Secede or Succeed

Can the U.S. be saved?

The U.S. government is still thought by some to be utterly reliable. How this could be in the face of so much evidence to the contrary is puzzling. One particular penchant of the U.S. government is that it routinely breaks treaties signed by its representatives. If I recall correctly, the United States government has broken every single treaty made with our native Americans.

It should not come as a surprise, then, that the Lakota Tribes, "who gave the world legendary warriors Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse, have withdrawn from treaties with the United States."

Joshua Holland quotes Russell Means, a noted Indian activist: "We are no longer citizens of America and all those who live in the five-state area [Nebraska, North and South Dakota, Montana and Wyoming] that encompasses our country are free to join us."

I think I know something as to how they feel, although for other reasons. Under George W. Bush, the United States has, for many of us, changed into something alien, wrong, eerily distant from the land we had come to know and love, the land of the proud and the free.

That's why as I listened to Obama speak last night in Madison, Wisconsin, I was struck, emotionally, by a sudden surge of light, a vision of possibility. Maybe there is hope! Maybe Obama can make a difference. Maybe he can turn things around. Maybe Obama can pick through the trashy residue left in the wake of the Bush tragedy and find enough remnants of what this country once was to weave a new future of promise.

Somewhere I read about an American living in the Middle East who went to his favorite Yemeni barbershop to get a haircut. The barber, long antagonistic toward the U.S., mainly because of George W. Bush, refrained from his usual diatribe and said softly, "Maybe, if Obama gets elected, there is hope for America."

This is not a plea to vote for Obama. Not yet. I'm gradually moving to the position, though, that he may be just what we need. Obviously, he doesn't have all the answers. Hell, he probably doesn't even know all the questions. That's not necessarily bad. It will depend upon the people he calls upon to be his mentors and advisors.

We do need a Democrat, though. The Party makes all the difference. A Democratic president will have the opportunity to appoint thousands of people to significant positions, along with judges and others. Unfortunately, it will take awhile to purge the Jesus-freaks, ignoramuses, cronies and total incompetents that wander in great hordes through the offices of state.

Why not McCain? McCain doesn't come close to what this country needs in a president. He is a lost soul. A hero with an Achilles heel. He would love to be thought of as a patriot, but he is merely one more politico willing to sell his soul to become president. Watching him pander to the neocons and the Christian right, kneel down and kiss Falwell's ring (figuratively speaking), kiss Pat Robertson's ass (also a figure of speech) creates waves of nausea. His speech last night contained absolutely nothing of interest or importance. "He's all fired up," he said, grinning from ear to ear as he carefully read every single word on the prompter. I'm not sure he has a moral bone in his body. If I were his 96-year old mother, I'd watch my back! A "For Sale" sign could appear anytime.


Re: the Archbishop of Canterbury

Just the other day we wrote about this archbishop gentleman and his plan to allow Muslims in Britain to utilize, in some disputes, sharia or Islamic law. It's all part of a general notion he calls "plural jurisdiction."

Christopher Hitchens thinks even less of this idea than I do, if that's possible. You can read his article, "To Hell With the Archbishop of Canterbury" here. Maybe you'll agree with Hitchens when he calls the Archbishop "a fatuous cleric, who, presiding over an increasingly emaciated and schismatic and irrelevant church, nonetheless maintains that any faith is better than none at all."

Or, maybe not.