In my life I’ve heard rumblings, rumors, and outright calls for the impeachment of a President.
This is the first time in my life that there has ever been open talk of revolution.
In the past 3 weeks I’ve heard on the radio, (NO Not the Über conservative channels) where commentators were speaking clearly and openly about those calling for revolution. The surprising thing was that they weren’t mocking about it.
I clearly remember Richard Nixon’s last days in the White House. There were calls for his impeachment all over the place. I was a teen at the time and didn’t really pay much attention to the specifics. I remember that Nixon’s resignation caught my attention and somehow I knew that the country had fundamentally changed.
The calls for Bill Clintons impeachment were largely political theater and I ignored them.
I thought at the time, there were lots of other issues that we should be having a discussion about other than who was polishing the Presidents knob. I did like that Clinton kept Yasser Arafat waiting in the rose garden in a hot, humid, August while Clinton got a blow job.
That to me was classic. I didn’t care for Arafat and thought he had no business having any discussion with the President. He was a terrorist, a butcher, and a liar.
We’ve heard calls for President Obamas impeachment off & on for quite a while.
I’ve chalked it up to sour grapes and after the second election just general dis-satisfaction with President Obamas performance.
What I’m blown
away by now, is the frequency and openness in discussing revolution.
This is something that used to be talked about drunk over a bottle of Whiskey.
It was mentioned in hushed tones by conspiracy theorists, and dismissed easily because… well… They’re crazy.
Revolution was a thought exercise in my history classes, mostly to illustrate that revolutions are in general really bad. Without careful thought you can easily replace one despot with another.
Never in my life has Revolution been a topic of general discussion and certainly never on the radio. That lately it’s a matter of common and non-derisive discussion has completely blown my mind.
I’d like to toss some thoughts out just because I think it needs to be said.
Revolution must be the absolute last course of action.
Our founding fathers gave us the rules about starting a revolution, and they gave us the potential to exercise a “Nuclear Option”. Their reasoning is as sound today as it was then. Those guys foresaw the possibility of their brand new republic becoming a tyrannical beast. Thats why our country is so unique. Our system of checks & balances has served and protected us for almost two & a half centuries. The system works.
Before pressing the big red button we should remember and consider our less radical options.
If we are displeased with our government, then we have a variety of methods to seek redress.
We must use those methods first.
ONLY when and if the government ignores We the Peoples grievances should we contemplate moving to the “Nuclear” option.
Civil war, Revolution, Coup, whatever you call taking up arms against the government, will inevitably result in bloodshed.
As happens with these things, much of the blood that will be shed will be innocent.
Having been raised in the South, and after doing a bit of genealogical research I’m aquatinted with the wounds that Civil war causes.
There are people in my family who still refer to the Civil war as “The war of Northern aggression“.
In my genealogical research I’ve found many relatives who fought on both sides of the conflict.
There is even a set of cousins who appear to have died in the same battle fighting on opposite sides. These were men who played together as children, then ended up dying together on the same blood soaked day. One tragic day among many as men died far from home and their families.
The wounds of the Civil war have been slow to heal. I shudder to think about inflicting new wounds in a revolution against our government.
The other point i’d like to make is that in the Civil war, and our war for independence against England, we as a people had very clear goals.
In the one case, Independence from England, in the other the dispute between the North and South. (notice I didn’t say jack shit about slavery. There are reasons and I’m not going into it right now.)
To all these people calling for a revolution against the government today. I’d say take a deep breath. Demand recall and impeachment hearings. Use the legal means provided first.
If those methods fail, and the only recourse is revolution then have a plan!
It’s not enough to say, “I don’t like the government, they didn’t listen to me lets revolt!”
What is your end game?
Assuming that you succeed with your revolution what then?
Are you going to shoot people you don’t like on the capital steps, without the benefit of a trial? God I hope not! That’s not who we are as a people.
Will you return to the basic Bill of Rights and the Constitution?
What then? How would you go about implementing laws from the existing body of law that are acceptable and not burdensome?
Would you simply toss all the laws out and start with basics from the Ten Commandments?
Will you reboot the government?
Will you flush all the leaders in Washington and have immediate elections?
How will you do this? A revolution will most probably have disrupted significant portions of the infrastructure. Whats the plan to get the word out?
These are just the first things that pop into my head about revolution.
I’m not a scholar, I’m an average hayseed redneck.
I do know however that without a plan in place, a revolution would likely destroy the very thing the revolution was fought to restore.
We’ve seen elsewhere in the world time and again one group of corrupt leaders replaced with another group of corrupt leaders. Would you wish that on our home?
I wouldn’t.
Don’t get me wrong. I think the government is too big, it’s not attuned to the needs of the general populace, and in fact may be hostile to the people.
I’m very disappointed in The President, The Congress, Democrats and Republicans. I fear that our country has lost it’s way and that The Constitution has become more a set of guidelines. (A situation that I vehemently disagree with)
I simply hope that revolution isn’t the only way to bring about the changes in government that we so desperately need.
I really hope that all this revolution talk is just talk.
It would break my heart to see us go down that dark and bloody path.