Turning Bones To Dust

The streets of Homs in Syria are slowly becoming caked in the blood of people whose only offense is that they prefer freedom to tyranny, as the tyrant shows his love for "his" people by showering them with a fusillade of rockets and mortars. Not unlike Libya in the recent past, a people seek to throw off the yolk of oppression, and are willing to fight if that is their only recourse. But there is fighting for freedom and then there is being an animal penned for the slaughter, and right now freedom lasts only as long as the whistling shriek of the shells.

The Syrian government refuses all calls to remove itself from power. Any deals brokered to do so are quickly cast aside or forgotten. The Arab League seems powerless to act. Certain members of the United Nations obstinately refuse to acknowledge the dying shrieks that ring forth amid the shuddering blasts that fill the town. Condemnation is rife, but action is nigh invisible. No sanctions, no blockade, can shield a populace from the hellish fury of a dictator bent on retaining power.

It is perhaps incumbent upon the United States to once more be forced to take the lead, as it is ever so. Surely, there will be nattering in many corners by some, who will first chastise us for doing nothing then chastise us again for taking action. But, do we dare stand idly by and let innocents suffer? No one has ever handed us a badge, but many have looked to us in the past to take up the mantle of protector of freedom and defender of liberty. There can be only be hand-wringing in engaging in another conflict, but there can be no peace while blood is spilled in the name of tyranny.

What to do? We must come to a decision soon. Where we wish to keep the sword, we do so with the tacit knowledge that we will be called upon to wield it. We must be unwilling, we must be reticent, lest we become enamored of our power, but the time comes when other considerations must be laid aside and the greater good must step to the fore. We cannot allow people to die where we can do something to stop it. Let it be that we take action now, and when it is done, take that same energy of destruction and turn it to energy of construction. A people cry out; how can we not answer?

Where Are Your Papers?

The plight of the illegal alien is a study in dichotomy. On the one hand, they are human beings, often from poor countries with little prospect of finding decent work at a living wage in their native land, migrating to America in search of jobs to send money home to support their families. They take great risks in entering our country illegally, the threat of discovery and deportation hanging over them like the Sword of Damocles. We can sympathize, as it is our fervent wish to feed and clothe and house our families, too.

On the other hand, they are here illegally. As a nation that prides itself on the rule of law, and with exacting standards governing our immigration policy, it is an affront to us to have these people pouring across our borders, utilizing our resources, paying virtually no taxes to compensate us, and shipping millions of dollars out of the country. They are taking the place of American citizens in any number of job areas, and in such a deep recession as we now face, their unwanted presence marks them as easy targets.

Mind you, when the economy was fine, and people were getting rich off their Internet start-ups and real estate, and still others were moving up from their humdrum jobs into more lucrative areas like IT and finance, the presence of illegal aliens was tolerated. They swept into abandoned positions no one else wanted, were willing to work for next to nothing -- comparative riches in their native country -- for long hours, and were readily available. In a culture being driven more and more by the maxim "more and cheaper," their presence was just another way to cut costs, trim the fat, and give the consumer what they wanted: cheaper goods, cheaper food, greener lawns.

Now, with the economy of easy riches and cheaper goods set back on its heels by the avarice of the deal makers and the folly of the risk takers, and jobs being shed like a dog's winter coat, the illegal immigrants are now pariahs, to be reviled for their arrogance in stealing across our borders and taking our jobs! As with any economic downturn, it is not those lofty, high-and-might, barons of industry and finance who incur the true wrath of the citizenry, safe as they are behind their gates or on their yachts offshore, but those more vulnerable and immediately at hand, who must bear the brunt of American misfortune.

And so, Arizona, under the pretense of trying to crack down on rampant crime, has set its sights on the group they so handily ignored for so long. The illegal immigrant is now the true source of all our woes, sucking at the teats of the American dream and drinking them dry, forcing good, decent, hard-working Americans to suffer as a result. The time has come to take out the trash!

What the supporters of this law fail to understand or consider, is that the present situation, like the economic crisis, like our energy dependence, like out tottering tax system, is one of our own making. So few resources were tasked to stemming the flow of illegal immigrants over the decades, that their numbers soared into the millions at one time, because we had more important things to do. Once the problem got out of hand, people simply came to accept the new status quo, and used these people to their advantage, like a disposable lighter for the economic cigar.

Now it is fashionable to turn on those who were exploited, but not just turn on them, but make them the test case for the further erosion of personal liberty and freedom in this country. It is not enough to hunt illegal immigrants like animals, but to sweeten the deal, citizens will be expected to carry documents proving they are citizens of the United States. Arizona, a state which flatly opposed the REAL ID Act -- which would have created a universal identity card -- is now proposing to force its citizens to carry proof of their citizenship. If they are stopped for any reason, or just on the suspicion that they may be illegal immigrants, they will have to produce said documentation, or face a trip to jail. Of course, only one group of Americans really need fear this -- Hispanics -- and that is one group too many.

That is where it starts; where it ends is anyone's guess. But when a people are convinced that giving up a little personal freedom and liberty in the name of security is a good idea, it is not long before more and more is asked, until "freedom and liberty" are the freedom and the liberty of the government to do as it wishes. Arizona, through hypocritical short-sightedness, has set in motion a series of events that may, once and for all, secure the blessings of liberty as they are supposed to be, or plunge us deeper into division and strife. The power of democracy and the strength of republic, hangs in the balance.

The Tyranny of Ignorance

We do not know tyranny in the United States of America.

There are some who may argue this point. They believe that the current administration is "destroying the American way-of-life" and "tearing down our freedoms" and "making us a socialist state."

They have no idea.

You see, if America were currently undergoing a radical transformation via a tyrannical government, they would not be around to be outraged or shocked, or even to scream out their rage at the government. Their freedom of assembly would be curtailed, their freedom to speak snuffed out, their weapons taken, and likely, they would be imprisoned without charge or trial.

And yet, there they stand, in defiance of "tyranny."

We do not know tyranny in the United States of America.

We do not know the banging on the door in the middle of night, the pistol-whipping of a family, being dragged into trucks and driven away, never to be seen again.

We do not know the subterfuge of an election held, results announced, then overruled by leaders on high, who impose their own will on the people, and stifle opposition by arresting and indefinitely detaining the leaders of that opposition.

We do not know the slaughter of protesters seeking redress of their grievances, being gunned down wholesale in the street by mobs loyal to the government.

We do not know the deprivation caused by unscrupulous government agents taking relief supplies earmarked for the starving and destitute masses, and turning them into profits for themselves.

We do not know tyranny.

We live in a free society, as free as one can be short of anarchy, where government makes rules, based on the will of the people, tempered with the desire to do the most amount of good for the greatest number of people. Those rules must pass not one, but three tests, as there is a balance of power, each branch of government reinforcing and regulating the other two. The Constitution provides the unshakable bedrock upon which all of society's laws are made, ensuring that in the end, no rule may harm the basic freedoms of an American citizen.

The people of this country are given myriad ways to alter the functions and fit of their government at every level, from whom they elect to represent them, to what powers those representatives have, right down to altering the Constitution itself if that is required. Any citizen may petition their representative to consider their view in crafting the laws of the land, and the people of this country can hold their elected leaders to account, via the ballot box.

And none of this has changed.

The Constitution has not been struck down or defaced. The branches of Federal government are intact. Martial law has not been declared. People are not being rounded up. The press is still allowed to report the news.

There is no tyranny, unless you count the tyranny of ignorance. It is not helpful to be mired in the past, to claim somehow that America was "better" or "truer" at one time, and that somehow the nation we now inhabit is a shadow of its former self. For the nation that is America today, has been built on the foundation of our Constitution, shepherded through good times and bad by our government, and is still a republic of, by, and for the people. So long as we can come together, work through our problems constructively, without malice or bitterness, our nation can continue to be strong. If we continue to wallow if partisanship, if we allow our fear to overwhelm logic, if we choose to trade barbs rather than ideas, we stand to lose everything we have built here, and for which so many have sacrificed so much.

We must remember that, despite any differences between individuals, we are one nation, conceived in liberty and bound by the desire to live our lives in peace and freedom. The price for this is putting down our preconceptions, finding compassion within our hearts, and making compromises to further the general welfare. If we cannot do this, then yes, out country will no longer be the one we recognize.