When was the last time in living memory that any other president, in their first 100 days provoked average Americans into taking to the streets over government spending by re-enacting the Boston Tea Party of 1773?
And when was the last time eight states felt compelled to pass resolutions reaffirming their own sovereignty under the 10th Amendment of the Constitution of the United States?
The 10th Amendment reads as follows:
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.
What these eight states are saying is enunciated by Texas Governor Rick Perry who is credited with this quote: “I believe the federal government has become oppressive. I believe it has become oppressive in its size, its intrusion in the lives of its citizens and its interference with the affairs of our state.” Twenty more states are expected to follow suit with similar resolutions.
It is interesting that some of the fears and complaints emanating from several regions of the U.S. echoes sentiments expressed in secession documents adopted in South Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi and Texas between 1860 and 1861. At the time, governments in those four states complained the North had rallied their press, pulpits and schools against them.
While I fully realize that the unconscionable system of slavery was the target, it seems the same tactics are being employed nearly 150 years later and generating very similar reactions. The only difference is they are being used against American families concerned for the future of their country.
What I find most compelling in the secessionist documents are references to the press and the pulpits.
Today it is widely recognized that the mainstream old media in the United States solidly promoted Obama for the presidency. And I suppose that is within their right to do so. What many disliked, is the fact they did not have the courage or the principles to state so publicly.
Instead they chose the route of most cowards, and that is to hide behind a façade of principle and righteousness. They convinced themselves in their own small minds their coverage was fair and balanced. It was not. The media in fact have shed themselves of very vestige of the concept of fair and impartial treatment for all.
The most blatant example were the orchestrated attacks against Sarah Palin. Anyone today who trusts anything emanating from the mouths of the Bimbocasters or their few male dime-store mannequins, need their heads read.
For many decades the media wore the mantle of The Fifth Estate. They claimed their mission was to protect freedom of speech, help keep the government in check from its propensity for corruption and dictatorial use of power. In our day the media has become the government’s propaganda machine; they have erected barriers to free speech and thrive on the insignificant. And this does even touch on the outright lies and deceit spewing from newsrooms across the continent.
Newsrooms across the country virtually ignored or discredited the rash of Tea Parties symbolic of discontent with the government of the day. Can’t say anything bad about Obama can we?
More disturbing is the news that the FBI had these events under surveillance. That they were there did not surprise me. But what is chilling about all of this, is that they are prepared to thwart legal activities by average citizens. What is next in the Obama playbook? Midnight knocks at the door by brownshirt squads? An American Gulag in the northern most reaches of Alaska? The environmental lobby has already called for the creation of re-education camps for people who don’t swallow their Global Warming Kool-Aid. Then what of the military and police forces? Are they as eager as the FBI to forcefully squash any anti-Obama activity?
Now to the pulpits? Ministers of all stripe rallied to Obama’s side. I wonder if they are as enthusiastic today about their Messiah. And what will they think when the brownshirts arrive at their churches to tell them to remove the symbols of their faith from their buildings lest Mr. Obama sees them and becomes offended?
As for the schools, I shudder to think what is being taught to your children. Are your kids coming home with all manner of “green propaganda” scolding you for ruining their planet? Are they singing the praises of the Obama administration and demanding you get on board?
Perhaps the original film version of The Body Snatchers, made in the 1950s, should be re-released. It was a Communist scare film disguised as a horror story about aliens. It has a lot to say about today’s politics and politicians.
More telling about Obama is his friendly handshake with Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez, Obama dismissed critics of the gesture saying it meant nothing. Well, Mr. President, I would suggest it demonstrates your tolerance of dictators and a certain shallowness in your thinking. What’s next I wonder? Is there an invitation in the works to Zimbabwe’s strong-man, Robert Mugabe, for a quiet lunch in the Rose Garden? Perhaps the new president needs to take a few lessons from history.
Former British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain shook the hand of Adolf Hitler just before the outbreak of the Second World War. He too thought he could appease dictators.
But there is one thing that can be said for President Obama. He promised the American people change in his first 100 days in office and he is certainly delivering on that promise. I shudder to think what the next 100 days will bring.
