Topic: Politics
My 4th of July Message (& who I'm voting for in Nov.) by Christine Smith
(Libertarian)
Friday, July 4, 2008
"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"
A strong bold and clear definition of the proper form of government, one deriving its power from the citizens solely to protect the rights each individual is born with. Fifty years later, Jefferson wrote in a letter to Henry Lee describing the Declaration of Independence as "an appeal to the tribunal of the world," and "intended to be an expression of the American mind, and to give to that expression the proper tone and spirit called for by the occasion"
Continuing from the Declaration of Independence, "Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people" 56 signers put their lives on the line for a vision we as Americans celebrate every 4th of July.
They were men unafraid to challenge the injustices imposed upon the people, bold enough to declare the existence of 13 sovereign states, and courageous in stating clearly the people should be governed by the rule of law not by the words and control of a man with dictatorial rule, unrestrained by law, unjust, a usurper of sovereigntyin short - a tyrant.
Yet is that spirit of courage present today? Where are such patriots? Where are individuals who truly love freedom and will fight to ensure the liberties we hold so dearly are not taken from us? Certainly not in the halls of Congress (with rare exceptions). And most certainly not in the White Houseand November 2008 will do nothing to change this sad fact. We, as a nation, willingly participate in a huge farce. A dark comedy. Only without the laughs. For this nation will again install yet another "unfit to be the ruler of a free people."
But though unfit to rule a "free people" they are fit to be the ruler of the American people, because the people continue to accept more and more loss of their liberties. On this 4th of July weekend we'll see the flags waving, the festive parades, the BB Q's, the fireworks and patriotic songsbut do we see liberty? I think we see vestiges of the freedoms we once held so dearly and were willing to fight for. We see symbols, removed from the truth, enjoyable representations of days and a country (a republic) far gone. Yes, we have liberties, but we are losing them at an alarming rate as we continue to elect people who care nothing for liberty.
Celebrating is fine, it's what the founders wanted: As John Adams wrote in a letter to his wife, on July 3, 1776, when the Declaration of Independence had been approved, saying,"It ought to be commemorated as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more. You will think me transported with Enthusiasm but I am not. I am well aware of the Toil and Blood and Treasure, that it will cost Us to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States. Yet through all the Gloom I can see the Rays of ravishing Light and Glory"
We've got the "Pomp and Parade" and the sports and all the other festivities, but we have omitted the "Toil" and all that goes with that as well as the "solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty." In doing so, the people as a whole have not maintained the spirit of the Declaration of Independence, and rather have permitted a government to become so huge, unresponsive, unjust, immoral, authoritarian, burdensome, wielding power without regard to the wishes of the people any longer. Most Americans have brought so little solemnity to defending the Republic, that they don't even grasp that which they're celebrating on the 4th of July, and they certainly don't give it a thought until the next holiday they can celebrate and feel patriotic about. If the enormous number of Americans having a good time today channeled just some of that energy into challenging the corrupt status quo by refusing to ever again vote for a politician who doesn't uphold the U.S. Constitution in all their policies and decisions, things would change. No longer would the lying politicians have a mandate from the people to continue as they are - giving lip service to all things patriotic while being the antithesis to liberty.
I'm all for having a celebratory enjoyable time with friends in honor of our independence, but I am well aware that "Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom, must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it." (Thomas Paine). I don't see most Americans doing anything to support it. Instead they treat politics like a game, with the biggest example of that being the political party conventions which are just a big party, with the rest of Americans who don't attend hyping themselves up emotionally over their preferred dictator.
What has happened tothe liberty you are celebrating when you have a government that assumes an essentially dictatorial rule since 9/11; a president exercising power and authority as no president prior, along with a Congress that rubberstamps it all? And consider the decades of oppressive taxation by this federal government while providing virtually no representation; so why do millions of Americans go to the polls and cast a vote for anyone, be they from the "left" or "right" who seeks to not only continue the oppression but increase it?
Recognize that any candidate who has supported or defended the Iraq War, the "War on Terror" or the Patriot Act; pledges to increase foreign aid; refers to foreign nations as our "enemies;" supports using our military for any reason other than defense of America; maintains the use of embargoes; supports the "War on Drugs;" advocates windfall profits tax; supports expanding the government be it for "campaign finance reform," Medicare, supporting airline bailouts, federalizing regulation of sports such as boxing, education, or any other "good cause" at your literal expense; or who advocates any number of other unconstitutional positions, is "unfit to be the ruler of a free people."
A candidate that does not openly and boldly state they will cease the imperialistic agenda of the U.S. government by ending all meddling in the affairs of other nations - no exceptions - and any candidate who seeks to use and increase "legal plunder" as Bastiat says to fund programs to "help" people by taking from others - is not fit to "be the ruler of a free people." In my opinion, there's not a single candidate running which I believe (save one) is a patriot, who would always endeavor to put the true best interest of the American people (the upholding of the U.S. Constitution) above all political agendas, who respects individual liberty and a truly free market, and would at least try to reign in the out of control government intrusion/invasions of our civil liberties, taxation, much less end the interventionist assaults on sovereign peoples worldwide.
Resolve this July 4th to re-dedicate yourself to really trying to make a difference for the cause of liberty. Vow to withhold your time, money and work from all political candidates for any office whom you distrust. Past voting records, empty words, vacillation on issues, and outright declarations of so many unconstitutional positions proves to me that a candidate is unworthy of my support. I will cast a vote only for a candidate, who if they received the office, would not only swear to uphold the Constitution but I believe they would do it. I vow to be always be a voter of integrity. I will cast my vote as if it would determine who will be in that office. As a voter of integrity, your candidate may not win this time, but neither will you have again been a part of giving "a democratically elected dictator" (defined by Jacob G. Hornberger in his article A Democratic Dictatorship as "a person who has been duly elected to office who exercises dictatorial powers") a mandate from the people.
As for me, the choice is clear: I'm writing in the name of Ron Paul. Let's use this 4th of July to dedicate ourselves to actively working for liberty at every level of government, and let's use this special day to vow to be part of a unified effort across this country to write in "Ron Paul" on the ballot in November. Any other vote is a wasted vote.
Christine Smith is a writer and political activist from Colorado. You may visit her website (and blog): [link edited for length]
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2008 Christine Smith, all rights reserved.
Published: Friday, July 4, 2008
Last modified: Friday, July 4, 2008
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This is a prime example of why the Libertarian Party has not, is not, and may never be a significant force on the national political stage. We are, by nature, anarchists, and that anarchy will prevent us from unifying behind a single political candidate. We are the champions of the perfect, refusing to see that political progress is made one step at a time, refusing to compromise even one iota of our "perfect" principles in order to make inroads into a political system that has been engineered to keep us out.
Thanks, Christine, for you insights and commentary over the years, for your leadership, and for your committment. I, too, have been an active and vocal supporter of Ron Paul for many years and like many, wish that he would consent to be our candidate. But Ron is a pragmatist. He understands that he is more valuable serving in Congress and in his committees than being banished and punished by the Repuglicans for joining us.
Unfortunately your choice to write Ron's name in, rather than vote for our party's nominee (a man who I know personally to be a committed, dedicated, and honest libertarian) demonstrates once again why we will continue to be labeled "Losertarians." We each have a choice to make, vote for our party's candidate in a continuing effort to strengthen the party, convert other voters to our cause and beliefs, and put libertarian candidates in office by winning elections, or to take "perfect" principled stands, forever being outside the halls of political power.
Christine, thank you for the great holiday message.
It is clear that you are a patriot unbound by any party, label or affiliation. Artificial party and election system in the United States is one of the biggest obstacles to true democracy and to people's will. It feeds natural human desire to be a part of the group, therefore giving them illusionary feeling of being stronger then what they are as an individual. The good example is Jeff who commented on your article. Even though he agrees with your views, he would still vote along the party line and not for what is best for the whole country (I will not go into questionable credentials of the current LP candidate). Not only that LP will lose at the next elections the whole country will.
The only way out of current system and people behind it is the education of citizens, the persistence of patriots like you, Christine who offer and spread the truth with fighting spirit.
Of course the hardest thing is to get people to read it, hear it and think about it.
Christine I agree with your sentiment, but if you write-in Ron Paul your vote might not even be counted. I don't know how it works in your state, but in my state, Michigan, a candidate who wishes to run as a write-in must send a "Letter Of Intent To Run" to the Secretary of State, along with a list of delegates and the VP's name. If he doesn't do that then his write-in votes will not be counted. No one will ever know you voted for him, so it will not even show up as a protest vote. As far as I know Ron Paul is not running a write-in campaign.
Anyway you should check with your state's Secretary of State and find out if a write-in vote will be counted.
Wish it would do some good for me to write in Ron Paul. That was my intention till I found out he is not running as a write-in candidate. In Texas it won\'t be counted if I write in the name of someone who isn\'t running. If my vote isn\'t counted it won\'t do any good in any way whatsoever. I am looking at Bob Barr and Chuck Baldwin.
And I'm contacting my senators and congressman on things to let them know my views.
I will NO LONGER vote for the "lesser of two evils". The lesser of two evils is still evil.
"As far as I know Ron Paul isn't running a write in campaign..."
Agreed. But as far as I know he hasn't forbidden one either. A one page letter is a one page letter. I'll write the one for California and send it to his office. If he doesn't sign it, he is saying our votes can't count, which would be a shame since he is the one who woke a lot of us up to principled voting. (Yeah, I'm not above a guilt trip.) However, what is it with HE is not running a write in campaign? If he'll sign the paper, that would be up to us.
In any event Christine, I'm not a big L libertarian (GOP for decades actually) but I've stopped voting the lesser of two evils, and I hope we see more of you, over time.
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2008 Christine Smith, all rights reserved.