THE TYRANTS AMONG US

The tyrants among us

March 20, 2003

Three years ago the fight was on: who would we have for our next president, Al Gore or George W Bush? And the war of words was on. Clinton, besides being a womanizer and a cad, sold our nation down the road. Al Gore was a mirror image politically, only worse, of Clinton. George W Bush would lead our nation on the straight and narrow, in a new and better direction. He would take care of all those problems that Clinton had neglected while using his stay in the White House to further his personal agenda in the womanizing department. And so went the rhetoric.

It is now 2003, President George W Bush has been in office two full years. Let's look at the score.

Has Bush turned the education debacle around? Ummmm ... well ... no, he hasn't. What he has done is further the systems education agenda through the No Child Left Behind Act. Not exactly what one would term "turning it around" or "taking it in a new direction."

Has Bush decreased the size of government? Ummmmm ... w-e-l-l ... not exactly. He has merged a bunch of law enforcement agencies into the massive Department of Homeland Security, and, through the Patriot Act, has given that Department powers which no agency, established to protect and secure the rights of man and the lives of the American people, should ever have. Does that count?

Has Bush secured our borders? Ummmmm .... well, can't say as he has. The last anyone heard was that he couldn't close the "non-existent" border with Mexico as it wasn't politically feasible. Say what? Here we are, engaged in a war on terrorism, ready to go to war with that "mad man," Saddam Hussein, and we are allowing foreigners onto American soil without so much as a "by your leave?" If Bush isn't securing our borders, what's to stop any terrorist entering onto American soil? To boot, we are paying these illegal invaders social security ... providing them with free medical care and education ... even allowing them to enter our country illegally for the express purpose of receiving organ transplants while our own in need wait or die. Hmmmm ... not so good!

Has Bush made any effort to bring jobs and companies back to America? Ummmm... gee, not that anyone has noticed. Unemployment continues to climb. The wage scale continues to slide. It seems that almost weekly we hear how another company is going under, closing its doors, moving out of state or out of country. Don't need to be a rocket scientist to figure out that jobs won't come back to America that way!

What has Bush done to straighten out the burgeoning health care crisis due, in large measure, to government meddling? Well, let's see ...

Well, what HAS Bush done for our nation? . . . .Ummmmm ... gee ... gosh, I don't know! Can we count making John Ashcroft, that bastion of conservatism, that supposed "light" of the conservative movement, the new Attorney General to replace Janet "Brown Shirt" Reno?

True conservatives were somewhat dubious about Ashcroft's conservative claims, considering he was one of the Governors (from Missouri) appointed by the chairman of the National Governor's Association, Booth Gardner (Governor, Washington State) to the education goals monitoring panel that became known as the National Education Goals Panel. That was in 1990. The significance of this being Ashcroft's willing involvement in and promotion of systems governance.

When Ashcroft left the governor's mansion in Missouri, he became a U.S. Senator, sitting in the Senate during the Clinton impeachment hearings. The following is an e-mail response from Senator Ashcroft concerning that situation. This email, dated January 1999, is revealed here in its entirety, giving full import:

"Thank you for contacting my office about the serious crisis in the White House. I appreciate the opportunity to respond to your concerns.

"As you know, on August 17, 1998, President Clinton admitted that he lied to the American people, his family, and his colleagues about his relationship with Monica Lewinsky. The perpetuation of that lie for months is disgraceful. While I do not question the sincerity of the President's apology, I also have no question about the grave and long-lasting negative effects his actions are having on the nation and on our culture. As a result, I believe that the best course for our country and our culture is for the President to resign.

"In light of the President's actions and his continued unwillingness to admit that his actions were unlawful, on December 19, 1998, the House of Representatives took the extraordinary step of approving two articles of impeachment against President Clinton. The solemn duty of conducting an impeachment trial now falls upon the Senate. When this matter comes to trial before the Senate, I will honor my oath to judge the matter impartially based on the evidence presented and on no other basis.

"The Constitution imposes a solemn duty on the Senate to conduct a fair, speedy and impartial trial. However, this important constitutional obligation cannot distract us from pursuing our legislative agenda. Protecting Social Security, cutting taxes, educating our children, and keeping them safe from the scourge of drugs cannot await the end of this trial. The President's admitted misconduct has hampered his ability to provide leadership, both at home and abroad. We cannot allow our constitutional obligation of evaluating that misconduct to prevent the Senate from supplying the missing leadership and making progress on this agenda.

"Americans expect their President to provide moral leadership. They expect someone who will call them to their highest and best, not accommodate them at their lowest and least. They count on the President to uphold the law, not undermine it. They want him or her to provide a model for their children to emulate, not serve as an embarrassing example that causes children to question the moral lessons instilled by their parents.

"The President's actions are indicative of a values deficit in Washington. The culture of Washington exudes a spirit of arrogance that is not reflective of the people's values. From his first days in office, this President has presided over a cascade of investigations, scandals, and ethical controversies. He has borrowed against the people's trust over and over, and he has no moral capital left.

"What is more, the President's values deficit illustrates that ours is a culture in crisis. Its symptoms include family breakdown, teen pregnancy, violence, and drug abuse. Now, more than ever, America needs a president who offers moral leadership. But the bully pulpit is empty. The President, who should be able to lead by example and who should be a model, is unable to provide that leadership. His self-inflicted wounds disable him from providing the leadership the culture so desperately needs.

"From the outset, I have consistently stated that if the allegations against the President were true, then he has disgraced himself, he has disgraced the Presidency, and he should resign. Now that the President has admitted the allegations are true, the honorable act is to resign so that the nation can properly heal from the wounds he has inflicted and the culture can be put on the path to recovery.

"Although I can call on the President to resign, I have no power to make him do so. The choice is in his hands. Therefore I appeal to him, to his sense of patriotism, and his sense of honor, to make the right decision. If he refuses to resign, the nation will continue to be dragged through an ordeal to determine whether the President has forfeited the legal authority to govern. However, statements by members of Congress of both political parties make it increasingly clear that this President already has lost his moral authority to govern. Under these circumstances, he owes it to a culture in need of moral leadership to resign.

"Again, thank you for contacting me about the Clinton crisis. It is a privilege to serve you in the U.S. Senate.

— Sincerely, John Ashcroft"

Spoken like a true conservative, Senator Ashcroft. My but you've done us proud!!!

Now John Ashcroft is Attorney General. A cartoon, appearing recently in newspapers around the country, depicts John Ashcroft raising a wire basket from a boiling vat of oil. In the wire basket is the "Bill of Rights" euphemistically labeled "freedom fries." How appropriate. People detained without counsel, indefinitely, in undisclosed locations. Their rights suspended without due process. What happened to that U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights John Ashcroft so solemnly swore an oath to uphold? Now that he is in a position of power ... real power ... they don't matter any more? What does that say for the security of the rights of any American?

James Madison, 1792:

"Where an excess of power prevails, property of no sort is duly respected. No man is safe in his opinions, his person, his faculties, or his possessions."

Given his new found authority and position, the noble words of John Ashcroft during one of America's darkest hours seem to now elude him in his new position of power. Nothing could be more appropriate than for John Ashcroft to practice what he preaches.

The story of John Ashcroft is one, however, that Americans have seen all too often. The noble politician, vowing with vehemence to protect the rights of man ... that is until he attains that coveted position of power. Then the tyrant under the facade makes his appearance. This is what happens when men of little to no principle are elected to govern by people who have failed to maintain vigilance over their instruments of government.

Thomas Jefferson:

"In questions of power ... let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution."

Those who believed George W Bush would take our nation in a different and better direction were, at best, deluding themselves, and at worst, sticking their heads in the sand and hoping for the best. Whether Democrat or Republican, it makes no difference, the agenda goes forward, the names of the puppet masters seldom change, just the names of the puppets.