Spring Break
The people need to regain, demand accountability from their government
Seth Stern
Issue date: 3/31/09 Section: Opinion
According to a series of new videos on that bastion of self-expression, You Tube, the Second American Revolution has started.
A character based on Thomas Paine, an advocate of American independence from Britain in the late 1700s and the author of "Common Sense," gives a stirring motivational speech urging the passions of Americans to unite in the Second American Revolution (which for the purposes of brevity and my word count, we'll just call SAR).
The SAR is not a revolution of violence and bloodshed, but a revolution of pressure, pressure, pressure. We as an American society numbering the hundreds of millions, allowed a government run by just over 500 people, to shift the power away from Congress and centralize power in the White House.
We have gotten away from the very standards that allowed our nation to become great.
Assuming some of you either haven't or won't take the time to watch the "We the people" edition of SAR, I'm going to piggyback and counter some of "Paine's" ideas for the pressures the people need to provide.
I have to assume that some of you agree with my criticisms of the two major parties, likewise some of you would have shed tears no matter who won the election in November because, like me, you were disgusted with either option. This brings me to a realization I had the other night.
In the two previous presidential elections, the winner was elected not because he represented the best direction for the country, but because to a great number of those who voted for him and he was the least nauseating choice of the two. I still stand by this sentiment.
Say what you will about his legacy at this point, but I still think the gunfighter mentality George W. Bush brought to the country after 9/11 was better than the standard French tactic of stall-and-surrender Al Gore would have provided. By contrast, those who voted for our current president actually believed that he was going to make major positive changes.
A character based on Thomas Paine, an advocate of American independence from Britain in the late 1700s and the author of "Common Sense," gives a stirring motivational speech urging the passions of Americans to unite in the Second American Revolution (which for the purposes of brevity and my word count, we'll just call SAR).
The SAR is not a revolution of violence and bloodshed, but a revolution of pressure, pressure, pressure. We as an American society numbering the hundreds of millions, allowed a government run by just over 500 people, to shift the power away from Congress and centralize power in the White House.
We have gotten away from the very standards that allowed our nation to become great.
Assuming some of you either haven't or won't take the time to watch the "We the people" edition of SAR, I'm going to piggyback and counter some of "Paine's" ideas for the pressures the people need to provide.
I have to assume that some of you agree with my criticisms of the two major parties, likewise some of you would have shed tears no matter who won the election in November because, like me, you were disgusted with either option. This brings me to a realization I had the other night.
In the two previous presidential elections, the winner was elected not because he represented the best direction for the country, but because to a great number of those who voted for him and he was the least nauseating choice of the two. I still stand by this sentiment.
Say what you will about his legacy at this point, but I still think the gunfighter mentality George W. Bush brought to the country after 9/11 was better than the standard French tactic of stall-and-surrender Al Gore would have provided. By contrast, those who voted for our current president actually believed that he was going to make major positive changes.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Kris
posted 3/31/09 @ 4:31 PM MST
I don't think the actor portraying Thomas Paine has read much of Paine's work. I author a blog called Tom Paine's ghost and yes, we do try to foster discussion of revolutionary ideas but we do it through the lens of Paine and his words not simply his passion. (Continued…)
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