Volume 7, Issue 41
The President withdrew a small contingent force of the U.S. military from a region in Syria bordering Turkey. The Kurds, who are our allies in the war against ISIS, are at risk, feel betrayed, and feel abandoned. Turkish forces appear to be executing a military action that is now being criticized as ethnic cleansing.
It is heart-wrenching to see one’s country being torn apart internally by partisan division and tarnished externally by commitments perceived to be unkept. What is causing this conflict when American unemployment is at an all-time low, government services have never been more generous, and equal rights under the Constitution, regardless of race, creed, color or sex, have never known a greater commitment?
In this great experiment called democracy, we are not at war with government. We are at war with ourselves.
There is no oppression of the people. This is a war about the authority of ideology, not the authority of government.
When Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky was recently asked in an interview whether he thought President Trump had acted illegally, abusing his power as President, by sending his personal attorney, Rudi Giuliani, to Ukraine to encourage an investigation of Hunter Biden. Senator Paul said, to ensure the legal actions of all branches of government, all actions of questionable legality should be investigated. It is of-record that three Democratic U.S. Senators sent a letter to the government of Ukraine, officially requesting an investigation of the President of the United States. If President Trump sought an investigation of a political rival’s son for the purpose of advancing his candidacy in the next election, then the three Democratic senators committed the same crime for the benefit of all Democrats running for President. The interviewer’s response was to first ignore Senator Paul’s statement as if it didn’t matter what a Democratic senator did or didn’t do. When forced to acknowledge the facts, the interviewer then asked the question, “Well, that may be, but do two wrongs make a right?” Two wrongs may not make a right, but two wrongs do not justify selective enforcement.
Warring political factions have no intention of honoring general principles of morality as the underpinnings of American government. All sense of fairness has been abandoned for the simple cause of a creed. In such blind aggression, the end justifies the means.
Hypocrisy of different measures of accountability are not the sole sin of government. The National Basketball Association (NBA) recently backed down from demands of China to not criticize their government if, in fact, they expected to increase the presence of the NBA brand in China. LeBron James, a man who enjoys and deserves the respect of his countrymen, implied that caution should be exercised in criticism of the totalitarian government policies of President Xi of China and his dealings with the citizens of Hong Kong. Mr. James has expressed no such reservation about the criticisms of his own President. Citizens of Hong Kong are not protesting for more government benefits. They are fighting for their basic freedoms of the due process of law. The irony in all this is that, while the NBA has appeared to call for leniency in reaction to China, what flag are the protestors waving as a symbol of freedom and defiance of totalitarian rule?
The flag of the United States of America.
Since the beginning of recorded history, the struggle between mankind and government has largely been about the debate of the citizens’ forced servitude to government and the government’s rights of sovereignty over the citizens. Through the great crucibles in history of cultural interaction between mankind and government, the issue was always the fairness of government to impose rules and regulations on the citizens. In 1776, the American colonies changed forever that equation. Our successful war of independence then established the revolutionary idea that God is sovereign over man, and man is sovereign over government. Government exists for the sole purpose of serving the citizens and protecting their freedom.
Soon after the American Revolution, the French Revolution followed a similar course of cause. The monarchy was eliminated, but it was never replaced with a government whose purpose of existence was to serve the people. Today, the United States is still the only government, defined by a constitution, wherein the government only acts with the consent of the governed.
That’s why the American flag is the adopted symbol of freedom of the protestors in Hong Kong.
So, what does this mean to America today?
The primary perceived threat for the survival of democracy by many intellects in the 18th and 19th centuries centered on what would happen when the people realized they could vote themselves benefits from a treasury controlled by the people. They were wrong in their suspicion. The primary threat to democracy today is partisan leaders abusing the trust of authority given to them by the people in a republican form of government. This abuse is the manifestation of a creed pursued at all costs without respect or consideration for the constitutional preservation of freedom’s protocol.
We who want to be free must take control of our own freedom. Vigilance means not only standing against foreign threats. Vigilance is just as important in holding all leaders accountable in their oath of office to protect and defend the Constitution.
It may seem overwhelming or impossible, but we must commit to taking the defense of freedom into our own hands. How? Family-by-family, city-by-city, state-by-state, never yielding to the narcotic impulse of supporting ideology imposed on others without the due process of the rule of law.
The opening words of the Constitution are now more life-critical to democracy than ever. “We the people, in order to form a more perfect union...” must be extended to include maintaining the union.
It is not by accident that the Kurds demand our military presence for their security and fear withdrawal of our military. Think about the image that projects for hope as the greatest power on earth.
It is not by accident that, of all the symbols of a revolution against tyranny, the Hong Kong protestors choose to wave the American flag. Think about the image that projects for the hope of oppressed people.
And, it is not by accident that many citizens of the United States feel despair and remorse about the abuse of power of government exercised by leaders driven towards a self-serving goal of divisive ideology. Think about the historical remnant of equality and righteousness that is still the hope of those Americans.
We are at war among ourselves over the dominance of ideology. Ultimate defeat of one ideology over another is not necessary for any ideology to advance. It is the coexistence of differing points of view that strengthens the individual purpose of every citizen. It is the mandate of democracy to provide for the peaceful management of diversity of opinion. Diversity of opinion strengthens democracy.
In this war of our times, only we the people can protect the union of freedom.
My name is Marc Nuttle and this is what I believe.
What do you believe?