| by Katherine Brengle |  |
From the Declaration of Independence: Take action -- click here to contact your local newspaper or congress people: Click here to see the most recent messages sent to congressional reps and local newspapers Katherine Brengle is a freelance writer and the wife of a deployed United States service member.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.
When our country is perpetrating abuses around the world in our name and perpetrating abuses in our own nation without our consent, it is our duty, as a free people, to take back what is rightfully ours, the government of our great nation, and lead it in a way consistent with our values and beliefs.
When the founders decided they had had enough, they took up arms and defended their ideals. Haven't we had enough? Haven't we sat idly by watching our government abuse the peoples of the world, the natural resources of the world, and the rights of the very people it was chosen to govern long enough? And this time, we don't need to take up arms, physically, but we need to say enough is enough and vote these corrupt leaders out of office. We need to replace them with people from our own ranks, who know what the people want.
Our executive can perpetrate violence against other countries without our consent. He can lie to us, the free citizens of this nation. He can spy on us. He can side with one faction of the people without taking the rest of the citizenry into account. Haven't we had enough?
Aren't we a nation of free individuals?
Our representatives in Congress ignore our wishes and our demands and go on doing what they have always done. They are much farther removed from the mass of the common man than once they were.
The work of the politician has become a lifelong career choice, rather than the chosen work of an individual intent on protecting the rights of the American people. It has become an occupation to which the corrupt and soulless flock, rather than the passionate and idealistic.
The mainstream media no longer serves as the Fourth Estate, but as a marketing tool for corrupt politicians and industry.
Our elections are no longer opportunities for the people to choose how and by whom they will be led. The choices are few and the methods are filthy with corruption.
Many of our children attend poorly functioning schools and do not have the supplies and teachers that they need to give them the educations that they deserve.
Our fragile ecosystems are falling apart due to environmental deregulation and our dependence on oil to heat our homes and power our automobiles.
Our civil liberties and civil rights are under attack by members of the government that has sworn to protect them.
Our tax dollars are being used to support a massive military-industrial complex, rather than to support our citizens.
If these and many other grievances do not amount to despotism in this modern age, I don't know what does.
It's time to take our country back. It's time to declare independence from the right wing fringe that has, through clever strategy and corruption, become the dominating political force in this free nation.
Tell your representatives in Congress that it's time for a change.
No comments:
Post a Comment