Wikileaks and the Constitution
Louis L. Brossard 7 December 2020
Why is it that the Europeans believe in the United States Constitution more than we, the citizens of the United States, do? I have been taught my whole life, from grade school through university and into old age, that the United States is the world leader in liberty and freedom. I learned this from my parents, in school, in church and from Hollywood. During the Second World War we were all fighting for Roosevelt’s Four Freedoms: freedom of speech and expression; freedom of worship; freedom of want; freedom from fear. Then we won the war and forgot what we were fighting for and started our effort of world domination, using fear and lies as the major methods to gain acceptance by the citizenry. And now we are prosecuting a man who believed that the people of this constitutional nation should know what their elected leaders are up to. We are also trying to figure out how to go after all those who were involved in disseminating these truths. We should be celebrating exposing the conceit our government has for us. It is still a very dangerous thing to believe in the Constitution and its first amendment when you live in the US.
The very essence of the first amendment: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press” is to insure that the people can know what their government is doing. Is it not essential that the people we send to represent us do indeed represent what we believe? I wish there were an amendment in the Constitution that said: “The Representatives of the People of the United States shall not give false information or mislead those people in any action, deed, pronouncement or other endeavor. They must fully disclose their positions and the actions they support without misrepresentation, falsification or obfuscation. They must truly act in the interest of those they are sent to represent.” I suspect that the framers of the Constitution did not conceive that the elected representatives would choose their personal well being over that of their state. Now it is virtually impossible to find even one representative who does not put his own interests far above those of this nation. If there were such a representative he or she could not remain in the government long.
There are certainly times and circumstances where a government action must remain secret for a short period of time. These circumstances would be where a disclosure could directly put lives in jeopardy. They would never be to hide from its people the true intent of a government action or position. Any action that discloses the operation and intent of the government should be encouraged and applauded, not punished by fines and or jail. Should not Bradley Manning be a cause célèbre rather than a criminal? Why is this challenge to open government not soundly condemned by we the people? It is very sad to see my country wounding itself by abandoning the principles that made it so great and appealing to the world. It is disheartening to watch such unnecessary damage and not be able to influence an awakening in the citizenry. All the facts are freely available. What are not available are funds that could counter the enormous wealth that sponsors of the misinformation and sophistry that controls the government of the United States. Many of our laws are drafted by very wealthy special interested and presented to Congress in names of Representatives who owe their positions to the money these interests supply. We citizens know this and still are powerless to counter such wealth and the power it engenders.
Our present President, Barak Obama, gave us great hope that we had finally found a leader who was strong enough in purpose and integrity to lead the people of this country to be the country it claims to be. His utter failure as a leader is a bitter disappointment. It is baffling why a man with such outstanding qualifications has failed so profoundly. And now he is leading the crusade against those who have followed his pledge of open and transparent government. His justice department wants to punish people for telling the truth. He has broken almost every promise he made to us when he asked us to vote him into the office of the presidency. He is still fighting two wars; he is still holding prisoners illegally; he is still lying to the People of the United States; he is not remotely the leader we elected. Rather than fixing our broken government he is contributing to its disintegration. It is very hard to be hopeful and optimistic for our grandchildren. The dream of the creators of our Constitution is moribund.
Why is it that the Europeans believe in the United States Constitution more than we, the citizens of the United States, do? I have been taught my whole life, from grade school through university and into old age, that the United States is the world leader in liberty and freedom. I learned this from my parents, in school, in church and from Hollywood. During the Second World War we were all fighting for Roosevelt’s Four Freedoms: freedom of speech and expression; freedom of worship; freedom of want; freedom from fear. Then we won the war and forgot what we were fighting for and started our effort of world domination, using fear and lies as the major methods to gain acceptance by the citizenry. And now we are prosecuting a man who believed that the people of this constitutional nation should know what their elected leaders are up to. We are also trying to figure out how to go after all those who were involved in disseminating these truths. We should be celebrating exposing the conceit our government has for us. It is still a very dangerous thing to believe in the Constitution and its first amendment when you live in the US.
The very essence of the first amendment: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press” is to insure that the people can know what their government is doing. Is it not essential that the people we send to represent us do indeed represent what we believe? I wish there were an amendment in the Constitution that said: “The Representatives of the People of the United States shall not give false information or mislead those people in any action, deed, pronouncement or other endeavor. They must fully disclose their positions and the actions they support without misrepresentation, falsification or obfuscation. They must truly act in the interest of those they are sent to represent.” I suspect that the framers of the Constitution did not conceive that the elected representatives would choose their personal well being over that of their state. Now it is virtually impossible to find even one representative who does not put his own interests far above those of this nation. If there were such a representative he or she could not remain in the government long.
There are certainly times and circumstances where a government action must remain secret for a short period of time. These circumstances would be where a disclosure could directly put lives in jeopardy. They would never be to hide from its people the true intent of a government action or position. Any action that discloses the operation and intent of the government should be encouraged and applauded, not punished by fines and or jail. Should not Bradley Manning be a cause célèbre rather than a criminal? Why is this challenge to open government not soundly condemned by we the people? It is very sad to see my country wounding itself by abandoning the principles that made it so great and appealing to the world. It is disheartening to watch such unnecessary damage and not be able to influence an awakening in the citizenry. All the facts are freely available. What are not available are funds that could counter the enormous wealth that sponsors of the misinformation and sophistry that controls the government of the United States. Many of our laws are drafted by very wealthy special interested and presented to Congress in names of Representatives who owe their positions to the money these interests supply. We citizens know this and still are powerless to counter such wealth and the power it engenders.
Our present President, Barak Obama, gave us great hope that we had finally found a leader who was strong enough in purpose and integrity to lead the people of this country to be the country it claims to be. His utter failure as a leader is a bitter disappointment. It is baffling why a man with such outstanding qualifications has failed so profoundly. And now he is leading the crusade against those who have followed his pledge of open and transparent government. His justice department wants to punish people for telling the truth. He has broken almost every promise he made to us when he asked us to vote him into the office of the presidency. He is still fighting two wars; he is still holding prisoners illegally; he is still lying to the People of the United States; he is not remotely the leader we elected. Rather than fixing our broken government he is contributing to its disintegration. It is very hard to be hopeful and optimistic for our grandchildren. The dream of the creators of our Constitution is moribund.
posted by Louis Brossard at 7:44 AM
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