"We the People ... Have No Clothes" (click to download .pdf file) is a pamphlet that I have written and am now making available, at no cost, for download and distribution.
Preface
To highlight our responsibilities, I have chosen two contemporary events: the war on Iraq and Hurricane Katrina. The information I have provided was available to decision makers prior to each of these events and, most importantly, was publicly accessible - it was also available to each of you. That fact illustrates why I chose the title "We the People... Have No Clothes." That fact also illustrates our civic responsibilities to our Republic. It underscores our failure as citizens in holding our government and our information media accountable for fulfilling their responsibilities.
The declarative initial phrase of the Constitution of the United States, "We the People...", means every one of us doing everything we possibly can, every day, to seek truth, speak truth, demand truth and hold ourselves accountable as we hold others accountable. Whether we find ourselves in the majority this week, or the minority next year, the inevitability of the political cycle demands all of us be truthful and accountable. We can differ in goals and objectives, but we must all demand the truth and insist our government act within the law and within a framework of respect for all human life and the limited resources of our planet.
To be "a government of the people, by the people, for the people", we must meet the obligation to ensure every member of our society has access to a national infrastructure that provides literacy and equivalent access to the facts required to make informed, intelligent decisions about whom we elect and how they perform their duties. We have no society, we have no Republic, our Constitution is meaningless if we tolerate illiteracy, and if we allow any government official to violate their duty to tell the truth or prevent the dissemination of the truth. To be "a government of the people, by the people, for the people", we must insist each of us has equivalent access to exercising our right to vote and certain verification that our vote was counted exactly as it was intended. In other words, we need a "publicly verified democracy" - one in which we have full confidence that not only is our vote counted but that the "electronic ballot box" is not being stuffed by those who control the vote gathering and vote tallying software.
Table of Contents
Why You Need to Read this Pamphlet
Preface
Section I: Katrina and Iraq -- Two tragedies characterized by deception and disregard for innocent lives.
Section II: "When in the course of human events..." -- A lesson plan for what each of us must do.
Section III: "Government of the people, by the people, for the people..." -- Each of us is responsible: How our government misled us into war with Iraq.
Section IV: "In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex." - We, the people, have failed to do so.
Section V: Do "We the People ..." have a Verifiable Democracy?
Should we succeed in having the pamphlet published and distributed, commercially, then all proceeds beyond costs will be donated directly to Habitat for Humanity as a contribution toward "green" construction of housing for the victims of Katrina (and the Bush administration).
Thank you.
Peace.