In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson outlined his justification for democracy – that is – government by the people.\u00a0\u00a0Like any good enlightenment philosopher, he used a mathematical-type formulation of argument. He began with his \u201cpostulates\u201d, the self- evident truths:\u00a0\u00a0life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. He then argued that governments are \u201cinstituted among men\u201d to provide and protect those truths.\u00a0\u00a0His next step was that those governments gained their powers from the \u201cconsent of the governed\u201d, what we would now call free and fair elections. And finally, that governments that failed to protect \u201cthe truths\u201d, could be altered or abolished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cConsent of the governed\u201d, is, in more modern political parlance, explained as \u201celections have consequences\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0But elections do not provide a \u201cblank check\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0The \u201cwinners\u201d still have a mandate, and a duty, to act to provide and protect the self-evident truths.\u00a0\u00a0They cannot just govern for those that voted for them.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If \u201cthe governed\u201d has the right to consent, then clearly there must be a right to dissent as well.\u00a0\u00a0Dissent is as much a part of the democratic process as assent.\u00a0\u00a0To dissent is a patriotic duty.\u00a0\u00a0A government \u201cof the people\u201d must include those that disagree as much as those that agree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of the most significant actions a government can take is to go to war.\u00a0\u00a0Through most of American history, our leadership spent tremendous energy convincing Americans of the justification for the ultimate action, right or wrong.\u00a0\u00a0It took years of division to reach the critical stage that led to the Civil War.\u00a0\u00a0It took years of persuasion, the sinking of the\u00a0Lusitania\u00a0<\/em>and a Zimmerman Note that\u00a0<\/em>threatened attack on the US to enter World War I.\u00a0\u00a0And it took almost two years of war in Europe and an attack on Pearl Harbor for the US to enter World War II.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Justifications were made for Korea (invasion), Vietnam (Gulf of Tonkin resolution), Iraq I (invasion), Afghanistan (9-11) and Iraq 2 (nuclear weapons).\u00a0\u00a0Sometimes those arguments were valid, sometimes they were not (the Gulf of Tonkin, nuclear weapons in Iraq).\u00a0\u00a0But in every one, the leadership of the United States spent time persuading the American people that the sacrifices of war were justified.\u00a0\u00a0Remember Colin Powell\u2019s address to the United Nations about the \u201cyellowcake\u201d uranium in Iraq?\u00a0\u00a0How about George W Bush speaking from the pile of the World Trade Centers,\u00a0\u201cI can hear you! The rest of the world hears you! And the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Not this time.\u00a0\u00a0Not in Iran.\u00a0\u00a0We all woke up ten days ago to war.\u00a0\u00a0There\u2019s an old Washington trick, called \u201cputting out the garbage\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0News items which are controversial or negative go out Friday after hours, after the news programs and newspapers are \u201cput to bed\u201d. It feels like this war in Iran was \u201crevealed\u201d in the same way, the attacks made in the dark of night (here in the US) in the early morning hours of the weekend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sure, we knew that two carrier groups were in the region.\u00a0\u00a0We knew that there was a threat of attack.\u00a0\u00a0But no one, made the effort to say to the American people, \u201cWe are likely to wage a war against Iran\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0Even after the bombs were falling, the President of the United States just stuck a video on social media. It wasn\u2019t an address from the Oval Office, it wasn\u2019t live. The speech was from a guy on vacation headed to the golf course.\u00a0\u00a0It was a speech to his supporters, not the Nation.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0He wasn\u2019t looking for \u201cconsent\u201d; he simply demanded acceptance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Refusing to give consent is not the same as not supporting our warfighters.\u00a0\u00a0To take an overused phrase, \u201cTwo things can be true at the same time\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0I can be against a war in Iran, against the commitment of American lives and treasure in a faraway land, against the risk of growing conflagration; and still want the best for those who are at \u201cthe point of the spear\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0In fact, my refusal is in large part for them.\u00a0\u00a0They have no choice but to do their jobs, fly their planes, launch their missiles, carry their guns, risk their lives.\u00a0\u00a0I can speak for them, and ask why they are being made to take such risks.\u00a0\u00a0I can weigh the values that they are unable to express.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Donald Trump did not ask \u201cthe consent of the governed\u201d in taking us to war.\u00a0\u00a0He did not come to us, try to convince and persuade; attempt to gain support.\u00a0\u00a0He simply presented a fait d\u2019accompli:\u00a0\u00a0we are at war, get behind it.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019m not behind it.\u00a0\u00a0We are in a war of aggression, a war to protect others\u2019 interests; financial, Israeli, petroleum interests.\u00a0\u00a0We are not in a war to protect the people of the United States.\u00a0\u00a0No one asked for our consent.\u00a0\u00a0And so I will do my patriotic duty, a duty that extends to care of those who must carry the burden of battle, to say NO to this imperialistic war.\u00a0\u00a0And I will continue to support our warfighters, by demanding that their leadership change.\u00a0\u00a0The word is \u201calter\u201d, as in \u201calter or abolish”.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s exactly what Jefferson meant for us to do.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Putting Out the Garbage<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Two Truths<\/h2>\n\n\n\n