Ethics.
Compassion.
Morals.
All of these things have been carlessly tossed by the roadside like some piece of trash. Responsibility has been flicked out the window like a burning cigarette with its ashes left to flicker on the road until they go out. Carelessness and callousness now fester in those DC halls where once-great leaders governed this great country. What has happened to my country?
The president says that 9/11 changed everything, but I’m not so sure it did or even should have. For one brief, shining moment in American history, our country came together as one. Then, the pillaging began. It started with the USA Patriot Act that eroded our basic civil liberties one by one. All in the name of stopping terror. Then came Iraq. On its head, the Patriot Act seemed like a good idea, but underneath its fancy cloak of “protection” was something not quite right.
Looking back now, with 20/20 hindsight, Bush was right. September 11th did change everything. Unfortunately, it wasn’t for the better. Sure, we could all feel safer, but at what expense? Our government has changed and I don’t like what it has become. In a flurry of emotion, we cast aside traditional checks and balances for unfettered power to do anything, at any time, to anybody. All in the name of “protecting America”. What has happened to my country?
Lord Acton once wrote “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely”. Who knew how prophetic those words would become? After 9/11, we gave our president absolute power. And following Lord Acton’s prophetic words, we now see that it has corrupted absolutely. The government’s responsibility to its citizens is gone now, perhaps never to return. And we let it happen. The recent announcement that wiretaps were granted over 30 times against U.S. citizens without warrants being issued is extremely frightening to me. Dissent may be the highest form of patriotism, but it is fast becoming the highest form of treason. We have failed to hold our elected representatives responsible to us. We let this happen, willfully. I wonder what has happened to my country?
The problems facing us right now are bigger than the Bush Administration. We have Congress to blame as well. There are a few bright spots there that still regard our inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness very high indeed. But they are fast becoming the silenced minority. Rational discourse has gone the way of the dinosaurs. We need to find our way back to a time when our country was great, not because of its size or power, but because of our morals, our ethics, and our compassion. Folks on the right constantly proclaim that ours is a Christian nation. But Christ himself would not recognize us now. We have lost our way. The politics of hatred and destruction of personal character rule the day now. It is time for a change. Time to rid our government of the stubborn, money-hungry, power-mongers. It is time to kick the money-changers out of the temple, as Jesus once did.
Call or write your elected representatives, Democrat or Republican, and have them begin impeachment proceedings. The law has been broken before by members of the Bush Administration, but the cockiness the President has about spying on his own people, regardless of how “necessary” it is, is flat-out wrong. As my senator, Russ Feingold, said: “He was elected President, not King.” The powers granted to Bush after 9/11 were NOT a blank check no matter how he tries to spin it. Let’s put these assholes out of a job.
