GoSlash27
09-05-2008, 05:26 AM
Some trains of thought that I can't figure out what to do with. Feel free to do whatever with them. :)
Of Patriots and Tyrants
From the Merriam Webster dictionary:
patriot
Pronunciation:
\'pa-tre-?t, -?ät, chiefly British 'pa-tre-?t\
Function:
noun
Etymology:
Middle French patriote compatriot, from Late Latin patriota, from Greek
patriotes, from patria lineage, from patr-, pater father
Date:
1605
: one who loves his or her country and supports its authority and interests
How can it be that that a word that derives from "father" be applied to a modern
concept that implies "son"?
Answer is it can't. There is, and has never been, any such thing as a "Son" of
Liberty.
A "patriot", contrary to common usage, is somebody who helps father
a new nation, not one who bows to an old one's tyranny. How did we as
a society ever forget that?
A man that we point to as an example of "patriot" once said that "dissent
is the highest form of patriotism". So how is it possible that a dissenter could
"support his country's authority"?
A "patriot" is one who advocates challenging the status quo, advocates a
birth (or rebirth) of his nation, and directly confronts the powers-that-be when
(as another famous patriot once wrote) "a long train of abuses and usurpations"
demands that he act.
In America today, such activity is outlawed as "subversive" or "seditious". Thus,
a "patriot" in the truest sense of the word is, in fact an outlaw. Power seeks
to protect itself, so how could it be otherwise?
Today we find ourselves at a crossroads. Our Constitution is regularly violated by
our government; the very same people that swore an oath to uphold and defend it
. Here in the "land of the free" our very own freedom is under attack by our
government in the name of security. Nobody seems to care that, as another patriot
said "he who trades freedom for security deserves neither and loses both".
In a country where our Bill of Rights demands that Americans be informed of
the charges against them and have a RIGHT to a public and speedy trial, we now have
the "Military Commissions Act" that says that American citizens can be held
indefinitely without charges. In a country that demands a citizen's
communications and personal effects be secure from unreasonable search and seizure,
we now have the hideously-Orwellian "PATRIOT" Act that gives the government the
right to track your phone calls, your bank account, your reading habits, your
credit card statements, and your internet communications *without* a warrant.
In a country where the Bill of Rights is not just a guide or suggestion, but
ratified binding law, our next President will either be a man who proudly
advocates violating the first Amendment or a man who proudly advocates violating
the second Amendment.
And our Congress has pushed off it's Constitutionally mandated power to declare
war to the President.
Where we used to have "legislation" we now have "signing statements". Where we
used to have "checks and balances" we now have "executive privelige".
Our RIGHTS are more and more often becoming regarded as "priveliges", and if this
trend isn't reversed soon, there will no longer be any such thing as "freedom" in
these United States.
Now I ask you: Does flying a flag make you a patriot? Does putting a "support the
troops" ribbon on your SUV make you a patriot?
No. The patriot is the man who stands up, proclaims by authority of the United
States Constitution that this behavior is unAmerican and pledges his life, his
fortune, and sacred honor to rectifying it.
Of Patriots and Tyrants
From the Merriam Webster dictionary:
patriot
Pronunciation:
\'pa-tre-?t, -?ät, chiefly British 'pa-tre-?t\
Function:
noun
Etymology:
Middle French patriote compatriot, from Late Latin patriota, from Greek
patriotes, from patria lineage, from patr-, pater father
Date:
1605
: one who loves his or her country and supports its authority and interests
How can it be that that a word that derives from "father" be applied to a modern
concept that implies "son"?
Answer is it can't. There is, and has never been, any such thing as a "Son" of
Liberty.
A "patriot", contrary to common usage, is somebody who helps father
a new nation, not one who bows to an old one's tyranny. How did we as
a society ever forget that?
A man that we point to as an example of "patriot" once said that "dissent
is the highest form of patriotism". So how is it possible that a dissenter could
"support his country's authority"?
A "patriot" is one who advocates challenging the status quo, advocates a
birth (or rebirth) of his nation, and directly confronts the powers-that-be when
(as another famous patriot once wrote) "a long train of abuses and usurpations"
demands that he act.
In America today, such activity is outlawed as "subversive" or "seditious". Thus,
a "patriot" in the truest sense of the word is, in fact an outlaw. Power seeks
to protect itself, so how could it be otherwise?
Today we find ourselves at a crossroads. Our Constitution is regularly violated by
our government; the very same people that swore an oath to uphold and defend it
. Here in the "land of the free" our very own freedom is under attack by our
government in the name of security. Nobody seems to care that, as another patriot
said "he who trades freedom for security deserves neither and loses both".
In a country where our Bill of Rights demands that Americans be informed of
the charges against them and have a RIGHT to a public and speedy trial, we now have
the "Military Commissions Act" that says that American citizens can be held
indefinitely without charges. In a country that demands a citizen's
communications and personal effects be secure from unreasonable search and seizure,
we now have the hideously-Orwellian "PATRIOT" Act that gives the government the
right to track your phone calls, your bank account, your reading habits, your
credit card statements, and your internet communications *without* a warrant.
In a country where the Bill of Rights is not just a guide or suggestion, but
ratified binding law, our next President will either be a man who proudly
advocates violating the first Amendment or a man who proudly advocates violating
the second Amendment.
And our Congress has pushed off it's Constitutionally mandated power to declare
war to the President.
Where we used to have "legislation" we now have "signing statements". Where we
used to have "checks and balances" we now have "executive privelige".
Our RIGHTS are more and more often becoming regarded as "priveliges", and if this
trend isn't reversed soon, there will no longer be any such thing as "freedom" in
these United States.
Now I ask you: Does flying a flag make you a patriot? Does putting a "support the
troops" ribbon on your SUV make you a patriot?
No. The patriot is the man who stands up, proclaims by authority of the United
States Constitution that this behavior is unAmerican and pledges his life, his
fortune, and sacred honor to rectifying it.