How long, America, Do We Wait?
Submitted by HillWilliam on Fri, 04/04/2008 - 12:01pm
With your indulgence, I'm using my blog-space today with some thoughts that aren't NC-specific, but ones that I hope will be shared with all citizens. Today is the 40th anniversary of Dr Martin Luther King's death. I remember the grief, shock and fear I felt that day when I first heard the news. Funny; forty years have past and that grief is still as strong today as it was then, but in the meantime, it has been tempered with words and actions.
Still, I long for A Voice that will unite people once again for justice, equality and human dignity. Perhaps, we are the ones we've been waiting for.
I'm going to start today with a tiny bit of blogwhoring, cross-posting my Kos diary for today, because I think we need to keep our minds, our wits, our history and our goals clearly in focus. So much was sacrificed by so many in the last nearly 300 years to create, steward, hand down and continually perfect the freedoms with which we are blessed.
Dr King (may he rest in blessed peace) said, "We shall overcome because the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice."
It's not going to bend all by itself, though. It is up to us to put a foot down, stop the madness, intolerance, bigotry and war. It's not a "twice every four years go vote" thing. It's a minute-by-minute, situation-by-situation, day-to-day and week-to-week job.
Today of all days, upon the 40th anniversary of Dr King's death, I'd like to honor him with a promise to continually take up that heavy, heavy cross and work for equal justice and equal dignity for all. Unless it's "for all", then the word "justice" is empty.
Let us work together to fill that cup, to the brim and even above the brim. Then and only then, will we have completed the task the Framers set before us. Then and only then, will we be a true, honest, and moral nation. We cannot claim the latter even one second before then.
I said it a long time ago, when the wackogelicals were really beating on GLBTs in order to get elected that being married to my partner of over 12 years is a dream of mine. But for now, that takes a back seat in my goals: the right for us to marry wouldn't mean a damn without those other rights in the Bill of Rights. I still feel that way. Our day will come -- after we restore the Constitution and rule of law. Sometimes the personal wants have to be set aside for the much, much greater good.
The Founders set aside their personal lives to give us this precious gift in the Constitution. The least we can do in respect and honor of their sacrifices is to safeguard our constitutional heritage and pass it down to the succeeding generations -- polished and intact, rather than as a tattered remnant.
As long as I still have it, I intend to use my First Amendment to the fullest for I believe if we don't use those precious ten Amendments, we will surely lose them. You might not agree with what I have said, but I hope you will pause just a moment for reflection upon the monumental task before us.
"Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful." John 14:27 (emphasis mine)
Herewith: the original post.
My partner and I have been rapt watching John Adams. That should be required viewing for every junior high student.
Yes, it took a great deal of thought, negotiation, and an huge amount of courage to stand up to tyranny in the face of being shot for simply demanding dignity, fairness and equality. Most folks out walking around have no idea what the Founders and Framers went through and that is a shame on our educational system and a shame on any responsible citizen. Stories have been passed down from my Revolutionary War ancestors, and I've read quite a bit of history detailing the bitter winters with little to no protective clothing, the swarms of mosquitoes and pestilences of summer, the year-round hunger.
But they bore through it all for love of freedom and for love of us, their many-greats grandchildren, and for those who have come to join us in the time between. You see, it wasn't just for their own immediate safety or gain: it was for the concept of a just, free, egalitarian, open and honest society they so longed to have; one that they could be proud to pass down.
One we should be as proud to hand down as they were to hand it down to us.
It was very interesting to note how they tried to end slavery, but were forced to put up with it to first gain independence from Britain. John Adams and many of his contemporaries wanted to banish it outright from the first, but they couldn't end that and fight Britain's oppressions at the same time. Honestly, they almost bit off more than they could chew just fighting Britain. I'm not excusing slavery in any way; it was simply the case that they had only the resources and most-tenuous cooperation to end one form of oppression at a time.
They did hope to take the issue up and end the shameful practice once and for all, but it took another 87 years and a horrible war to bring the promise of liberty and justice "for all" to a hobbling start. But it was a start to fulfilling the dreams of the Framers. Another 150 years later than that, and we're still in the struggle for liberty and justice "for all".
If the righties ever bothered to read and understand the Constitution (just like they don't read the Bible they love to beat people with), they would never be righties. Anyone who reads the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution would very quickly understand that both were created by, even carefully crafted (if you will) by liberals.
Liberals liberated this country from England. Liberals ended slavery. Liberals are still fighting for liberty and justice "for all". Liberals gave us the 5-day work-week, are guardians and stewards of the air, water and national resouces and natural treasures. Liberals made sure that (according to the Constitution) we have a right to redress in a court of law.
Reliably, the right-wingers have fought in favor of rights only for the rich and pampered, in favor of slavery (they're still not letting go), and in favor of removing every right the Constitution guarantees. They fight to squander our natural resources for the profit of the very, very few: the rich and pampered. They actively work to suppress the voices of the poor, the disadvantaged, the disabled and all minorities.
Jesus only gave two commandments. The second He deemed equal to the first; that is to love one another. I firmly believe He'll have some mighty, mighty tough and personal questions to ask the wingnuts when they knock on the Pearly Gates.
Maybe it's because of the way I was raised (to love my country because of its marvelous Constitution), or maybe because of my military service (I promised [Quakers don't swear] to "protect, uphold and defend" it) or maybe because it's the correct, moral and only defensible position for a loyal, patriotic citizen to take. I've said it before and I'll keep repeating it until it takes hold: The Constitution is the one and singular document that makes America "America". If that is destroyed, then America itself is destroyed and something less free, less righteous and, well, less, will take its place upon this soil.
You'll only find educated people aware of what the Constitution really means amongst the center to left. The right wingers don't read it, don't care what's in it: give them a mouthful of slogans to chant and a flag to wave and they'll happily and stupidly throw their rights and country away.
That's as good as treason and I regard them as I would any enemy of my beloved country.
___
My readers know how passionate I am about protecting the Constitution and the promises of freedom in it. Better men than I have said, "Until everybody is free, ain't nobody free" and that's the G'd's honest truth. It's more than just a concept; it is the daily practice of a free and just society. The righties totally miss the point. Sadly, it's completely understandable, since they evidence no notion of empathy, compassion or anything outside their own personal wants, demands and desires, and screw everyone else.
Lately, the media have wanted to euphemize these as "values voters". Let's stop that racket and call them exactly what they are: "wedge-issue voters". It is not a sense of national pride, nor is it a sense of civic duty or patriotism that will bring them to the polls. The only thing that inspires the lazy lot to vote is the sheer glee of taking something they don't appreciate from somebody they don't know.
It's worse than lazy, worse than pure selfishness. It is reprehensibly irresponsible.
The point the Framers were making, the point for which the Founders fought, endured hardships we can't imagine today, even died for, was that human beings deserve their own dignity and suchness. It is that rich tapestry that makes for a healthy society. Homogenization and regimentation always, always throughout history are the destroyers of nations.
Nations have died just because a few selfish folks wanted everything all their way and no way else. Every regimented state has failed, and the erosion on our nation is visible to the entire world. Those who are outside looking in have no idea of the blight we see not only in our government, but its effects on the very landscape that we see from the inside here. It is to our national shame that our house is even more unkempt within than it shows without.
When I was young, there were many mountain streams that were filled with fish and the water was quite safe to drink. Very few people knew what asthma was because the air was fit to breathe. Now, thanks to deregulation and dismantling of safeguards that began with Reagan, there is not one single safe source of drinking water left; the air has become steadily more foul, "code red" days being a regular summer bane. Forests have been felled to make way for tacky, cheaply-constructed McMansions, cities are blighted with their own effluent and filth, our bridges are time-bombs waiting to fail and our highway system is a disaster. All reasonable remedies to these problems have repeatedly been thwarted by corporation and profit-loving Republicans.
These, dear reader, have replaced Mad King George with even more horrible invasions and oppressions than he even dreamed up for "those continentals". There is no longer any notion of privacy; our government has illegally and unconstitutionally collected every conceivable datum and metric on each of us. Is there any surprise that this government advocates torture? Is there any surprise that the majority of detainees in Guantanamo are native-born American citizens? Is there any reason for the neoKKKon government's impressive array of "black sites" and gulags, extraordinary rendition and the threat of torture, except to terrorize otherwise loyal and patriotic citizens into throwing away their rights?
It grieves me as much as losing a parent would, to see my beloved country sicken, wane and begin to die. The Constitution is mother to every citizen and like a mother, every patriotic citizen should protect, love and defend it.
___
It boils down to a very simple question: Do we support the Constitution and the rule of American law, or do we continue to allow the U.S. to slide into a third-world dictatorship?
We are on the verge of completely losing our citizenship and with it, our country, our freedoms and our way of life. There's but scant time to turn the Bush/neoKKKon mess around and become a constitutional democracy again.
Or not. It's up to us.