July 4, 2007

July 4th is American Independence Day, which has long been trivialized
by sales in stores, absurd movies about space aliens attacking earth,
and most of all politicians of all kinds, including , until the Civil
War, slaveholders, making speeches defending slavery, Know Nothing
violence against immigrants and Catholics, the repression of trade
unions, immigration restriction, the denial of voting rights to women,
military interventionism, and many other policies at variance with the
spirit of the American revolution, as representing "Americanism,"
"democracy," and "liberty,"

It will be interesting to see what George Bush says on this July 4th.
His administration has already emulated the administration of George
III whose policies produced Declaration of Independence, the
Revolutionary War of Independence and the later Constitutional
Republic that has lasted since George Washington became the first
president in 1789.

The government that colonists rebelled against showed deep contempt of
the "rights of Englishmen" that colonists identified with the English
revolution of the 17th century and believed that they were entitled to.

Like George III, this George(also ironically the third George to reach
the presidency) has carried out searches, seizures and arrests without
warrants in violation of traditional concepts of due process and law,
has protected his officials from prosecution by duly established
authorities("Scooter" Libby is not Lord Libby but he is a member of
what those who made the American revolution would consider a "monied
aristocracy" serving the Crown).

He has proclaimed that he is above the law and everyone, citizen and
alien, are represented "virtually" by his administration, which has
their interests in mind, even if they have no access to lawyers, the
resolutions of legislatures and the decisions of judges made against
the government are ignored, and massive corruption in government
contracts(like the old royal franchises) and individual lawlessness
are either ignored or "pardoned" by a twisted conception of "noblesse
oblige."

What was it that the cartoonist Walt Kelly, creator of Pogo, wrote in
a famous 1950s cartoon related to the cold war and McCarthyism. "We
have met the enemy and it is us" looks like reality this July 4th.
The enemy of everything that American Independence and the American
revolution represented positively in the world, sits in the white
house today at the head of an administration or tyrannical and corrupt
courtiers whose appetite for wealth and power without regard to either
law and justice is limitless.

We must use the constitutional rights available to us, Congress's
refusal to fund the administration's wars, Congressional resolutions
condemning the administration's violations of law and preparing
impeachment against the president and Vice President(and, possibly,
investigating impeachment against Supreme Court Justices, which
Congress has the power to do) and most of all preparing to decisively
defeat the administration and the Republican rightwing in the 2008
elections. Then we can celebrate the 4th of July with real pride, not
with fear and trepidation at what our tyrannical and corrupt
government will do next.
Norman Markowitz