Recent Commentary from Jay C in Florida - Revolution in America

Our forefathers fought the American Revolutionary War seeking independence from taxation without representation, to escape the tyranny of an uncaring and distant English Monarchy, for the right to govern themselves and to have the right to equal measure (the right to vote) in choosing their own destiny. That is the standard American classroom history version of course. However, my viewpoint of history is that the American Revolution was born in 1776 and it still is still very much alive and nimble at the age of 234.

Black Americans who in large part had suffered through a couple of centuries of slavery in America, saw the Civil War of 1861 to 1865 fought to abolish their enslavement. More Americans died fighting in that bloodbath over the abolition of slavery, than had died in the combined American military death tolls of both of the World Wars, the Korean War, the Vietnam War and the Iraq War.

Female citizens in every state of the union, on Tuesday November 2 of 1920, for the first time had exercised their right to vote en masse. That right to vote came after several decades of demanding, petitioning and demonstration. Women’s right to vote came 131 years after the ink of the Continental Congress representatives signatures dried on the United States Constitution.

From that Tuesday, 88 years ago in America, the men and women of America have made mistakes together and have had triumphs together. True to the American Revolution and 45 years after the end of women’s suffrage, Americans finally abolished the Jim Crow laws after listening to decades of similar demands, petitioning and demonstrations of the NAACP and other civil rights groups. This enabled civil rights to minorities and the voting voices of all Black Americans in the 1960’s.

Therefore, it came to be that after an initial denial of a unified voice for the better part of two centuries, the American Revolution had finally provided the vast majority of the American population with the ability to exercise the right to speak to their leaders through their vote. The right we all deserved to have all along. That ability of action of all of its citizens truly made this nation a whole nation in which now, every one of our citizens has a voice. Make no mistake about it that an Americans vote is an Americans voice.

It may seem outwardly at times that we Americans are a splintered people because we are so diverse. At least it would seem so to those people outside of the United States, if that opinion were based strictly upon of all of our various Election Day differences. However if you examine our ongoing American Revolution on election days, it really is not so splintered. That is when you base the view on the fact we have all agreed to come together in this compact of service based primarily upon the precious common ground of being Americans.

To live in agreement is easy. The real proof of our strength and of our unity, is that we as a people live together peacefully and united even when in great disagreement, because we have concluded as a people to agree to disagree. Our national and mutual disagreement is an American Revolutionary compact of service that we have affirmed and reaffirmed for 219 years. We have continued to live up to those ideals as set forth by our founding fathers by the Constitution of the United States of America in 1789 (With our most notable failure being the Civil War from 1861 to 1865).

We Americans have a chance every Election Day to be whole, to be a part of a truly unified U.S.A. There were times in our history when our republic was much less of a democracy, when most Americans had no voice, but that is no longer true. Does that make the U.S.A a utopia? No, it does not. Do we still have prejudicial practices and discrimination? Yes, some of that part of our past still plagues us. We will ever live in a perfect America. Probably not. However, that does not mean we as Americans will give up on the concepts of the Constitution as the way to improve America.

This revolutionary compact of service including the right of the republic for Americans to vote, whether gifted or born into comes with a compact of responsibility. This compact of service is what the founding fathers and the generations of Americans to follow them would be in debt to and bound to. We all have this responsibility to take part in our government’s dealings whenever the opportunity presents itself. The consequence of surrender to apathy or acquiescence (acquiescence: meaning failure to act) is not only to surrender our nation to those who would make it less than it could be. To surrender to apathy or acquiescence is to become one of those who make it less than it should be.

Americans by my definition, are inescapably involved as part of an intertwined greater whole. I say inescapably because although you may think you can avoid involvement. Dropping out, not to speak out, not to care or not to vote still has consequence. Even if the effect is primarily on someone else’s life, the lives of all of those around that one life will feel ripple effects. Eventually that ripple will find its way to you. Whether you like it or not it is an inescapable fact that every action or inaction bears consequence. So, if you are here that means you are involved, so what you do or what you fail to do, will in turn touch you and your nation in some way.

Lastly, the American Revolution had provided us with a duty. Our duty is that compact of service to America as Americans to make our country a better place. The way we all have been empowered to do so that is of the highest impact, is to exercise our RIGHT to vote. This is our country and it will become what we make of it because we have choices. Go vote. Choose to make yourself heard. Whether you are a man, woman or regardless of the color of your skin, let your voices ring out in this chorus of America and let your voice be heard.

Look, the sun will rise and set upon us whether you vote or not, so wake up and be a part of it all.

Epilog

There are of course, many ways Americans may take part in their compact of service. Men and women of the military carry weapons, artists carry cameras or wield a brush, a writer wields a pen, vocalists sing, directors make films, etc. However, most Americans are not of these professions. So when one of those individuals vote is counted, whether it be for an issue, against an issue or for a candidate for office, their vote counts with no more weight than the vote cast by the "ordinary" American. This in effect shows how your vote can be the great equalizer.

P.S.

By the by though I have calmed down some since my last political blog, unfortunately I am still angry with the DNC. Because the vote I cast (my voice) in the Florida democratic primary does not seem to matter much to the DNC "Politbureau". I attribute the loss of my vote to someone who proves by his actions that he is under the belief that he knows better as to what is good for the electorate than the voters do. That someone is Mr. Howard Dean, Chairman of the Democratic National Committee.

He and other Democrat elitists have made the card carrying fascist decision to throw away my vote and to silence my voice along with all of the other Democrats that participated in the primary elections of Florida and Michigan. Howard Dean is taking the people of the United States for a giant fascist leap backwards.

I implore you do not let Howard Dean silence the voices of 2,378,027 Americans. Because if the voice of one American is denied it is an act against ALL American voices.

Recent Commentary and Dialogue from Linda Z in Texas on Certain “Issues”

People argue against "socialized" medicine. The current system that we have now is that if you are not poor enough to be on Medicaid, but you are pretty poor and working class, you can not afford health care, even if you have insurance, it doesn't cover everything or it might not cover anything, even certain life or health maintenance medications. And who might be left out of the good health coverage equation? The same young people who are signing up to go to Iraq and Afghanistan, often from lower income neighborhoods and in some cases to earn citizenship. And when they are sick and injured in battle, they struggle to get dignified healthcare.

What are the numbers of white people verses, African American and Hispanic who have no health insurance or who are underinsured? What are the number of people who die by race, because they have no insurance or they are underinsured? An example was on Congressman Kucinich's website, (about a year ago) the kind of dental care a young African American boy in Maryland, Prince George's County, North of the White House, received and too late when he had a dental infection and he died.

What else do I mean by Eugenics, when talking heads say the surge has been working in Iraq? Well, did the surge only have a chance of becoming effective, after the U.S. government did not keep statistics on how many people died in the ethnic cleansing before and after Bush and Cheney's 2003 invasion and after so many people died in the ethnic cleansing after Saddam was removed and so this helped the surge to eventually be effective?

In the U.S. 1930 - 1960: The most popular female contraceptive is Lysol disinfectant.

I'm saying in cultures which do not put a value on birth control, do not put a value on teaching women to be the architects of their own bodies and using birth control/family planning, putting a value on waiting to have children until they are in a mature developed relationship or married, is there also a lack of labor standards, for example, what are people being paid, how many hours a day are people working, how is safety in the work place being supervised and what actions does the community take to make the production of goods and services sustainable for the environment?

Like U.S. factories on the Mexican side of the U.S. border?

What do I mean by Eugenics, lack of availability of birth control and lack of labor standards? Even in places where the U.S. military isn't enforcing divisions of one kind or another, what does "culture of life" mean? What George W. Bush talks about? People are expendable or as George W. Bush says, you're on your own.

Congressman Kucinich, when he was running for President, said he would get rid of NAFTA, CAFTA and the WTO because he wanted to have a system where labor standards and environmental standards are addressed. President Bush says we can not rescind our agreement on the NAFTA treaties, but it was President Bush who has used his power under his crony connections to undermine labor standards in the U.S. by placing CEOs sympathetic to his business interests on the National Labor Relations (NLR) Board. And it was President Bush who withdrew the U.S. commitment to the Kyoto Treaty.

When U.S. companies move their manufacturing plants to Mexico and China, they place profit margins as a priority over treatment of workers and leaving a smaller trace of damage on the environment. People in China say they are coming to a time when they can no longer see the sun and clouds from the mass pollution. It is as if the workers/people of China are expendable. When there is no regard as to a sustainable workplace, leaving mass scars on the environment in certain ethnic or poor areas of the world, and also no regard to the safety of a clean water supply, which is required for human sustainability, this leads to EUGENICS, the spiritual and physical murder of large numbers of people of a certain race, ethnicity or socio-economic level, however gene is a part of the word, eugenics so this would mostly pertain to race, religion and ethnicity. And when birth control is left aside, this allows a society to produce of a working class people with no regard as to the quality of life.

U.S. citizens are expendable. Right now the talking heads are talking Obama vs. Clinton after the popular vote seems to have deemed Obama the winner. The nomination process has not concluded yet, because in the Democratic Party, Clinton can take advantage of an undemocratic process and lobby for the votes/selection via super delegates over-ruling the will of the people. Are we moving towards a one government rule where people in the United States, who are not part of the Bush/Clinton power grid, will be as equally bad off as the people in China under a Communist government. When you look at the USA PATRIOT ACT and the undermining of FISA laws that are supposed to protect U.S. citizens and the fact that only half the people who lived in New Orleans before the hurricanes can live in New Orleans now, could we the people, as a massive movement, have imagined this deterioration in the way things are going in our country before the 9-11 attacks, before the 1993 Word Trade Center attacks?