I find it fascinating how very much things can change. Take for instance education. When I was growing up, there was a great deal of emphasis on studying the US Constitution &, naturally, the Bill of Rights. Apart from the fact that the USA Patriot Act -- which our president Obama had promised to dismantle, yet has taken steps to strengthen -- is in direct opposition to both the aforementioned areas of study ground into most American students at least as long as I was in school. Our politicians continually violate the one supreme legal document which our Supreme Court was created to interpret.
Back in 1989 I was rather consumed with the ubiquitous news reports concerning the Polish Solidarity movement's Round Table Talks. I knew that the Soviets were at the end of their run -- they couldn't afford all the satellite countries they'd occupied, they couldn't afford to pay their soldiers. So, I also knew that because Soviet control was falling apart -- the people having had enough -- that it would not be long before the only territory the Soviets had any control over would be Red Square, where the famed Kremlin stands.
No one wanted to believe my claims -- even Condoleezza Rice -- so called expert on the Soviet Union -- was stupid enough to go on record stating something to the effect that there will always be a Soviet Union. Naturally, I cannot find this quote. We can't have the blunders of experts available on the Web, can we?
It didn't surprise me that the Poles I knew, who had lived most or all their lives under Soviet suppression, couldn't conceive of free Poland. Of course, the freedom Poland knows now with American partnership (the term "partnership" is very questionable) & EU membership doesn't seem to have brought the promised prosperity to individuals, but rather to their own government. But I've yet to visit Poland & can only go by what I read & hear from the few Poles who discuss such.
In that same year -- 1989 -- there was another small news story. One that didn't only make me laugh, but brought a level of anger to me. I admit that I wasn't paying any great attention to the US Constitution all those years ago in school, but because it was ground into me, I retain a certain intuitive knowledge of points in it. It's no wonder I questioned this news story.
In 1989, President Ronald Reagan received an honorary British knighthood, the Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath. Sure, it's called honorary, but I can only suspect that this is applied as an afterthought. Have a look at the US Constitution. Such is illegal under the very document every president swears "...To the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."
Interesting. To be president of the United States, one must take this oath that George W Bush had said in a press conference of the US Constitution is "...just a piece of paper". I'd love to provide a link to the YouTube video which had this statement in it, but it appears to have been removed from YouTube. Not to worry, though. You can find a link to it in another of my fairly recent blahg entries. Besides, there are plenty of Gazoogle entries related to it.
Then, in 1993, "Daddy" Bush had received the very same honorary knighthood. But I sincerely doubt that anyone is oblivious to where GHW Bush places his loyalty.
But things just grow more murky. As I'd mentioned, our current figure head, President Obama, had promised while running for the presidency, that he would dismantle the USA Patriot Act. He hasn't. What's more, he's even, this year, decided to give it another year. Sad for those of us who live in the US, but if you weren't sickened by that, have a look at this:
If it weren't a violation for Reagan & Bush Sr to give allegiance to the British Crown, how is any more a violation for a sitting US president to take control of a foreign (technically speaking) political body?
Now, I'm not exactly what one would call a Constitutionalist -- hell, I'm only an American by an accident of birth. I value my liberty above most anything you can name, but I've never felt patriotic toward the so called American way of life. I've actually been seeking a legal & honorable means of obtaining citizenship, & gainful employment, in any number of other countries since I was an early teen. You can say I really don't give a damn about the future of the US, & you wouldn't be entirely wrong to do so.
But when a government so flagrantly disregard the very people who they're supposed to be working for, as opposed to those who value money & power over all else, & continually lie about their actions, I grow continually more pissed off.
So should all of you.
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