With Us - Or Against Us

It's time for Americans to undertake a great crusade – the one for our country's soul. Too much blood has been spilled over long past decades by the defenders of liberty to not take action. Shall we sit idly by and let the greatness of this nation slip away? Shall we ignore the steady corruption of true American values by the charlatans and phonies amongst us? Shall we allow the wealth of this country to be stolen in order to benefit the selected few? It's time to stand and rumble. To adapt the words of an adversary, I say--

My fellow citizens, for the last six years, the entire world has seen for itself the state of our Union -- and it is strong.

Today we are a country awakened to danger and called to defend freedom. Our grief has turned to anger, and anger to resolution. Whether we bring our enemies to justice, or bring justice to our enemies, justice will be done.

In November 2000, enemies of freedom committed an act of war against our country. Americans have known wars -- but for the past 140 years, they have been wars on foreign soil, except for one Sunday in 1941 and of one day in Sept. 2001. Americans have known the casualties of war and Americans have known surprise attacks -- but never before on millions of civilians. All of this has been brought upon us by a daily stream of trangressions – the nights now fall on a different America, an America where freedom itself is under attack.

Americans have many questions. Americans are asking: Who attacked our country? The evidence we have gathered all points to a collection of affiliated organizations that walk amidst us. They hide in the daylight as Republicans, as corporations, as neo-cons, as religious fundamentalists, and as acolytes of a particularly immoral strain of “compassionate conservative”. It is only at night – or behind closed doors that their true colors are known.

These groups are to fascism what the mafia is to crime. But their goal is not only making money; their goal is remaking America -- imposing their radical beliefs on all of citizens of this great country and by extension the world.

These terrorists practice a form of authoritarianism that has been rejected by freedom lovers ever since this country was founded. They are extremist believers who would pervert the sacrifices of our founders. Their directives command them to strip liberty and freedom from every American and to extend their control into our private lives.

America's people have been brutalized -- many are going without adequate food or shelter, many are going without medical care, many have lost their livelihoods to unfair trade practices, many are spied upon by their own government, and some have had their liberties stripped from them without due process. Many media outlets are nothing more than spokesmen of the government and are directed to trumpet the latest talking points - which never have any relation to truth or facts. Women are not allowed to control their own bodies. You can be jailed for taking a picture. Religions are being controlled and manipulated to benefit their leaders.

Freedom lovers in America respect all Americans -- but we condemn these terrorist regimes. Not only do they repress their own people, they threaten people everywhere by sponsoring and encouraging and aiding other like minded groups worldwide. By these acts, they are murdering the hopes of liberty and freedom for all people.

And today, the lovers of freedom in the United States of America make the following demands on these destroyers of freedom: Deliver to true United States authorities all the leaders of your groups who would destroy this land. Release all foreign nationals, including American citizens, you have unjustly imprisoned. Close immediately and permanently every terrorist detention camp in America, Cuba, and other lands, and hand over every detainee to their appropriate homeland authorities. Protect the weakest amongst us, the elderly, the sick, the frail, the homeless, the young.

These demands are not open to negotiation or discussion. These groups must act, and act immediately. They will hand over the lawbreakers and terrorists, or they will share in their fate.

Americans of passion and concern for their fellow man are asking, why do they hate us? They hate what we see fading in America -- a democratically elected government. Their leaders are the self-appointed, they are those who believe it is their “right” to rule, their right to treat young Americans as cannon fodder in grisly adventures of folly. They hate our freedoms -- our freedom of religion, our freedom of speech, our freedom to vote and assemble and disagree with each other.

These terrorists want not merely to end liberty, but to disrupt and end a way of life. With every law being ignored in a Presidential signing statement, with every atrocious chipping away the US Constitution, they hope that Americans will not notice the slow erosion that threatens the very existence of this great country. They hope that the continued promotion of fear from overseas will cause us to retreat from guarding our liberties and forsaking our founders. They stand against us, because we stand in their way.

We are not deceived by their pretenses to piety, their pretenses to “protect us”. We have seen their kind before. They are the heirs of all the authoritarian ideologies of the 20th century. By sacrificing human life to serve their radical visions -- by abandoning every value except the will to power -- they follow in the path of fascism, and Nazism, and totalitarianism. And they will follow that path all the way, to where it ends: in history's unmarked grave of discarded lies.

Americans are asking: How will we fight and win this war? We will direct every resource at our command -- every means of responsible politics, every tool of intelligence, every instrument of law enforcement, every financial influence, and every necessary weapon of war -- to the disruption and to the defeat of this insidious threat from within.

Americans should not expect one battle, but a lengthy campaign, unlike any other we have ever seen. It may include dramatic trials, visible on TV, and covert operations, secret even in success. We will starve the terrorists of funding, turn them one against another, drive them from place to place, until there is no refuge or no rest. And we will pursue nations that provide aid or safe haven to these groups.

Every nation, in every region, now has a decision to make. Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists. From this day forward, anyone that continues to harbor or support these groups will be regarded by the Americans as hostile to freedom.

Our nation has been put on notice: We are not immune from attack. We will take defensive measures against terrorism to protect Americans. Today, dozens of federal departments and agencies, as well as state and local governments, have responsibilities affecting homeland security. These efforts must be coordinated at the highest level. The only way to defeat terrorism as a threat to our way of life is to stop it, eliminate it, and destroy it where it grows.

Many will be involved in this effort, from FBI agents to intelligence operatives to average citizens. A sea change was put into effect this past November – but it must not stop there. This country must be turned over to it's rightful citizenry in November 2008.

This is not, however, just America's fight. And what is at stake is not just America's freedom. This is the world's fight. This is civilization's fight. This is the fight of all who believe in progress and pluralism, tolerance and freedom.

The civilized world is mystified and frightened of America's current leaders. This can be changed and we can once again have countries rallying to America's side. They understand that if this inbred terror goes unpunished, their own cities, their own citizens may be next. Terror, unanswered, can not only bring down buildings, it can threaten the stability of legitimate governments. And you know what -- we're not going to allow it.

Americans are asking: What is expected of us? I ask you to uphold the values of America, and remember why so many have come here. We are in a fight for our principles, and our first responsibility is to live by them. No one should be singled out for unfair treatment or unkind words because of their ethnic background or religious faith.

After all that has just passed -- all the lives taken, all the freedoms lost, and all the possibilities and hopes that died with them -- it is natural to wonder if America's future is one of fear. Some speak of an age of terror. I know there are struggles ahead, and dangers to face. But this country will define our times, not be defined by them. As long as the United States of America is determined and strong, this will not be an age of darkness; this will be an age of liberty, here and across the world.

Great harm has been done to us. We have suffered great loss. And in our grief and anger we have found our mission and our moment. Freedom and fear are at war. The advance of human freedom -- the great achievement of our time, and the great hope of every time -- now depends on us. Our nation -- this generation -- will lift a dark threat of violence from our people and our future. We will rally everyone to this cause by our efforts, by our courage. We will not tire, we will not falter, and we will not fail.

It is my hope that in the months and years ahead, life will return to resemble the one our forefathers fought and died for. We'll go back to our lives and routines, and that is good. Even grief recedes with time and grace. But our resolve must not pass. Each of us will remember what happened over the last six years, and to whom it happened. We'll remember the moment the news came -- where we were and what we were doing. Some will remember a feeling of great despair, or of anger at thievery. Some will carry memories liberties and past freedoms gone forever.

We must all say to ourselves: “I will not forget the wounds to our country or those who inflicted it. I will not yield; I will not rest; I will not relent in waging this struggle for freedom and security for all Americans – not just the connnected few”.

The course of this conflict is not known, yet its outcome is certain. Freedom and fear, justice and cruelty, have always been at war, and we know that God is not neutral between them.

True lovers of freedom, we'll meet violence with patient justice -- assured of the rightness of our cause, and confident of the victories to come. In all that lies before us, may God grant us wisdom, and may He watch over the United States of America.

Posted on The Human Stain