Will the real George Bush please stand up?

Here is a quote that I can get solidly behind:

James Madison highlighted the importance of our Constitution's separation of powers when he wrote, "the accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands . . . may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny."

Throughout our Nation's history, we have been reminded repeatedly of the wisdom of the Framers' design. Our system of separation of powers has safeguarded our liberties and helped ensure that we remain a government of laws.

Can you guess where it came from?

This is a from a Proclamation from George W. Bush, announcing Law Day 2006 last Monday.

Does he even read what he signs?

Yesterday I posted this piece about his consolidation of power. This would be funny if it wasn't so out of touch. Which GWB should we believe?

Personally, I think actions speak louder than words.



Peace,

Matt




Tags: politics, Bush, irony, freedom, government, power, tyranny

Sedition in America

Montana's Governor Brian Schweitzer will be pardoning nearly seven dozen Montana residents convicted of sedition.

Many of those being pardoned were overheard in bars criticizing the president and his wealthy supporters, and were immediately arrested and sentenced for up to 20 years for expressing opinions contrary to the government or one of it's agencies.

Sound Scary? It is. These were ordinary Americans talking, in public, to friends.

This happened about 90 years ago during the last part of World War I. The pardons are the result of the work of a Montana journalism professor and a number of UM law students. See The Montana Sedition Project for details on their efforts and the victims.

Congratulations should go to the people who worked on this project, and to Gov. Schweitzer for rectifying the injustice. The lesson is to never let it happen again.

But I'm afraid.

With the consolidation of power to the executive branch, a president who doesn't believe he needs to follow any law contrary to his agenda, and an expanding domestic spying program - the next step will be arrests for sedition.

The difference this time is that the power that would be exercised requires no warrant, no trial, no legal representation, and no acknowledgement a prisoner is being held. It merely requires the assertion that the person was engaged in suspicious activities.

I find hope in the fact that we can recognize the injustices of nearly a century ago. If we are vigilant against those injustices now, perhaps we can keep history from repeating itself.

History has hard lessons for us, and a tendency to repeat until we learn them.

Let's hope we learned this one.

Peace,

Matt






Tags: sedition, politics, freedom, liberty, injustice, history, individualism, Montana, bush, president, government

Voices of the Revolution

Below are posts worth reading. Are they the voices of the coming revolution? Maybe. I hope they are just the voices that start the wakeup call to Americans concerned about keeping their freedom and government.

The true way to fix the entire government
[police] State of the Union
I Have Seen the Enemy, and He is The People
The Direction We're Headed

And to our CIA Readers, I hope this helps your "intelligence" gathering operation.

Peace,

Matt





Tags: politics, cia, freedom, revolution, bush, individualism, government

I couldn't have said it better myself

Midtopia has a post, Bush: I AM the Law! that sums up the scary nature of Bush's administration and it's consolidation of power.

The parallels between what our executive branch is doing and what many monarchies have done throughout history is frightening. I've pointed out before that the "war on terror" is being fought more at home than abroad, and that the tactic seems to be the erosion of individual rights of Americans in the name of our own good rather than the development of the worldwide structures that are actually necessary.

Could any of us live with ourselves if we had to explain to our grandchildren that we did nothing while freedom died through our own complacency?

This needs to stop and it needs to stop now. We have the opportunity to correct this erosion now without the major social and political revolution it will require if it continues unchecked.

Stand up and be heard!

A special toast to Sean Aqui of Midtopia for his concise and clear analysis.

What Bush and his administration is doing is nothing less than a coup. The longer it takes for us to recognize it, the more difficult it will be to get our government back.

Peace,

Matt

"The revolution will not be televised."




Tags: midtopia, bush, politics, revolution, terror, constitution, government, individualism, freedom, liberty