Today's Niemöller moment
Brought to you by Homeland Security, via Balkinization:
An emeritus Princeton professor and retired Marine colonel tells us:
A friend recently explained to me his take on the 2nd Amendment -- that we need it to help protect the rest of the Bill of Rights from the government. I still see some serious problems with that argument, but I can no longer dismiss it out of hand.
I think the odds are only about 50-50 that we can put the authoritarian genie back in the bottle -- and that is a lot more optimistic than I was a year ago, but still shocking if you compare where we are now to where we were a mere decade ago.
Oh, and if you really want a chuckle, check out the subtitle that Murphy, a prolific author, put on his latest:
Funny, huh?
An emeritus Princeton professor and retired Marine colonel tells us:
"On 1 March 07, I was scheduled to fly on American Airlines to Newark, NJ, to attend an academic conference at Princeton University, designed to focus on my latest scholarly book, Constitutional Democracy, published by Johns Hopkins University Press this past Thanksgiving."
"When I tried to use the curb-side check in at the Sunport, I was denied a boarding pass because I was on the Terrorist Watch list. I was instructed to go inside and talk to a clerk. At this point, I should note that I am not only the McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence (emeritus) but also a retired Marine colonel. I fought in the Korean War as a young lieutenant, was wounded, and decorated for heroism. I remained a professional soldier for more than five years and then accepted a commission as a reserve office, serving for an additional 19 years."
"I presented my credentials from the Marine Corps to a very polite clerk for American Airlines. One of the two people to whom I talked asked a question and offered a frightening comment: "Have you been in any peace marches? We ban a lot of people from flying because of that." I explained that I had not so marched but had, in September, 2006, given a lecture at Princeton, televised and put on the Web, highly critical of George Bush for his many violations of the Constitution. "That'll do it," the man said. "
A friend recently explained to me his take on the 2nd Amendment -- that we need it to help protect the rest of the Bill of Rights from the government. I still see some serious problems with that argument, but I can no longer dismiss it out of hand.
I think the odds are only about 50-50 that we can put the authoritarian genie back in the bottle -- and that is a lot more optimistic than I was a year ago, but still shocking if you compare where we are now to where we were a mere decade ago.
Oh, and if you really want a chuckle, check out the subtitle that Murphy, a prolific author, put on his latest:
Funny, huh?
posted by bluememe at 4/08/2007
1 Comments:
After we got rid of the British, how many constitutions have we had? Silly question? Not if your answer wasn't 2.
Uh huh TWO. Know what the first one was about? Democracy. Worked so well for 12 years that the fat cats actually started losing weight. Then they hired the flacks from Fox News to talk up how flawed the document was and how it couldn't really be fixed. We'd just have to throw it out and start over. With democracy? Of course not silly boy. With a REPUBLIC; by definition an unfair unbalanced method of letting the rich and powerful govern.
And don't you think the powers that be don't know it. During the impeachment hearings of Bill Clinton, a Democratic member said "… in this great democracy…", whereupon he was interrupted rather rudely by a REPUBLICan saying "…point of order. Point of order Mr. Speaker. We live in a REPUBLIC, NOT a democracy." Sound like fiction? Check it out. Don't know your own history… oh well, you know how the rest of that one goes.
The original country was taken over by a coup d'état after only 12 years. When do we take our country BACK? All other moves/conversations/pledges/theories/groups/political parties or plans are bullshit without a firm recognition of what really happened and why freedom ain't free yet. Don't wanna look back? You'll never go forward.
TA
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