Bull Run battlefield, just north of Manassas, celebrates its sesquicentennial this week. The volunteers that staff the various Bull Run battlefield visitor centers did a fantastic job on our visit. They are knowledgeable, enthusiastic, and did a great job of bringing the battlefield to life for our group!
It is a shame that the Confederacy is associated more with its pro-slavery stance than with the issue of states' rights. Slavery should never have been allowed in America. Asked rhetorically...how can Thomas Jefferson and the Founding Fathers have allowed slavery to continue while issuing a Declaration of Independence that says “We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness – That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it”? Unfortunately, slave owners of the time introduced language into the Virginia Declaration of Rights, legalese that excluded slaves from the benefits of "civil society", and this document was more influential in the politics of the times than the Declaration of Independence. This bit of legal maneuvering cost 600,000 lives in the Civil War - quite a bill that can be laid at the feet of lawyer Edmund Pendleton, among others. Having said that, I am tremendously proud of the willingness of the people of the Confederacy to follow Jefferson’s Declaration and go to war when they felt that their rights were being trampled by the government, even if it was in defence of the indefensible. Seeing the larger-than-life memorial to Stonewall Jackson rising over the battlefield is a stark reminder that this country was once made of men with the courage to fight for their rights when Congress did not act to secure them.
It is a shame that the Confederacy is associated more with its pro-slavery stance than with the issue of states' rights. Slavery should never have been allowed in America. Asked rhetorically...how can Thomas Jefferson and the Founding Fathers have allowed slavery to continue while issuing a Declaration of Independence that says “We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness – That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it”? Unfortunately, slave owners of the time introduced language into the Virginia Declaration of Rights, legalese that excluded slaves from the benefits of "civil society", and this document was more influential in the politics of the times than the Declaration of Independence. This bit of legal maneuvering cost 600,000 lives in the Civil War - quite a bill that can be laid at the feet of lawyer Edmund Pendleton, among others. Having said that, I am tremendously proud of the willingness of the people of the Confederacy to follow Jefferson’s Declaration and go to war when they felt that their rights were being trampled by the government, even if it was in defence of the indefensible. Seeing the larger-than-life memorial to Stonewall Jackson rising over the battlefield is a stark reminder that this country was once made of men with the courage to fight for their rights when Congress did not act to secure them.
I used to question whether we should stay and try and change this country, or if moving to Panama was better. Obviously, I decided that leaving was the better course. The bailout of the banksters in the face of overwhelming popular disapproval was the last straw for me, but every day it is easy to find an example of why America is slowly going from plutocracy to police state.
Here is a long-time politico trying to explain why this is the Worst Congress Ever, when I can sum it up in a single word: plutocracy. Government and the justice system are now operated primarily for the benefit of those with wealth - both corporations and individuals.
This story showing Rochester, NY as part of the police state appeared on the local D.C. news last night, even though it dates from June, and there have been more developments.
Here is a long-time politico trying to explain why this is the Worst Congress Ever, when I can sum it up in a single word: plutocracy. Government and the justice system are now operated primarily for the benefit of those with wealth - both corporations and individuals.
This story showing Rochester, NY as part of the police state appeared on the local D.C. news last night, even though it dates from June, and there have been more developments.
..and this one on the killing of Jose Guerena by a Tuscon SWAT team was particularly infuriating when I ran across it earlier this year.
...and from yesterday, yet another opinion piece on the dangers of rising inequality in the USA.
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