Page 37 - Fruits from a Poisonous Tree

Mel Stamper 21

People suffer because those who have and exercise power are imperfect
people. They always make mistakes. They get eager in protecting us and, in
so doing, forget that the actions of the over-eager bureaucracy are the clear
and present danger to the people. Some of them have a desire to exercise and
abuse their power, to silence their antagonists, to persecute those who are
different from them, to make others bow to their demands. Those types of
individuals make great prison guards, politicians and judges.
A strongly respected constitution helps keep a restraint on all that.
Nothing but God can stop a government that is resolute to ignore its
Constitution. The War Powers Act, Alien and Sedition Acts, Red scare,
Watergate, CointelPro and now the Patriot Act, are examples in our shameful
history that illustrate a government completely out of control.
But the Constitution was drafted in order to make things safer by
introducing safeguards. Competing interests and the Separation of Powers
doctrine between the three branches of government, each jealously protecting
its own power, are the instruments by which our freedoms are enforced or
should be.
When they are not, then you’d better watch your ass if your opinions are
unpopular, unpalatable, or even dangerous to the status quo. The first rule
of “Watching Your Ass” is making sure that you don’t look or sound like an
Enemy of the State. It’s called the “Ostrich strategy.” Self-censorship is always
the first step in the loss of freedom, lest you draw attention and the power of
those who might do you harm for speaking your opinion.
Self-censorship makes it easier for further more draconian steps to be
taken, as no one says: “Stop! This is unconstitutional.” We fear that if we said
that, we might be singled out for government reprisal.
“When Hitler attacked the Jews, I was not a Jew, therefore I was not concerned.
And when Hitler attacked the Catholics, I was not a Catholic, and therefore, I
was not concerned. And when Hitler attacked the unions and the industrialists, I
was not a member of the unions and I was not concerned. Then they attacked me
and the Protestant church - and there was nobody left to be concerned.”
This quote is from a pastor who opposed Nazism in Hitler’s Germany.
He was speaking for the reaction, or lack thereof, of all people of good will
in Germany to the events that transpired there. It’s the silence of people of
good will that allows manifest evil and fascism to entrench its self. “Evil can
flourish only when men of good will do nothing” is an ancient maxim that
has profound meaning in our time.
I am not saying that the U.S. government is filled with Nazis. God
willing, that specific species of human lunacy will never return. But the
lessons learned in the fight against fascism should always live within us like a
festering boil on the surface of our consciousness. Don’t be silent, and don’t