...The problem in America is extremism. The extremists will never be satisfied of course, but they have no business at this table anyway. Their next sip of icy cold Koolaid is being served up by the White House chefs, as the concept of "We the People" is burned quietly in the background...
In my recent article, "You Are Destroying America. Yes, You," I suggested that the American public was responsible for allowing the current White House "Executive Privilege" culture to get away with chilling abuses of the Constitution. In response, I received a flood of email. Most were from people who expressed similar fear, concern, and anger over their cherished nation walking the path to a police state. These weren't pacifists or conspiracy-nuts, but ordinary Americans who don't like the direction this country is taking.
Others were from people who, while not agreeing wholeheartedly with me, wanted to talk. Oh, the email exchanges began fierce and angry, but they progressed along a rational basis. We met in the middle - because if we're not willing to see things from another perspective, try ideas on for size, turn off the TV and radio, and discuss problems with intellectual honesty, we'll never solve any problems. If we don't want to compromise, we're just grinding our wheels here. Real debate (see The Death of American Debate) isn't about block-headed ramming contests.
But then there were the emailers and posters who are America's favored cult members, the dogs trained to bark without thought, and who betray America as wretchedly as the White House is raping the Constitution.
These are the people who can't understand that you can criticize the President, and still hate terrorists. (They really can't understand this.)
That you can advocate hunting down those religious fanatics, those barbarians, those Visigoths, all for the sake of preserving life and liberty - while simultaneously be willing to recognize that life and liberty can be threatened by our very own government.
That the problem in America isn't conservatism or liberalism but extremism. These are the people who have surrendered their precious ability to think, all to fill their head with the late-night punditry hours. So they can become Dittoheads (and prove how far we're falling as a rational culture by the pride these parrots have in their status as Dittoheads.)
These are the people who don't read, they react.
These are the people who have been so brainwashed into seeing the world in "liberal versus conservative" terms that they have become cultists.
Cultists.
Cowards.
Zombies trained to mindless repetition.
One correspondent wrote me: "Shut up, the libs LOVE big government."
My response? "And they're wrong too. What's your point, sir?"
He didn't have one. As a cult member he's been trained to leap to the defense of his cult without critical thinking, without even addressing the issues I brought up, and simply say that the Democrats have done it. No debate, just reaction.
Another correspondent said, "You just hate America, and you're spineless. The guv should be able to do whatever it wants."
Cultists, once again. Does it matter that I state the necessity of America protecting itself from barbarous terrorists? In the words of the previous article: "When we're attacked again, we need to stand strong and firm and fight, against those barbarians who hurt us and against those opportunistic politicians who will try to exploit the tragedy."
He didn't see this because, again, cultists don't read, they react. I could write numerous essays attacking the jihadists (as I have done) but the instant I question Bush the cultists come snarling and barking. And this cowardly correspondent who feels the government should "do whatever it wants" should consider how cozy life in Communist China, Stalin's Russia, or any police-state throughout history, is when they can truly do whatever they want.
However, this would require him opening a history book. That's tough to do, when you're bowing your head in the sand five times a day in the direction of the White House.
I stated in my earlier article that neither Hillary nor Bush should have this unchecked power, and I hear this from another cultist writer: "Bush is the ONLY thing protecting us he is GREAT and u should thank him." Ah, I see: Bush must be one of the X-Men. What color spandex does Bush wear, and what is the symbol on His cape, when He takes up the mantle of being the only thing protecting us?
I thank Bush for attacking Afghanistan in response to 9-11 (and to deal a blow to the Taliban), and criticize him for then exploiting 9-11 to ram his neocon agenda down our throats, criticize him for his cowardice in matters of open debate over the PATRIOT ACT, criticize him for invoking "executive privilege" whenever someone asks him to be accountable, criticize him for intellectual dishonesty in connecting Saddam Hussein with 9-11, criticize him for the string of abuses his administration has inflicted upon our Constitution and the arrogance in which he does it.
I criticize him for advancing a nanny state and treating us like helpless children.
A real debate is about coming to the table with an open mind.
Cultists can't do that.
They destroy America, because they allow it to be rewritten under their very noses while they scream exactly what their political priests tell them to.
Congress has been cultists as well, driven by fear. It was Congress which passed the PATRIOT ACT without even reading it.
A few things to consider:
The Constitution is the founding fiber of American civilization, and in its own words "the supreme law of the land." So anyone claiming we need laws based on the Bible or Quoran isn't merely wrong; they're being traitorous to the intent and heart of the nation.
This is not a debatable point.
The Constitution says, twice, that no citizen can be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law. So anyone claiming Bush or Clinton or comic book shop owners can negate this clause is being traitorous to America.
This also is not debatable; it's there for the universe to see and read. We have certain rights guaranteed to us, like the right to bear arms, to free expression, to being safeguarded against unreasonable searches and seizures. (How will we know if it's unreasonable? The answer is open, honest, and public debate on the matter.)
We need you to think.
We need you to read the founding fiber of your nation and, if necessary, staple the Bill of Rights to your right hand before the National ID is tattooed there.
We need you to burn your partisan cards, get out of Jonestown, and get the banners out of your eyes so you can see clearly.
We need you to hold your cowardly politicians accountable, and remind them with letters and emails and phone calls that they work for us.
We need you to recognize that Bush has become a sacred cow, and it's time to end the idol worship.
I have no doubt - indeed I've seen it first-hand more times than I can list here - that when Americans drop their partisan politics and come to the round table, real problems can be solved to the satisfaction of most, if not all.
The extremists will never be satisfied of course. but they have no business at this table anyway. Their next sip of icy cold Koolaid is being served up by the White House chefs, as the concept of "We the People" is burned quietly in the background.
by Brian Trent [click here for more articles], who is a professional essayist, screenwriter, and novelist; he is the author of "Remembering Hypatia" and the just-released "Never Grow Old: the Novel of Gilgamesh." Brian is a contributor to the Populist Party, the American Chronicle and The Humanist Magazine.