The BigEye Blog

Cogitations from the Home Front

January 27, 2009

Righteous Indignation

I will be wise,
And just, and free, and mild, if in me lies
Such power; for I grow weary to behold
The selfish and the strong still tyrannize
Without reproach or check.

Destined to become one of the England's greatest poets, Percy Bysshe Shelly wrote these lines in a letter to his wife. This was, as he put it, his vow. It reflected his personal rebellion against the English Public School system. The soul of the reformer may initially be seared by the flames of righteous indignation. If there was ever a time such souls were needed, it is now.

Americans are again living in a period of historical crisis. If there were a Thomas Paine among us to stir our hearts and minds with a simple line such as, These are the times that try men's souls, would his words be read? Would their message be effectively blotted out, twisted, demonized, or trivialized by network television? Regardless, if such a Paine exists, please, let him come forward. We need you now, my friend. Desperately.

Protected from land armies for two centuries by vast oceans, America was sufficiently isolated to develop a new political idea. Ours was an "experiment", in the words of Thomas Jefferson. It was an experiment that kindled the hopes of We, The People across a world that had lived from the beginning of history under the heels of kings, czars, princes, lords, emperors, satraps, governors, potentates and myriad pleni-potentiaries.

Thomas Jefferson wrote these words:

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 to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness...

That brilliant, idealistic, visionary, and enigmatic man repeatedly warned us, the threat was internal not external.

So it is today.

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Related links:
The Crisis Is Upon Us - by The Hon. Ron Paul

Losing the American Revolution - (excerpt) by Bill Moyers

Mar. 19, 2009: Preparing for Civil Unrest in America
Is it over for the USA? - Can this be true?

Posted 12/13/09: A Stability Police Force for the United States