By Philip Drucker
“You Say You Want an Insurrection? Well You Know…” What a day to be an American! Or is that an understatement? I think not, for any even halfway honest evaluation of yesterday’s events at the Capitol building can only be characterized as an act of insurrection against the United States of America, incited in large part by the President of the United States. This is a serious matter with serious repercussion and consequences. Oh, I’ve already seen so many false equivalents from the now clearly self-deluded MAGA brain washed at best confederacy of dunces that to even allow them an inch of credibility hoping they will do the right thing is mere wishful thinking at best. And, if I may prognosticate for a moment, yesterday’s insurrection will not be the last we hear from them. This is an incredibly important point in a country where all power begins and ends with We, the People. To refuse to acknowledge there is a significant portion of our voting electorate that believes the American dream involves using the Electoral College to install and then keep in power a dictator is sadly mistaken when in fact, the exact opposite has always been true. So much for originalism, eh? Why do I focus on the populace as opposed to the politicians? Because getting rid of Trump. Cruz, and the Hawleys of the world will not solve our current predicament. It is a step in the right direction, but will only act as a topical salve on an open wound begging for a far bigger band aid. Fortunately, there is such a way and it begins with us. The good news? It’s our We, the People’s turn to flex our combined political power to fix when we have always been in charge of, the course and direction of society. Not surprisingly, the best way to our salvation is through a read, or hopefully re-read of Thomas Paine’s incredibly influential pamphlet “Common Sense”. Released in 1776 it was one of the early works that advocated American independence as was in terms we use now-a days, a NY Times Best Seller and then some. There is no better relevance to our current situation than these seemingly timeless words of unlimited possibility and hope. “We have it in our power to begin the world over again." -- Thomas Paine, Common Sense Paine first uttered these words in 1776 and I dare say if given the chance he would use them again, note for note, today. http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/147 Tom Paine was not a politician. At his “height” of civic minded duty, he was what we would call today a tax collector. Although he did achieve some notoriety during his day, his family life was a disaster, he was probably an alcoholic and died penniless, at the mercy of what benefactors, not many, he still had left. This in my view making him the perfect person to follow the advice of when creating a new nation based on life, liberty, individual freedoms, and what would soon become the American way. On its most basic level, “Common Sense” advocates for beginning at a simple premise, namely, that what we call society is the gathering of individuals deciding together, usually by consensus, what is the best course and direction for OUR country to pursue? What are our shared goals? Or, even simpler, what beneficial results can we all achieve together, that we would like to see, but can’t reach through our own efforts? It is only when We, the People decide for ourselves the future direction of OUR nation can we move forward. Today, this mission must include a hard, brutally honest reassessment of who and what We, the People are before going forward with any plan, program, initiative or, importantly proceed with the help of our Government. In America, we tell “them”, our representatives, what we want and never the other way around. Why? Because January 6, 2021, a day that will live in infamy is how following lies, rumor and innuendo, illusion, delusion, discrimination and conflagrations of the public ends up. Poorly. Where does that leave us? Those who choose to follow history, follow the actual hopes and aspirations of the Founding Fathers and yes, reality? Firstly, we continue to resist. Then we decide for ourselves, and then we reach out, and teach. Shortly we will have the time to do so, and yes, I assure you that time is coming. As far as I can tell, and the list grows shorter with every passing hour, the fascist insurrectionist Trump’s decreasing power base is comprised of two main groups. 1. The sycophants who are still following him because they still think they can personally benefit from Ringmaster Trumpo and his ongoing clown show of antics and/or whatever actual policies, these being very few indeed, the grotesquely wealthy with little to no conscience left, still want to see continue indefinitely if possible. Firstly, let’s deal with this lot before going onto the equally culpable, if not more so, problem child group No. 2. For this first cadre of idiots, and yes, that is what I would call them for they know what they are doing and continue to do it, pollution is the solution, greed is good (to say the least) and a little insurrection the mere reflection of the public’s collective will that when they are rich, America is rich. For this, resistance is and continues to be not an option, but a requirement of all true patriots who love their country. So, why does Trump and his band of thieves continue to “get away” with is? When is the jig up for Godawful Father Trump, his devious crime syndicate family and the future line-up candidates that still aid and abet the Thief in Chief? This is where our mission gets a bit tricky. You want to be honest? Brutally honest in our assessment of what lies ahead? Then we must examine the “other” and 2. On my list of unable to grasp the truth because it doesn’t “suit” their skewed world view, contingency of MAGA madness. I refer to them as the stupid people out there who Trump by comparison makes them look smart, at least in the eyes of their peers. This is a problem that will not go away with the passing of Trump. The MAGAs will move on from Fox, to AONN, to the Daily Satan Is the Good Guy Diary Show if they ever invent it (and they will), in fact, I would say throw their allegiance to anyone who fits the bill of being stupid enough to encourage these automatons to follow the propaganda circular firing squad leading to ultimate defeat from within. As a heads up, the MAGA lunatics of slavish, lemming like cult members will look for their next leader, the Trump show is getting a little old, with the only requirement being their next savior must 1. Hate and blame the same people from their problems, and 2. He or she must be even stupider than Trump. Why? Because in the final analysis, Generalissimo Trump was stupid enough to quietly take over the government, and openly advocated for an open, armed insurrection that was sure from the start to fail. This is where the false equivalents are growing fast. But let me make this clear and as unambiguous as possible. A protest, a violent protest, including acts of vandalism and yes, violence, are still not on the scale of attacking the Capitol building. In fact, you might argue that of the two, the right protest could move public sentiment in the right direction, but really, other than way back in 1773, has there been another protest so influential to the forming our national identity? The Tea Party itself? An act centered upon taxes and performed in the middle of the night, by yes, a bunch of patriots who dressed up as Native Americans to avoid identification? This is the stuff from which legends, for better or for worse, are made, and this one, maintained. We can do better. But, and again let me be crystal clear, an armed insurrection against the Capitol, against the Congress, the House of Representatives as they did nothing but fulfill their Constitutional duty to insure the peaceful transfer of power after a certified by the states vote is on another level of deceit and treachery and stupidity altogether and any false equivalent between acts related to the BLM or “antifa”. I’m thinking the “they did it, why can’t we?” analogies to the George Floyd protests is nothing short of advocating property damage as every bit as important to the very structure of our society as an attack upon one of our most sacred government institutions. Think about it. This attitude can only lead to every act of graffiti, every broken window done by a gang member is elevated to the position of insurrection. It is not. Why? Because being an African American and having a point of view, perhaps even a strong one, like stop killing us, in and of itself is not a crime. Unless, of course, you think it is. If so, I pity you, but I, We, the People, will still help you. This may surprise some of you, but according to Paine, government is not here to say yes, it is here to enforce laws in protection of those societal goals We, the People agreed to pursue. In other words, we say yes, we want this, and the government, quite rightly says no, to those who would take actions deleterious to our population. It really is that simple. So, when your insurrection, a takeover of the protective element attached to society’s wishes includes the disinvestment of anyone that doesn’t look or act like you, or who wants to take away your guns, it is a non-starter. In the words of John Lennon (sort of, with my apologies up front): “But if you go carrying pictures of Chairman Trump (again, my bad), You ain't going to make it with anyone anyhow.” But don’t you know, if we follow John’s narrative, everything is going to be alright. It is for there is much we can do to put our country back on the right track. Together, and this time in the common interest of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all. You don’t think so? Well, let me ask you this. If society is best when it represents those shared goals and ambitions of the entire population, what do you think would happen if we abolished “Citizens’ United”? Does the will of the 1% truly represent a society based on “E Pluribus Unum”? Out of many one? What would happen if we re-instated the voting protections under the Voting Rights Act of 1968? Where the obvious need to curtain the discriminatory nature of state suppression doesn’t even allow for an accurate assessment of a significant part of our population? In short, what would happen if the government, once again enforced the will of the majority, the masses, including every one of us regardless of any artificial barrier to participating in the great public debate we call the Social Compact as determined by the Market Place of Ideas where in America, everyone and I mean everyone gets their say. But once said…let the political chips fall where they may for this is truly what it means to live in a representative democracy. Anything less is an affront to who we are as a We, the People devoted to justice and equality under the rule of law. And so, I humbly submit, based on the narrative above, today is a great day to be an American for it is our chance, mine, yours, to prove our mettle as the patriots who came before us and rededicate ourselves to the wise beyond their time words of Thomas Paine and all the persons who followed him into the promise and creation of a new nation, one of, by and for the people, of which We, the People have become part of and must do our part by continuing to act in her defense. I feel great, how about you?
Like My Blog? Buy My Book?
Comments