Echo2
10-06-2004, 03:52 PM
October 6, 2004
By Ernest Partridge, The Crisis Papers
Today, institutions and moral principles cherished throughout our history and held in common today by a majority of Americans - Democrats, Republicans and Independents - are being threatened, not by a foreign invader, but by a radical faction that has seized control of our government and our media.
The shared prosperity of the American people is being undone by a few greedy plutocrats who now effectively control the Republican party. These individuals have caused the honor and reputation of the American Republic in the world community to sink to an all-time low.
We are at a crossroad in history, one road leads to disaster and the other to restoration and renewal. Neither road is in any way defined by the traditional political differences between Republicans and Democrats.
We must now look down that dreadful road, before we travel on. For there we find:
- Federal bankruptcy, the end of public services including Social Security and Medicare, and an impoverishment of the public schools.
- With the decline of our educational institutions, an end of American leadership in science and technology – both the wellsprings of prosperity in an industrial economy.
- International isolation, as the United States continues to become an international outlaw, initiating wars at times of its choosing, and violating treaties at its convenience.
- A loss of media independence and diversity – "the fourth estate," recognized by our founders as indispensable to a free society.
- A loss of civil liberties and the Constitutional guarantees of free press, speech, assembly and religion. A violation of the rights of fair trial, access to counsel, habeas corpus.
- An endless "war on terrorism" legitimizing the erosion of these liberties and the abrogation of the Bill of Rights, and furthermore requiring a permanent draft.
- Class warfare, as national wealth flows from the producers of that wealth to the very few who own and control the wealth.
- The privatization of the technology and tallying of voting – in effect, an end of the citizen franchise and the "consent of the governed."
- Environmental devastation and economic collapse, as petroleum reserves are exhausted with no national provision made for transition to a post-petroleum energy source.
This is our future unless, together and regardless of our habitual party preferences, we unite and throw out of national office, those individuals who, due to dogmatism, ignorance or the myopia of greed, fail to recognize or feel obliged to lead us away from these perils.
By Ernest Partridge, The Crisis Papers
Today, institutions and moral principles cherished throughout our history and held in common today by a majority of Americans - Democrats, Republicans and Independents - are being threatened, not by a foreign invader, but by a radical faction that has seized control of our government and our media.
The shared prosperity of the American people is being undone by a few greedy plutocrats who now effectively control the Republican party. These individuals have caused the honor and reputation of the American Republic in the world community to sink to an all-time low.
We are at a crossroad in history, one road leads to disaster and the other to restoration and renewal. Neither road is in any way defined by the traditional political differences between Republicans and Democrats.
We must now look down that dreadful road, before we travel on. For there we find:
- Federal bankruptcy, the end of public services including Social Security and Medicare, and an impoverishment of the public schools.
- With the decline of our educational institutions, an end of American leadership in science and technology – both the wellsprings of prosperity in an industrial economy.
- International isolation, as the United States continues to become an international outlaw, initiating wars at times of its choosing, and violating treaties at its convenience.
- A loss of media independence and diversity – "the fourth estate," recognized by our founders as indispensable to a free society.
- A loss of civil liberties and the Constitutional guarantees of free press, speech, assembly and religion. A violation of the rights of fair trial, access to counsel, habeas corpus.
- An endless "war on terrorism" legitimizing the erosion of these liberties and the abrogation of the Bill of Rights, and furthermore requiring a permanent draft.
- Class warfare, as national wealth flows from the producers of that wealth to the very few who own and control the wealth.
- The privatization of the technology and tallying of voting – in effect, an end of the citizen franchise and the "consent of the governed."
- Environmental devastation and economic collapse, as petroleum reserves are exhausted with no national provision made for transition to a post-petroleum energy source.
This is our future unless, together and regardless of our habitual party preferences, we unite and throw out of national office, those individuals who, due to dogmatism, ignorance or the myopia of greed, fail to recognize or feel obliged to lead us away from these perils.