By Mark David Blum, Esq.

Twenty four years ago, on January 17, 1973, then President Richard Nixon proclaimed to the world that an accord had been reached in Paris with the North Vietnamese government. The end result thereof would be a quick U.S. pull out and recognition of the new nation of Vietnam. We have since learned the war was based on a lie, moved forward to advance and protect against a political agenda. After that came Watergate and the Pardon and social chaos.

They had the Gulf of Tonkin. We have Weapons of Mass Destruction.

Here we are nearly a quarter century later; another Republican President is leading us down this same path toward destruction. Once again our president is leading a charge against privacy and the civil rights of American citizens in the name of attacking an unforeseen enemy. Again, the Pentagon, FBI, and CIA are infiltrating in the United States and investigating American citizens without warrant or Notice.

Two nights ago, on national television, my President threatened a Coup d’Etat. President Bush believes that under the caption of ‘commander in chief’ he has the constitutional authority to move ahead with his proposed deployment even if told not to by legislation. In his worldview the president perceives his power trumps the will of Congress. "In this situation, I do, yeah. I fully understand they could try to stop me from doing it. But I've made my decision. And we're going forward."

If anything should be going forward, it should be a war crimes trial.

The first priority of the Founders of this nation was to assure there would never again be power concentrated in any one pair of hands or small group. From our villages and towns to the largesse of the Federal Government, we see the ongoing imprimatur of the brilliance of their experiment.

There is a legislative branch. This body represents the People and whose primary function is the control of the purse and to enact the will of the people with regard to how collectively we want things done. Majority rules the day.

To balance the legislature and mediate disputes, the judicial branch was created to watch over the rights of the individual in context of the original concepts of this nation. Theirs is not the task to keep the hand of James Madison around our throats. Instead, as a child matures, so too must our laws and the Judiciary is charged with keeping the law off the back and out of the rights of the individual.

In the Executive branch, we have vested the command to execute the laws passed by the legislature. Be it the local Mayor or the President, theirs is the task of enforcement of the will of the People as manifested through legislation. The executive branch is specifically intended to be the weakest branch and has no power or authority specific to it. From its opening declaration of unity through its final signature, the Constitution is a tight harness reining back the inherent and naturally sought power of the Executive. Job One was to prevent our suffering at the hands of another King George.

Our current George thinks that the phrase that anoints the President as ‘Commander in Chief’ puts him as Primary Military Commander. Nothing could be further from the truth. Our Founders installed the President as Commander in Chief because they insisted on civilian control over the military.

Desiring neither conscripts nor mercenaries, our Founders wanted no part of a standing army or involvement in international affairs. Feeling that if every citizen was armed, no foreign invader could take this hallowed soil from our hands. The military was no friend of America as our founders felt that nobody should be compelled to fight against their will. Alternatively, they feared that a volunteer standing army would be nothing more than mercenaries of the government.

Our founders also understood the realities of life and knew a standing army would be a vital necessity. To further assure the dispersion of power and to protect the People from their government, control over the military was given to the President. The specific intent was to put a set of brakes on the military so as to make sure the army itself knew it shall always remain subservient to civilian authority. General McArthur understood and waddled off into oblivion. As Justice Jackson famously wrote in the Youngstown Sheet & Tube case back during the Korean War, "the purpose of lodging dual titles in one man was to insure that the civilian would control the military, not to enable the military to subordinate the presidential office. No penance would ever expiate the sin against free government of holding that a President can escape control of executive powers by law through assuming his military role."

Now in the modern era, this nation again faces the evil of another George. This one, Bush, is leading a coup. Our Constitution, our freedom, our civil rights, our privacy, our place in the world has indeed been sacrificed. Keith Olberman got it right. We are being called upon to sacrifice everything we hold dear, from our children to our liberties, so this current George can march on.

Congress, if it tells the President “No”, then he had better learn that “No” means “No”. He does not have the legal authority to override a congressional mandate. The president does have the right to raise the issue before the Supreme Court. But, a vote of Congress expresses the will of the People. Ignoring that law would be and should be considered a high crime, a felony, and the last straw before the indictment. After all, how many times did George say “we are a nation of laws.” This is the specific lesson learned during the Reagan Administration and the Iran Contra felonies.

Do not forget that CENTCOM is now active. From whom will CENTCOM commanders take Orders when the President directs them to act contrary to the will of Congress? How many bodies will be buried in the process? We are already shooting people at the borders.

If you cannot see the problem, take a look around you. Do you live in the same nation as do I?

I now live in a nation that has sealed its borders using militia, military, walls, and technology. My Country has passed a law requiring a national identification card and I am required to show proof of citizenship to enter the country. Soon I will be required to show proof of citizenship to vote or receive services.

My car, my home, my guns, and my financial transactions are recorded and reported to the government. My income, expenditures, travel, and consumption habits are all being studied and maintained in government databases. My medical situation is monitored by my doctor and an insurance company and in many cases, my employer as well. Where I live, whom I marry, and how many children I have are all on record.

The police have powers to stop, detain, and imprison me without trial, lawyer, witnesses, evidence, or even charge for an indefinite period of time. Trials can now be held in secret and I am subject to a death penalty without civilian review. I can be interrogated and tortured and if unsuccessful, be rendered to a nation that will be far more persuasive. Anything I say in such situations will be used against me and admitted at my trial. Police can break into my house without warning at any hour and I can be executed if I use deadly force to defend myself. Citizens can be prosecuted on a charge of “conspiracy” without being told of a “conspiracy to commit what” and evidence can be provided to a jury without the defendant even knowing about it.

There are secret courts hearing applications for secret warrants where there is neither public scrutiny nor review. Police can enter my home, invade all my personal records and information, and leave without having to tell me. The FBI now is about to be given power to demand production of my financial records and banking records without a warrant or court order. All of my incoming and outgoing mail and telephone calls are monitored and run through algorithms and testing the content of my writing and speech.

We have camps. There are places where human beings are being tortured and abused for the “good of the country.” Other camps are being built or are built around the nation under FEMA control. About half the people in my country either condone what is happening at Guantanamo and elsewhere or remain ambivalent.

For so many years, my government has been under the control of a single political party at nearly all State and Local levels. At the Federal Level, the Executive Branch, the Legislative Branch and an overwhelming majority of the Judicial Branch is still mostly under the domination and control of a single political party. This political party has strong ties to a particular religious dogma and its leaders consider themselves to be “born-again”, “fundamentalist”, “moral”, and “guided by God” in what they do.

In the public arena, this same political party decries abuse and has turned its focus on the media and academia. One by one, these institutions in both sectors are caving into the demands and will of a single political party. Major newspapers, television news, and even Presidential candidates are being set up and “Swift-Boated” to destroy their credibility. University education, science in particular, global warming, and research are all being put under biblical scrutiny.

Three national elections in a row, there have been serious questions raised nationwide about the veracity of voting outcomes. In nearly every case, the error has defaulted in favor of the same political party. Machines used in this last presidential election were manufactured by one of the top contributors to the party that won and there is no paper trail.

My government has created a centralized databank and a centralized information gathering agency called the Department of Homeland Security. Powers held by this agency reach farther and wider than probably any of us know. They control all roads in and out of the country and actions taken by the Secretary of Homeland Security are not subject to judicial review or injunctive relief. The C.I.A. and F.B.I. do not support my President and leaks about illegal government activity are happening all the time.

The internet is under constant surveillance and there are traps and logging programs and web crawlers monitoring traffic and content. Programs scan all emails at ISPs. AOL actually maintains a log of every transaction of every member. Without hesitation or notice to customers, this information is routinely provided to police agencies.

I cannot board an airplane, a cruise ship, or enter any public building or event without being searched. “Proper identification” must be shown to enter any Federal Building. I am forbidden from carrying tweezers, cigarette lighters, tape recorders, or telephones with cameras into most public buildings.

My Federal Courts have evolved an entire body of criminal law that never existed in the minds of our Founders. Courts intended to mediate disputes between the States and as among the citizens of different states, now enforce laws historically reserved for the states. There are guidelines for sentencing that require fixed periods of time that are mathematically calculated and have no room for tempering justice with mercy. Judges no longer have sentencing discretion or the power and authority to nullify a bad law or refuse to enforce a law being applied improperly. Prosecutors and not judges have the discretion in sentencing. Nearly all Federal Judges have a professional history of being prosecutors. Few if any came up through the ranks as defense attorneys.

My Supreme Court, the last line of defense for the individual against the government, maintains inconsistent opinions. The majority there hold for strict reading and application of the Constitution. They posit there is no stated right to privacy and thus claims for rights to the body, to abortion, to suicide, to pain relief, to drugs, to prostitution and gambling and pornography fall upon deaf ears. At the same time, the Court upholds a claimed right to “life” though there is likewise no such stated right in the Constitution. Working backwards, this Court maintains that whatever rights may exist, such rights are limited only to those written in the document. Historically, all rights are in the hands of the individual except those specifically delegated to government. My Supreme Court refuses to accept this history. Instead, I am being forced to suffer the same scrutiny and live under the same standards that were required back in the 1700’s.

Prisons are the single industry that is growing. Our prison population is exploding and is larger than any nation in the history of the world. More and more of citizens are being imprisoned for longer and longer periods of time. Some segments are society claim nearly 50% criminal histories of some type. Employers, the government, public office, public services, travel, and public amusement parks are all being closed off to people with a criminal history. We are doing drug testing, criminal background checks, and credit checks for janitors and other common everyday workers.

States’ Rights is a concept that no longer exists. Laws passed in a State granting its citizens more rights than enumerated in the Constitution are being vetoed by the Federal government and state citizens are being arrested, prosecuted, and imprisoned for long periods of time for doing what is legal in that State. Right now in the United States Senate, the party in control is actually looking for a technical way to overrule the will of a minority of States (though a numerical majority of the citizens). In fact, I heard a United States Republican Senator proclaim proudly on the floor of the Senate that he deliberately and willfully gave up his right of the filibuster “forever” for the good of the nation … and he encouraged 11 other Senators to do the same. Senator Santorum admitted he voted to put judges into office despite feeling they were totally unqualified but that he did so ‘for the good of the compromise’.

States that recognize marriage as between two loving adults regardless of gender are seeing their laws ignored elsewhere. The Full Faith and Credit Clause of the Constitution has been set aside to advance a moral agenda.

Speech is under attack at all levels. Local prosecutors are using Patriot Act laws to send people to prison for life for uttering threatening words against a social worker. Radio and television are being dominated by punditry and entertainment being passed off as news. Books are being banned, movies are being boycotted and banned, holy books are being desecrated, and hate groups are being given the microphone and television camera.

Schools are being synthesized and education is being so watered down that critical thinking is giving way to uniformity and conformity. Children are being encouraged to tattle on their parents and can have the State determine whether you spanked too hard. Teachers are not allowed to express an opinion or challenge. Students are not allowed to voice artistic or creative talents. School Boards are likewise mostly under the control of a single political party and religious dogma.

Ours is a nation divided. Red versus Blue. Christian versus just about everybody else. Our government has driven us into a war based on false pretenses and outright lies. The ‘ends justifies the means’ has become a cornerstone of our politics and our policies. “Pre-emptive strikes”, “doing it for the children”, or “keeping us safe from terrorists” have become justification for just about everything the government does regardless of how unpalatable or repugnant to the Constitution and its’ Libertarian roots.

We are headed into another war. Syria, Iran, North Korea are all on the table. George Bush has already declared war on Iran via a signing statement.

We have isolated ourselves politically. Our friends are few and not a single one of them could fire a shot in our defense. China and the East are about to take over the world markets. The European Union is a pre-curser to what is now the United States. American leaders are no longer welcomed with flowers and parades, but with grenades and heightened security. American soldiers are dying and being maimed doing police work in a place where they are not welcome. More billions of dollars are being given to Iraq’s infrastructure and schools than we spend on our own.

The only conclusion from all of this is that once upon a time, Poland was not far enough.

“What country can preserve its liberties, if its rulers are not warned from time to time that this people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms.”

“An elective despotism was not the government we fought for, but one which should not only be founded on true free principles, but in which the powers of government should be so divided and balanced among general bodies of magistracy, as that no one could transcend their legal limits without being effectually checked and restrained by the others.”

-- Thomas Jefferson