The green ripples continue.
This past week, Iranian police continued the violent crackdown on dissidents who protested the recent presidential elections as they gathered at the gravesite of Neda Agha Soltan, the now-famous young woman who was shot to death at a June 20 election protest.
The June 12th election was supposed to be a well orchestrated show of the peaceful re-election of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, put on for the benefit of a skeptical global audience. All was in order, the outcome predetermined by Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, when something went terribly awry.
Supporters of opposition candidate, Mir Hossein Mousavi, in a bold move against an oppressive government regime, staged a massive, deliberate protest, claiming that the election was rigged. Donning green tee-shirts, green arm bands and green paint, the protesters took to the streets, cognizant of the fact that they were now targets of the police and the dreaded Basij, the Islamic culture enforcers of the theocratic leaders. A green wave of protesters, families, throngs of young Iranians and women in black chadors risked their lives to throw off the yoke of tyrannical government and reach for the gold ring of liberty.
In the end, with a brute show of force, the government quelled the initial riot, but at a high price. Despite a clampdown on journalists, the protesters utilized cell phone cameras, Twitter and the powers of the internet to expose, for all the world to see, the true response of an oppressive theocracy to the dissenting voice of its populace. Weeks later demonstrations continue, and having now tasted a bit of freedom of speech and self-determination, a young, restless population, tired of Sharia Law, may be sowing the seeds of revolution once again in Iran.
Flashback – January 2005, Iraq. Despite the media criticism of that unpopular war, despite the nay-saying of Ted Kennedy, John Kerry, and The New York Times, despite the infighting, border disputes, and tribal feuds of its peoples, the desire for liberty brought out the Iraqi people in droves to vote on their collective future.
Sporting the blue fingers of voters, Iraqis demonstrated on the global stage their hope for a better future - a future rid of a tyrannical dictator, rid of mass executions, rid of rape and torture rooms. Men and women, aware of the threats of violence, vengeance and death, bravely waited on voting lines and triumphantly raised their blue hands in defiance of those who would condemn them to a hijacked, perverted interpretation of Islamic law.
But what of America? What of the nation that spent its sacred treasure to bring the blue fingers of liberty to Iraq, to inspire the green hands of protest in Iran? What color did liberty take in today’s America?
November 4, 2008 – Over 129,000,000 million Americans would cast their vote for president. One party would put forth an eloquent, young, charismatic candidate, savvy of the day’s communication technology, aware of a youthful, energized voting block, and promising handouts, equality of results rather than opportunity, and an all caring, omnipresent government that would tend to every need, reward the underachiever and punish the wealthy. The opposition presented an aging, honorable war hero - a good man who was not quite up to the fight, who marginalized his base supporters in an effort to appeal to his opposition. A man who abandoned his supporters, who had rallied behind him, ready and willing to fight, waiting only for the battle cry that never came.
The results are history. The majority of the electorate cast their votes for handouts and entitlements. They painted their hands white as they surrendered a piece of liberty here and a freedom there, in exchange for a government to which they would become beholden. Some painted their hands yellow, afraid to speak out against a charlatan candidate for fear of incurring the wrath of the politically correct media, while still others did nothing, failing in their civic duty.
These are not the colors of liberty in America. It was the red blood of Americans that wrenched liberty from the British Empire, and it was that same crimson blood of Americans that rescued liberty from the clutches of tyranny and totalitarianism across the globe. The colonists voted with red hands in Boston Harbor in 1773 and again at Lexington and Concord in 1775. The Founding Fathers knew they were voting with red hands when they put those hands to paper in 1776, culminating with John Hancock’s declarative flourish. The red hands of Americans were raised in Bellau Wood, Iwo Jima, Normandy, Korea, Southeast Asia and the Middle East. Throughout history America has voted for liberty, both at home and abroad, with the blood of its sons and daughters.
So what now? In a country of law and order we vote not with arms, but with the power of the word. We do not shed blood, but neither do we meekly stand by and surrender our Republic and our liberty without a fight. Our weapons are our pens, our phones and the awesome power of the internet. The enemy is anyone who would seek to diminish our freedom, confiscate our treasure and intrude on our lives via a burdensome, meddling government that has forsaken the values, traditions, and the constitution, of our country. We have a civic duty to vote – to vote with the red hand of America.
Lest we think that we only vote in November, ask any candidate, any elected official when elections begin. They are running for office every day, with every decision they make, every calculated move, every sound byte, every facial expression, every parsed word and every empty promise.
Since they are campaigning every day, we must be voting every day. For every vote coming up in congress we should be issuing emails, faxes and calls. We cannot influence those who represent us if we do not speak out. If we speak, and they decide to disregard our voice, they should know that they do that at their own peril.
If we do nothing, we cannot complain when our taxes are raised to pay for undisciplined spending and bailouts. We cannot complain when private enterprise is replaced with more government bureaucracies. We cannot complain when our inheritance to our children is confiscatory taxes, a crippling national debt, diminished global influence and vulnerability to the forces of terrorism. We cannot complain when we are forced to wait months for routine medical treatment or when we must watch our parents, grandparents and other loved family and friends denied treatment because they have reached an age when their “useful viability to society” has been deemed to have run its course - instead seeing them forced to undergo “counseling” starting at age 65, by a cost-conscious government employee, who will advise them to consider their “end of life options.”
Now is a unique time. Our elected officials are coming home from Washington. When they return they will take up the issues of Health Care Reform, further stimulus (spending) bills, increased government takeover of private industry and the general dismantling of our Republic as we know it. Let them hear your voices while there is still time to stem the tide of socialism. If you think that they are not concerned by this groundswell of popular dissent, you need only listen to the words emanating from the administration. Concerned citizens, showing up at Town Hall Meetings and otherwise questioning their elected representatives, are being called angry mobs, right wing extremists, and dangerous crowds.
The “angry mobs” in Iran are being brutalized by their oppressive government and yet they continue to speak out. The “dangerous crowds” in Iraq are still attempting to reclaim their self-determination as a nation.
Perhaps it is time to conduct a primer in American history for those who profess to lead us. Let’s start with a few short phrases.
Repeat after me:
“…that to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just power from the consent of the governed”
“We, The People….”
Nico
This past week, Iranian police continued the violent crackdown on dissidents who protested the recent presidential elections as they gathered at the gravesite of Neda Agha Soltan, the now-famous young woman who was shot to death at a June 20 election protest.
The June 12th election was supposed to be a well orchestrated show of the peaceful re-election of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, put on for the benefit of a skeptical global audience. All was in order, the outcome predetermined by Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, when something went terribly awry.
Supporters of opposition candidate, Mir Hossein Mousavi, in a bold move against an oppressive government regime, staged a massive, deliberate protest, claiming that the election was rigged. Donning green tee-shirts, green arm bands and green paint, the protesters took to the streets, cognizant of the fact that they were now targets of the police and the dreaded Basij, the Islamic culture enforcers of the theocratic leaders. A green wave of protesters, families, throngs of young Iranians and women in black chadors risked their lives to throw off the yoke of tyrannical government and reach for the gold ring of liberty.
In the end, with a brute show of force, the government quelled the initial riot, but at a high price. Despite a clampdown on journalists, the protesters utilized cell phone cameras, Twitter and the powers of the internet to expose, for all the world to see, the true response of an oppressive theocracy to the dissenting voice of its populace. Weeks later demonstrations continue, and having now tasted a bit of freedom of speech and self-determination, a young, restless population, tired of Sharia Law, may be sowing the seeds of revolution once again in Iran.
Flashback – January 2005, Iraq. Despite the media criticism of that unpopular war, despite the nay-saying of Ted Kennedy, John Kerry, and The New York Times, despite the infighting, border disputes, and tribal feuds of its peoples, the desire for liberty brought out the Iraqi people in droves to vote on their collective future.
Sporting the blue fingers of voters, Iraqis demonstrated on the global stage their hope for a better future - a future rid of a tyrannical dictator, rid of mass executions, rid of rape and torture rooms. Men and women, aware of the threats of violence, vengeance and death, bravely waited on voting lines and triumphantly raised their blue hands in defiance of those who would condemn them to a hijacked, perverted interpretation of Islamic law.
But what of America? What of the nation that spent its sacred treasure to bring the blue fingers of liberty to Iraq, to inspire the green hands of protest in Iran? What color did liberty take in today’s America?
November 4, 2008 – Over 129,000,000 million Americans would cast their vote for president. One party would put forth an eloquent, young, charismatic candidate, savvy of the day’s communication technology, aware of a youthful, energized voting block, and promising handouts, equality of results rather than opportunity, and an all caring, omnipresent government that would tend to every need, reward the underachiever and punish the wealthy. The opposition presented an aging, honorable war hero - a good man who was not quite up to the fight, who marginalized his base supporters in an effort to appeal to his opposition. A man who abandoned his supporters, who had rallied behind him, ready and willing to fight, waiting only for the battle cry that never came.
The results are history. The majority of the electorate cast their votes for handouts and entitlements. They painted their hands white as they surrendered a piece of liberty here and a freedom there, in exchange for a government to which they would become beholden. Some painted their hands yellow, afraid to speak out against a charlatan candidate for fear of incurring the wrath of the politically correct media, while still others did nothing, failing in their civic duty.
These are not the colors of liberty in America. It was the red blood of Americans that wrenched liberty from the British Empire, and it was that same crimson blood of Americans that rescued liberty from the clutches of tyranny and totalitarianism across the globe. The colonists voted with red hands in Boston Harbor in 1773 and again at Lexington and Concord in 1775. The Founding Fathers knew they were voting with red hands when they put those hands to paper in 1776, culminating with John Hancock’s declarative flourish. The red hands of Americans were raised in Bellau Wood, Iwo Jima, Normandy, Korea, Southeast Asia and the Middle East. Throughout history America has voted for liberty, both at home and abroad, with the blood of its sons and daughters.
So what now? In a country of law and order we vote not with arms, but with the power of the word. We do not shed blood, but neither do we meekly stand by and surrender our Republic and our liberty without a fight. Our weapons are our pens, our phones and the awesome power of the internet. The enemy is anyone who would seek to diminish our freedom, confiscate our treasure and intrude on our lives via a burdensome, meddling government that has forsaken the values, traditions, and the constitution, of our country. We have a civic duty to vote – to vote with the red hand of America.
Lest we think that we only vote in November, ask any candidate, any elected official when elections begin. They are running for office every day, with every decision they make, every calculated move, every sound byte, every facial expression, every parsed word and every empty promise.
Since they are campaigning every day, we must be voting every day. For every vote coming up in congress we should be issuing emails, faxes and calls. We cannot influence those who represent us if we do not speak out. If we speak, and they decide to disregard our voice, they should know that they do that at their own peril.
If we do nothing, we cannot complain when our taxes are raised to pay for undisciplined spending and bailouts. We cannot complain when private enterprise is replaced with more government bureaucracies. We cannot complain when our inheritance to our children is confiscatory taxes, a crippling national debt, diminished global influence and vulnerability to the forces of terrorism. We cannot complain when we are forced to wait months for routine medical treatment or when we must watch our parents, grandparents and other loved family and friends denied treatment because they have reached an age when their “useful viability to society” has been deemed to have run its course - instead seeing them forced to undergo “counseling” starting at age 65, by a cost-conscious government employee, who will advise them to consider their “end of life options.”
Now is a unique time. Our elected officials are coming home from Washington. When they return they will take up the issues of Health Care Reform, further stimulus (spending) bills, increased government takeover of private industry and the general dismantling of our Republic as we know it. Let them hear your voices while there is still time to stem the tide of socialism. If you think that they are not concerned by this groundswell of popular dissent, you need only listen to the words emanating from the administration. Concerned citizens, showing up at Town Hall Meetings and otherwise questioning their elected representatives, are being called angry mobs, right wing extremists, and dangerous crowds.
The “angry mobs” in Iran are being brutalized by their oppressive government and yet they continue to speak out. The “dangerous crowds” in Iraq are still attempting to reclaim their self-determination as a nation.
Perhaps it is time to conduct a primer in American history for those who profess to lead us. Let’s start with a few short phrases.
Repeat after me:
“…that to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just power from the consent of the governed”
“We, The People….”
Nico
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