In God We Trust

Slightly Off Center

In God We Trust

Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;

Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world;

The blood dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere

The ceremony of innocence is drowned.

The best lack all convictions, while the worst

Are full of passionate intensity

Surely some revelation is at hand.^{^{W.B. Yeats}}

What have our representatives in Washington, D.C., been up to since September 11th?

Well, other than Senator Feingold, and Representatives Peter DeFazio and Barbara Lee, the entire lot has been up to no good and no damn good. As I try to keep my anger in check, for my need and want is to be informative, it has been said that only a well-informed citizenry is the best defense against the abuse of power. Citizens with PC’s, (and those without, there are PC’s available for use at our public library), may I strongly suggest two websites: www.commondreams.org and www.thomaspaine.com.

Whether your political ilk is right, left, moderate or undecided, being aware of viewpoints other than the one view being proselytized by mass media, TV’s so-called news shows, will have a two-fold effect. By raising our consciousness, with all the available information readily available to those who seek it one effect would be to search for answers to the questions that have come to mind since September 11^th. Another would be to address that ugly feeling all of us have had in the pit of our stomachs due to the choices our representatives have made in our name. Two, you will also become delightfully aware that you are not alone as to your questions, doubts and for some, a shared cynicism and skepticism, as to the direction and agenda of our elected officials.

The quality of our decisions and discourse must be based on a much wider perspective of views, enlarging our scope of understanding and enhancing our sensibilities as to our place in the world and to the history we make together. When you access www.commondreams.org essayists from the right and left question the validity and merit, or lack of it, of the Patriot Act, military tribunals, executive order 13233, and much, much more. (You may wish to checkout the “Our Reader’s Choice Top Ten November Essay’s on 9/11” This will also make available every top ten since September 11^th.)

Maybe it's just me. Let's begin with Ben Franklin's notion that "A country that forsakes freedom for security deserves neither." Second that with Lincoln's notion, "You may fool all of the people some of the time, you can even fool some of the people all of the time, you can even fool some of the people all of the time, but you can't fool all of the people all of the time."

Questions for the New Year: What price shall we pay for the actions of this administration? What price shall we pay for the inactions of our representative government? What price shall we pay for the silence of our Supreme Court? What price shall we pay for the acquiescence of our Fourth Estate? What price shall we pay for not adhering to the principles of our democracy, to our beliefs and our religious convictions?

This New Year demands that we check our conscience. How many more people must die to satisfy our vengeance? How many more lives to attain our retribution? Have we not yet had our fill as we continue to remove the remains of the innocents from the carcass of the World Trade Center? Must we stain our teeth with the blood of innocent Afghani's as we hunt down and destroy the perpetrators of such a heinous deed? Do they not bleed the same as we? Do they not grieve the deaths of innocents as we do? How do we justify to the world, how do we justify to ourselves, barbarism for barbarism? Has fear laid to waste our reason; are we as foolish as our leadership suggests we are?

Are the polls that tell us the popularity of our president the same polls that our politicians use to direct policy; polls that even a slightly educated individual realizes are just a manipulation of public opinion; polls that in the past were used to tap the pulse of the public’s preference for toothpaste and toilet paper? This is not the means to a better democracy. This is nothing more than a bad ad campaign.

I submit, the time has come to decipher and distinguish the substance known as truth from the spin and hype. The basic tenet of modern society is its faith in reason. Anthony Lewis, in his final article for the New York Times, wrote about faith in reason as being the foundation stone of the United States. Faith in reason with its intricate checks and balances our forefather's "reasoned" would prevent the abuses of power. They put their faith, not in men, but in the law: the law of the Constitution. Our history has continuously provided us the proof we need that freedom under the law is hard work and proof that no leader can be trusted with arbitrary power.

In God we trust, everybody else pays cash. Unfortunately, we have the best senate and house that money can buy – it will take more than prayer to save our democracy and to save ourselves from the evil within.

Home
Alpha and Omega
Rhapsody in Democracy
Requiem for the Silliness I Learned in Civics Class
Oh-Sum-Bodies-Been-Lying
Help Me If You Can, I'm Feeling Bad
Fear & Loathing in America
Choose Heads or Tails
Open Letter to the President
In God We Trust
The House Always Wins
We The People
Salted Peanuts
Enough Ranting - Just For Fun

if you want to rant back...

rantback@slightlyoffcenter.org