by Len Hart, The Existentialist CowboyFormer House Speaker Newt Gingrich has revealed a naked would-be emperor. At Drew University in New Jersey, Gingrich defended Bush's dictatorial power grab --the Bush administration's assault on the Bill of Rights --saying that the government has a 'right to defend society'. Against whom? Patriotic Americans of some party other than 'GOP'?
Perhaps Newt has in mind "foreign terrorists" whom Bush forgot to thank for 911! Newt never cleared it up! Newt never explained where, by whom and how was America threatened in such a manner that it may be quick fixed by repealing the Bill of Rights or --worse --applying it inequitably upon whims, bad moods, lies, propaganda or --worst of all --phony terrorist attacks about which nothing said by Bush and his administration can be proven! Nothing!
Not content to leave bad enough alone, Gingrich added that when threatened, "...people will give up all their liberties to avoid that level of threat." Thus --Newt tipped his hand! Given his record, it is fair to conclude that that is precisely what Newt Gingrich and similar ilk have had in mind all along. I am not surprised that Newt would get it the wrong way 'round! But it is time to straighten Newt out! The responsibilities of the government are clearly spelled out in the Constitution itself. The Constitution is quite specific about those instances in which Habeas Corpus may be suspended. A phony state of emergency and lies about WMD don't qualify! Newt's position is typical 'backward' thinking that makes of the state an end in itself. The Constitution, however, assigns to government but one over-arching responsibility and, as Jefferson said "... Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, —That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it." Newt and his ilk pose a clear and present danger to our Democracy, the Constitution that created it, the freedoms we enjoy! The 'clear and present danger' is Newt and the GOP --not foreign terrorists! When Newt is preaching right wing sedition, one may rightly conclude that the GOP has and continues to exploit the 'clear and present danger' to our nation and its Constitution. But --as Pogo said of the enemy, we have seen the enemy and he is the GOP! When the Constitution is rescinded and/or retired it will be the work of crooks and idiots like Newt --not terrorists! If Newt is correct, then perhaps the time has come to abolish it. The government --clearly --is not the source of our rights. Rather, 'powers' exercised by government derive from us! "We, the people" are aggrieved by the arbitrary and dictatorial manner in which the Bush administration lied about both Iraq and terrorism; we --the true sovereigns of this nation as established in the Constitution are aggrieved by Bush's deliberate failure to live up to his only Constitutional responsibility:
"I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of the President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." --Presidential Oath of OfficePreserving, protecting and defending the Constitution of the United States was and remains Bush's only job. Bush not only failed, he has, himself, posed the greater threat! Bush has worked overtly to subvert the Constitution. Put another way: Bush put his hand on a black book and lied --under oath! Note to Newt: that is high treason! In the 18th Century, it was sufficient cause for a hanging. The subversion of the Constitution was effected --not by alleged 'terrorists' --but by Bush and complicit supporters like Newt Gingrich. Of Al Qaeda and Bush, Bush is the bigger threat! He’s here, on our soil, working with the likes of Alberto Gonzales and John Yoo to subvert the Constitutional principles that he claimed had been 'hated' by 'turrsts'. The world's number one terrorist is George W. Bush. The world's biggest terrorist organizations are the US Military and the CIA. Clearly --Bush cannot defend what Bush and Bush alone has destroyed. It is not a matter of American's 'giving away' their liberties and freedoms. No one took a poll. Bush quickly exploited approval ratings of some 90 percent and proceded to act as if his dictatorship had been a fait accompli. Democrats rolled over and played dead. Key Democrats got "Anthrax Letters" --not exactly fan mail. Flag - waving, SUV driving would-be 'brownshirts' burned Dixie Chick CDs. While the media was distracted, Bush and Gonzales were busy re-writing the Constitution. Sadly, I haven't heard the candidates address the issue of restoring the Bill of Rights though it should be the number one issue of this campaign. Until someone meets this issue forthrightly, everything else is beside the point. Newt is wrong and disingenuous in his assertion that government has a 'right' to abrogate the Constitution and the Bill of Rights in order 'protect society'. We, the people are society and 'under the Constitution' WE are the sovereign. If the "government" will not defend our constitutional rights, then that government should be abolished. That idea is not original with me; I learned it from Thomas Jefferson. The language so cavalierly tossed aside by the Bush junta was made the basis for the Supreme Law of the Land. It's only purpose is the protection of the people from criminal, usurpers and traitors like Bush, Ashcroft, Scalia and Gonzales! Read Madison's Preamble to the Constitution and Joseph Story's 'Commentaries' on it.
We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, 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. [bolding is mine, LH]The 'United States of America' is a creation of 'the people' for which the 'Constitution' is their voice and the sole affirmation of their sovereignty. Government as envisaged by James Madison is a caretaker of no inherent rights whatsoever. It has, rather, responsibilities to the people and only those powers necessary to enable it to fulfill those responsibilities. Of Al Qaeda and Bush, Bush is the greater threat to the lives and rights of the people and the people's Constitution.
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