has been 200 years. These nations have progressed through this sequence:

From bondage to spiritual faith; From spiritual faith to great courage;
From courage to liberty; From liberty to abundance;
From abundance to selfishness; From selfishness to complacency;
From complacency to apathy; From apathy to dependence;
From dependence back into bondage.”


The origin of this quotation is not known. It has been attributed to various sources, and may even be a combination of two separate quotations from difference sources. In spite of its dubious origin, it has been quoted by Ronald Reagan (3/5/64), Senator Strom Thurmond (1/9/65), P.J. O'Rourke in his 1991 book, Parliament of Whores, and many others. Whatever its source, the quotation now serves as a warning of the pitfalls that may befall any civilization.

The Founding Fathers had foreseen and warned of these dangers long ago:

“A lady asked Dr. [Benjamin] Franklin, ‘Well Doctor what have we got a republic or a monarchy’ — ‘A republic,’ replied the Doctor, ‘if you can keep it.’” --from Farrand's Records of the Federal Convention of 1787

“Hold on my friends to the Constitution and to the Republic for which it stands. Miracles do not cluster and what has happened once in 6,000 years, may not happen again. Hold on to the Constitution, for if the American Constitution should fail, there will be anarchy throughout the world.” --Daniel Webster

“But a Constitution of Government once changed from Freedom, can never be restored. Liberty once lost is lost forever” -- John Adams, letter to Abigail Adams, 1775

“Yes we did produce a near-perfect republic. But will they keep it? Or will they, in the enjoyment of plenty, lose the memory of freedom? Material abundance without character is the path to destruction.” --Thomas Jefferson

Now, two hundred and thirty years later, the Founding Father’s worst fears are coming true; and how have the American people responded? A character, Alan Shore, on the ABC television show, Boston Legal (3/14/06) described it perfectly:

“When the weapons of mass destruction thing turned out to be not true, I expected the American people to rise up. Ha! They didn't.

Then, when the Abu Ghraib torture thing surfaced and it was revealed that our government participated in rendition, a practice where we kidnap people and turn them over to regimes who specialize in torture, I was sure then the American people would be heard from. We stood mute.

Then came the news that we jailed thousands of so-called terrorists suspects, locked them up without the right to a trial or even the right to confront their accusers. Certainly, we would never stand for that. We did.

And now, it's been discovered the executive branch has been conducting massive, illegal, domestic surveillance on its own citizens. You and me. And I at least consoled myself that finally, finally the American people will have had enough. Evidentially, we haven't. In fact, if the people of this country have spoken, the message is we're okay with it all. Torture, warrantless search and seizure, illegal wiretappings, prison without a fair trial - or any trial, war on false pretenses. We, as a citizenry, are apparently not offended.

…The Secret Service can now declare free speech zones to contain, control and, in effect, criminalize protest. …At a presidential rally, parade or appearance, if you have on a supportive t-shirt, you can be there. If you are wearing or carrying something in protest, you can be removed.

…And what I'm most sick and tired of is how every time somebody disagrees with how the government is running things, he or she is labeled unAmerican.”


It is sad that I need to quote an imaginary character from a television show, but our representatives in the Republican-controlled Congress do not say such things. We have no Thomas Jefferson or James Madison to speak for us. Our representatives are busy considering Constitutional amendments to ban gay marriage and flag burning--never mind the war, never mind the spying, never mind the Constitution. Our representatives do not have time to worry about such trivial things. They are too busy doing what they are paid to do by the corporations which now control our government and an ever-increasing part of our lives. It is up to us to do something.

“The strength of the Constitution lies entirely in the determination of each citizen to defend it. Only if every single citizen feels duty bound to do his share in this defense are the constitutional rights secure.” --Albert Einstein (1875-1955)

“We, the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts - not to overthrow the Constitution, but to overthrow men who pervert the Constitution.” --Abraham Lincoln

We, as American citizens, should not be sitting around, waiting to see what the government is going to do to us next. We are the government, and it is time to remind our representatives in Congress of that fact. James Madison (Father of the Constitution) made that clear:

“[A]ll power is originally vested in, and consequently derived from, the people. That government is instituted and ought to be exercised for the benefit of the people; which consists in the enjoyment of life and liberty and the right of acquiring property, and generally of pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety. That the people have an indubitable, unalienable, and indefeasible right to reform or change their government whenever it be found adverse or inadequate to the purpose of its institution.”

“The freemen of America did not wait till usurped power had strengthened itself by exercise and entangled the question in precedents. They saw all the consequences in the principle, and they avoided the consequences by denying the principle. We revere this lesson too much ...to forget it.”

The big question now is have we waited too long. Is it already too late? Have our elections become so corrupt that it doesn’t even matter if we vote or not? I don’t think so--not yet; but our time to act is running out. Right now, patriotic Americans are fighting to save the American Dream, but they cannot do it without our help.

“One of the illusions [of life] is that the present hour is not the critical, decisive hour.” --Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience. Our problem is that numbers of people all over the world have obeyed the dictates of the leaders of their government and have gone to war, and millions have been killed because of this obedience. . . Our problem is that people are obedient all over the world in the face of poverty and starvation and stupidity, and war, and cruelty. Our problem is that people are obedient while the jails are full of petty thieves, and all the while the grand thieves are running the country. That’s our problem.” --Howard Zinn

“If you join the battle, not in your hundreds of thousands, but in your millions, you will be greeted joyously by the rest of the world. And you will see how beautiful it is to be gentle instead of brutal, safe instead of scared. Befriended instead of isolated. Loved instead of hated….Yours is by no means a great nation. But you could be a great people. History is giving you the chance. Seize the time.” --Arundhati Roy, 5/13/03

Authors Bio:

Mick Youther is an American citizen, an independent voter, a veteran, a parent, a scientist, a writer, and all-around nice guy who has been roused from a comfortable apathy by the high crimes and misdemeanors of the Bush Administration.


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