dAY Of ActIOn!

As the DAY OF ACTION quickly approaches, a lot of different emotions are battling inside my skin. Everything from JOY to FRIGHT; HOPE to ANGER; EXCITEMENT to HESITANCE has been bouncing off each other like atomic particles. And we've ALL seen the negative potential of those who swear to protect and serve us on our local news stations. And if you really think about it, that's most likely the reason why THAT information is broadcast through your TV. GOTTA KEEP US IN OUR CULTURE OF FEAR! Stay in check, SHEEP! Have you EVER seen a PEACEFUL PROTEST on your news? Or any story that promotes that peaceful protest is one of your inalienable rights? And that it's YOUR DUTY, as an American, to exercise this right? I would guess NO! But if you have, PLEASE let me know...



Other than your government telling you how great this country is, why do you feel this country is so great? Don't get me wrong, I am NOT saying our country isn't a great country. What I am saying though is that everything evolves, and this country is a manifestation of the PEOPLE. But not all people; only the ones that PARTICIPATE! And you may ask yourself, WHY SHOULD I VOTE?

To keep this brief and on topic, the following are encompassed within THE MILITARY COMMISSIONS ACT OF 2006. Let me know if you think these are legitimate reasons to vote?

• It revokes habeas corpus, thereby giving the power to imprison people without trial for as long as the President likes
• It gives George W. Bush and other top officials legal amnesty for any war crimes he may have committed
• It legalizes torture
• It creates a secret committee controlled by the President that can declare anyone to be an enemy, and thereby strip away their legal rights guaranteed by the Constitution
• It ends protection of prisoners of war by the Geneva Conventions
• It removes the right to a speedy trial
• It sets up absurd kangaroo courts that fail to meet the most fundamental civilized standards of justice, with unfair trials kept hidden from the American public

When you read this list, doesn't it seem like a list of human rights violations that the US, as the "world defenders of freedom," would be fighting against? Unfortunately, it's not. It's OUR law! If these are the laws in the LAND OF THE FREE AND HOME OF THE BRAVE, it seems pretty elementary that we, as a country, are heading in quite a different direction than what our FOUNDING FATHERS had in mind. And I'm not trying to say that these men were the finest of moral and ethical prognosticators, but they did have the advantage of REVOLUTIONARY EXPERIENCE! Revolution (on any level of intensity) is Democracy! From not wanting a casino in your neighborhood to not wanting to be locked up for no reason. The People's actions affect policy from local to federal levels. Unfortunately, recently our action has been INACTION; and now we're in a bit of a mess.



For anyone who has read more than 1 of my ramblings, you know that I'm kinda stuck on my boy, HABEAS. So you can really FEEL me, imagine your own family. And I'm sure if you think long enough, you can think of that ONE family member who died before you were born. BUT, your family has kept them alive, and you get to know their SPIRIT. It's almost as though you do know them on some levels. It's to the level of you WISHED you had the chance to live and experience this person when they were HERE. But that's where you're connection is halted. You can listen to stories, look at pictures, watch video, and whatever else you do with your fives senses and never get the connection you want.

Well right now, this MILITARY COMMISSIONS ACT is the murderer, cancer, plague that took the life of Habeas Corpus, so the generations after US will have to look upon a free and fair trial, or ACCESS TO THE EVIDENCE USED TO DETAIN THEM, or torture-induced confessions, as we look upon the spirits of our ancestors. That just doesn't sit well with me. I don't even have any children, and I have to DRAW MY LINE IN THE SAND. Even without a direct connection currently, I feel a responsibility to do WHAT I CAN to avoid passing on these laws of tyranny to future Americans.



And as much as I may "disagree" with George Bush, these are LAWS! And when he's (hopefully) out of office on January 21, 2009, the next president will have the same power. To all my Bush-count-downers: just because he's gone, doesn't mean things will get better. Recent legislation under Bush is sending everyone in the world a BIG message. And it's a shame the expertise used to keep US clueless. A great majority of folks have far more on their mind than international politics. And what is worse than an IGNORANT PEOPLE? Maybe the teachers of the ignorant?

In closing, I'd like to leave you with something to ruminate...

In THIS INTERVIEW from 2002, Noam Chomsky said in response to the question "How far do you believe will the US sacrifice its basic civil liberties for a greater sense of security?":
"...My feeling is that popular commitment to the rights that have been won in hard struggle is too deep to allow the attack to proceed very far..." Now, this was said in 2002; I wonder how he'd respond in 2007?

P.L.U.R.,
zAy