LIBERTY IN AMERICA

Eleven score and eleven years ago “our fathers brought forth onto this continent a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” As you are reading this piece I take the liberty of assuming that I need not continue quoting the body of the Gettysburg Address. The first and final lines, here-in served in quotes, speak my purpose - which is:

My first ancestors in America landed shipwrecked at Pemiquid Point, Maine. The rubble remaining along the shore was once the ship “The Angel Gabriel.” They escaped England’s ruthless king and his mighty church and their soldiers who were ordered to kill the family; murder them for not submitting to the will of the king and his ruling church. Those ancestors were Ralph and Elizabeth Blaisdell and their young son Henry. The family came to America seeking Liberty - Liberty to think for and govern their selves. Ralph, Elizabeth and Henry settled in York, Maine and pursued their dream.

Later, ancestors who died in the Revolutionary War believed in the Gettysburg Address - yet its time of creation and fame was far into the future as was its author and speaker - Abraham Lincoln.

My grandfathers who fought and died in the Civil War that fostered this magnificent never to be forgotten presentation by President Lincoln believed its every word. So did the grandmothers who suffered and sacrificed in support of them. Additional family stood against the foe in World War I. Father, alongside General Patton during World War II. He and mother lived every word of Lincoln’s address. Then there were uncles, aunts, and cousins sacrificing in other nations’ conflicts named The Vietnam War. Now again we are on foreign ground trying to save the Liberty of others at the cost of American lives.

My great grandfather Billy Mitchell, a tested and legally naturalized American citizen originally from Prince Edwards Island, Canada came to this nation because it promised personal freedom. He loved and respected those many souls that labored so hard to carry on and protect the freedom won since the first humans stepped foot onto this treasured earth. So-called Native American people included.

I am not much for being the target of lies. So when our modern Corporate Dictatorship strips you and I of those freedoms Mr. Lincoln and our ancestors struggled for – fought for – and died for or became disabled or dismembered for, I squirm. Big!

And you should squirm too. There is a subliminal struggle for control of the White House and Congress. It is not a serious skirmish because the foes often join hands, out of our sight, as with the present grip of our government. This contest takes place between Christian leaders and Wall Street power mongers. Both want absolute control of America and its citizens’ minds, lives, and wallets – and – they are doing a dandy job of accomplishing their desire. The only player not present in this skirmish is Democracy. The player so many died for and so many think they are dieing for today.

In the last forty-years nearly every elected person we trusted and placed in Washington, D.C. to defend our democratic principles turned and bit us. Bit every working class American in the wallet like bloodthirsty vampires. They took care of themselves - their salaries, their health insurance, and their retirement income – and – their foreign investments often gifted to them by the Big Businesses they serve.

Remember China? The Communist Nation that our leaders feared and hated. The nation Washington told us wished to destroy America as they now tell us Al Qaeda wishes. The same as they tell us that Iran’s quest for the nuclear bomb is for killing every person in America. Well! China has and has had nuclear weapons. China is still Communistic. China also has our economy. It is nearly impossible to find a product stamped Made in the USA. Instead you see inferior items and frequently poisonous products and food stamped “Made in China.”

The merchandise traveling across the sea simply cannot meet the American standards that every small business is required to conform too. Why does this happen? It happens because the Corporate Dictatorship controlling Washington, D.C. – And Your Life – And Your Mind – wants it that way. The gold collecting giants are now operating out of China and every other nation in the world that has cheap slave and child labor and no quality standards. They have no intention of returning until they bankrupt every American and have them working for pennies a day while they sit in their warm homes collecting billions.

That Communist nation that America did not trust; That powerful nation that we do not impose the same nuclear distrust upon that we impose upon others; Because of America’s corporate greed that nation holds the power to destroy us without firing a shot. China holds enough American debt to knock this nation to its knees if it chooses to call-in the notes. American corporations are in partnership with the Chinese government. American corporations own Congress and the White House. What happens if China decides to seize all American corporations operating in that nation?

Remember Florida 2004 – as well as the other big states? The turmoil and mess taking place to assure President Bush’s reelection? The corruption even traveled to the high courts. That was the Corporate Party and Christian Evangelicals at their best. I know I am out on a limb here – but they will try to do it again in 2008.

If you don’t like the Corporate Party than pull your shoulders back and step up to the plate. Your Great Grandpa and Ma did. Don’t focus on the most beautiful or most handsome or best lies. Focus on who takes the least money from lobbies and corporate donations and vote for him or her. Vermont’s Howard Dean was the citizens’ savior in 2004. Look at what the corporate vultures did to him. If you can push aside all the skilled professional blindsiding you will experience, and thereafter vote for people who do not thrive upon the “Washington Experience,” you will be on your way toward recapturing the American Dream.

“that we here highly resolve that those dead shall not have died in vain – that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom – and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

By: W. Mitchell Blaisdell/aka/Wayne M. Patten