2006.01.17

Ursurpation of the Executive

Any who act as if freedom’s defenses are to be found in suppression and suspicion and fear confess a doctrine that is alien to America.A group called the Liberty Coalition sponsored a speech by Al Gore. I heard this on the news and didn’t give it much thought because Al Gore is one of the most boring speakers I’ve ever had to endure. Not his fault as it’s probably my aversion to Vice Presidents. However, his boring speeches tend to be great essays and I was not wrong.

One of the other ways the Administration has tried to control the flow of information is by consistently resorting to the language and politics of fear in order to short-circuit the debate and drive its agenda forward without regard to the evidence or the public interest. As President Eisenhower said, “Any who act as if freedom’s defenses are to be found in suppression and suspicion and fear confess a doctrine that is alien to America.”

Fear drives out reason. Fear suppresses the politics of discourse and opens the door to the politics of destruction. Justice Brandeis once wrote: “Men feared witches and burnt women.”

The founders of our country faced dire threats. If they failed in their endeavors, they would have been hung as traitors. The very existence of our country was at risk.

Yet, in the teeth of those dangers, they insisted on establishing the Bill of Rights.

Is our Congress today in more danger than were their predecessors when the British army was marching on the Capitol? Is the world more dangerous than when we faced an ideological enemy with tens of thousands of missiles poised to be launched against us and annihilate our country at a moment’s notice? Is America in more danger now than when we faced worldwide fascism on the march—when our fathers fought and won two World Wars simultaneously?

It is simply an insult to those who came before us and sacrificed so much on our behalf to imply that we have more to be fearful of than they. Yet they faithfully protected our freedoms and now it is up to us to do the same.

You can read the entire thing here. I know certain conservatives will complain about it (or dismiss it out of hand), but any true Republican has got to be worried about the continued usurpation of power by the executive branch by both parties.

1 Comment Categorized: political   thoughts

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One Response to “Ursurpation of the Executive”

1. NHK says  (January 19th, 2006 at 14:59:17 )

   In the world of advertising, only the *lowest* of the low will build a campaign with fear at it’s meaty little center. As an example, I’m not sure who was behind the Bloomberg campaign several years ago, but it did *not* go over well. I don’t know if anyone else remembers the ‘unnerving’ billboards which I speak of, but…whatever, look it up if you like.

   That I now find ad agencies (even having worked for several) more ethical and worthy of greater respect than the highest-ranking members of the U.S. government…well, think about it.