All of you who justify the loss of our freedoms, as they were defined and guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States of America, is bigger than political parties. And to those who have forgotten the basics of American history -- and those who call themselves "patriots" and wave the flag and talk about "never again" and act as if this is the first time America has been attacked or lived in mortal fear of being attacked, you need to stop the empty rhetoric and REVIEW.
What's going on with Bush and McCain's pornographic use of 9/11's imagery and symbols again and again and AGAIN is exactly what goes on when you simply don't have much else to offer than the same old technique of using fear to cow the population into doing whatever you want, and to use it as a bludgeon against anything reasonable and calm the opposition has to say. Basically, this has been Bush's M.O. since the beginning -- you disagree, you're with "them." You're against freedom. You're voting to have terrorists come attack us.
Not only does that offensive RNC video show just how bereft the right is of any useful ideas as to how to get us out of this mess (they've had seven years since 9/11 and things are much, much worse, not better). This is what they show us after 7 years? This is all they've got? Tough talk, harsh words, scary images, and policies that would give us 4 more years of the same?
And they would have us believe that they are "protecting" us?
The reason the Constitution exists is to set the boundaries of power and define how it flows. It's not a guideline -- its principles are bedrock. Yes, these principles have to be reinterpreted for newer circumstances, but as it regards the power of the executive, this is pretty simple to figure out since the situation we find ourselves in now have already happened, and the solution is clear.
John Adams and the Federalists justified all sorts of overstep with the Alien and Sedition Acts, and promptly used the power to squash political opposition and any criticism. It's a lesson we learned then, and was EXACTLY what the anti-Federalists, who shoehorned in what we call the "Bill of Rights" as the first 10 amendments to the Constitution in the first place, feared. Sure, "the enemy" was everywhere and the Federalists argued they needed that power to fully protect Americans, but in the end, such excessive power is always abused.
And as present, it doesn't matter whether they ARE or HAVE BEEN abused YET -- the assumptions upon which the Constitution was written assumes they WILL be, and rightly so, since even the possibility of such abuse is more than a reasonable threat to our overall freedoms, to the very basis of the Constitution itself.
No matter what anyone says about Clinton not being able to keep Big Willie zipped up, or Carter being a pussy, or what have you -- those are historically fleeting social/political trivialities. Fighting about gun laws, the federal role in school funding, gay marriage, or even abortion rights -- no matter how important they seem, they are still not Constitution-threatening issues. They are interpreted in TERMS of the Constitution, and no matter how politics may fall, they don't threaten the Constitution itself.
But certain aspects of the Patriot Act (or the secretly-written Patriot II, which was scary as shit, and basically the plot of Star Wars: Episode III, which would essentially legally define the shape of a police state), or the executive's insistence that the government has the right to monitor communications without a warrant, or the very existence of Guantanamo Bay's "enemy combatant" status (either you or me can be declared one if we are found to be a "terrorist" or have cooperated with one, and the basis of that accusation is secret, and hence difficult to contest, and Patriot II would have allowed any US citizen to be arrested, stripped of their citizenship, have not rights to a trial, and the government did not even in fact have to ADMIT whether or not they are holding you) -- these things are not at all in line with the letter or the spirit of that Constitution, one of the most important political documents in human history.
Yet these hardcore Bush boosters act as if to criticize, mostly on the basis of defending that revered document, means you're some kind of traitor. Or these idiots go around chanting, "Freedom isn't free." As if we "lefties" don't know that. As if it's easier to hold back and be careful about using our power, risking the lives of our troops, and sullying the trust of our allies, rather than lashing out in a frenzy of cowboy rhetoric, cruise missiles, and carpet bombing.
As if the planes on 9/11 didn't hit the friends of us "lefties", either. Last I checked, "left power" doesn't generate a force field past which terrorist bomb shrapnel, shards of glass, and burning flames can't reach.
The best way to defend this country is to remember the core values that actually DEFINE us as Americans, as people who actually love freedom, don't TORTURE even our enemies, who are supposed to stand as the EXEMPLAR -- as the bright and shining "city upon a hill" -- and not as a bunch of reactionary, hypocritical blowhards who shoot first and ask questions later, keep people in the same secret dungeons as our enemies used to torture their enemies as well as some of US, and generally use our military power to intimidate and destroy, rather than merely protect our safety and direct security interests.
All that requires actual thought, and are not the actions that can be expected by the people and politicians in the RNC. Say what you want about Obama's alleged "inexperience" or this and that petty potshots -- the new, non-pussified Democratic party and REAL patriots are coming to reclaim that title, baby.
Because we're standing on the right side of history. And Bush and the Republicans and the backwards baseball hat "patriot" squad have had their chance.
