Joe Klein, author of Primary Colors and contributor to Time magazine, is very defensive about criticism of the current administration and Congress.
Of Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck, he says the two talk “borderline sedition.”
Nice hedge, that word “borderline.”
But he’s merely repeating something he wrote last year about Senator Tom Coburn. The Oklahoma senator, responding to the Democrats’ extremely unpopular (and later successful) machinations to enact a form of national medical insurance, said that he understood why some would give up on their government. For this, Klein dubbed Coburn’s comments “borderline sedition” as well as “hate speech.”
How do I see it? Well, to note that Congress is unresponsive to Americans (and thus a cause for hopelessness) is not even close to sedition. It’s to recognize the obvious.
I’m not saying it doesn’t incite a kind of rebellion. But remember: In America, rebellion against those in charge is not just allowed, it’s been institutionalized.
The institution is called “elections.”
The current unrest in America — exemplified, at present, by the “Tea Party” protests — seems to be very much a patriotic thing. If the bulk of Democrats and Republicans get targeted as deserving to go, then the means to their removal is obvious. It comes next November, and in November 2012.
And it does not mean that restive American critics of unconstitutional government and habitual over-spending are not “loyal to the most important American ideals.” It means they understand these ideals better than does Joe Klein.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
3 replies on “If This Be . . .”
I’m certain King George III would have preferred that those rabble-rousing farmers on Concord Green quietly go away so that he would not be bothered with that “liberty” thing. Had those brave colonists not resisted tyranny, we would not have grown up with the freedoms they won. The question remains: can we maintain them?
“it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government”
catchy.
Borderline Sedition
by
Tom Saunders
I enjoy reading Paul Jacob’s short essays, “Common Sense.” He recently wrote about Joe Klein’s comments on Sarah Palin, and Glenn Beck being ‘borderline’ seditionists. He defends Senator Tom Coburn against Joe Klein’s prior comments that Coburn’s remarks about giving up on government was also, ”borderline sedition,” and ”hate speech.” (Paul Jacob, “Citizens in Charge”)
On the point that Coburn is not borderline, Paul Jacob and I agree.
Senator Tom Coburn, and anyone else who is known as a ‘Chosen One’ of the ”Family” living on ”C” St., is probably guilty of full blown ”four star” Sedition. This is a statement from the known associates of the ”Family” and many other Christian Nationalists, and it is by definition(s) sedition.
”Our job is to reclaim America for Christ, whatever the cost. As the ‘Vice Regents of God,’ we are to exercise Godly dominion and influence over our neighborhoods, our schools, our government, our literature and arts, our sports arenas, our entertainment media, our news media, our scientific endeavors, in short, over every aspect and institution of human society.” ( See also: Wikipedia, Dominionists.) http://www.theocracywatch.org/about_us2.htm
“Real Time” with Bill Maher recently featured Jeff Sharlet, author of the book, “The Family” who went inside the organization, and exposed some of the outrageous goals of the group. Clearly they are another set of Christian ‘Dominionists,’ who have seated real power in our government. The Family, boasts about the secretive nature of their exploits, and the fact they operate like the Mafia. Sharlet makes it clear that this fundamentalist group currently operates at the seat of American power.
Sedition is by one definition, “an illegal action inciting resistance to lawful authority and tending to cause the disruption or overthrow of the government.” The statement above suggests operation outside the established rule of law by the U. S. Constitution. I think a serious look at Coburn, ”C” St. sedition, and Christian Nationalism needs a closer look. (See also: “Blacks Law Dictionary,” and “Webster’s Dictionary of Law.”)
For ‘One’ currently, America’s whole social system is based upon ”Faith Based Initiatives,” run by Homeland Security. Senator Coburn and Senator Inhofe, are also noted in the recent Christian Nationalist scandal in Uganda where they both personally promoted the ‘law’ to execute gays. This is directly related to the anti-gay movement in the Oklahoma Congress headed by Sally Kern. (“The Gay Agenda,” by Kern was a speech by Kern at the ”Clouds over America Conference,” that was promoted by the John Birch Society in OKC, 2009.)
Americans United for the Separation of Church and State have a rather large portfolio of ”Family” connections at the state level. It is no secret that the whole state legislature is currently a Christian Nationalist production. ( See: ”The Oklahoma Observer,” on Tom Coburn, Sally Kern, Bill Graves, Lance Cargill, Rebecca Hamilton, Mike Reynolds, Drew Edmonson, the Attorney General of Oklahoma, and others, circa 2008-10.)
Ex-Rep. Debbie Blackburn, Editor of the ”Oklahoma Observer,” Arnold Hamilton, Dr. Bruce Prescott of ”Americans United,” and myself have tracked the praxis of the Family in the Oklahoma legislature. But it goes beyond the influence of the just the ‘government.’ It extends into the Executive, Legislative, Judicial, Corporate, and the ‘Social Fields’ of the Oklahoma Economic, Social, Educational and Religious communities. But, this is a World Wide, well funded anti-Constitution enterprise, organized with the help of the Jack Abramoff’s of the World.
These are people with no respect for any state or federal Constitution. Read…The Oklahoma Constitution is very clear about the law ”respecting” the establishment of religion as stated in the 1st Amendment of the U. S. Constitution, and specifically forbids….
“No public money or property shall ever be appropriated, applied, donated,
or used directly or indirectly for the use, benefit, or support of any sect, church, denomination, or
system of religion, or for the use, benefit, or support of a preacher, minister, or other religious teacher
or dignitary, or sectarian institution as such.” (II-5., Oklahoma Const.)
As the ”Oklahoma Observer” and its editor Arnold Hamilton can show, a lot of Faith Based Initiative money is being ”filtered” into for one, Rebecca Hamilton’s own church. This was done with the help of Drew Edmonson, who as Paul Jacob knows, also has no respect for Constitutions, and gets confused about federal and state money, civil liberties, and judiciary duty.
At what point does it become clear that people like Coburn have crossed the ”borderline” of sedition?
As a Political Activist I demand accountability to Political Science and methods of being able to show where the borderline actually is in common law. Accountability with me depends upon a methodology which produces a paradigm, prima facie, that exposes the indirection of the current government conformity to the rule of law, i.e. enumerated rights of the Constitution.
Joe Klein, Time, Sarah Palin, Sally Kern, and until I get my hands on Paul Jacob (We’re friends), for sure cannot demand the accountability of rights, they all cannot legally, methodically and scholastically show. This is cause for great concern in American Political activism. But, when they ‘can and do,’ nobody who has American citizenship can deny accountability to American civil liberties, aligned with Constitutional rights.
They work like this….
American rights are determined by the instrumentation of Constitutional law. The following formula can determine the enumeration of American rights from both the body and amendments of the U. S. Constitution.
1. Show the constitutional (‘State and Federal’) provisions (Like from the 1st. Amend.) that specify the ‘right’ you are trying to demonstrate.
2. Show any legislative acts, that support a particular right, as being ‘Constitutional.’
3. Show the judicial decisions, (stare decisis) of the right you are trying to show by these proofs.
4. Show where violations have happened in regard to a particular situation.
Certainly, this formula can be expanded to include helpful references, but if you have a computer ”search engine,” the formula works well all by itself. Most will come up with the same supporting documents about any given enumerated right. There are at least two centuries of historical supporting material for any given right you might investigate with the formula.
The Christian Nationalist movement and whatever else you can name the ‘Family’ is well documented by non fictionists like David Koa, Sen. John Danforth, Kevin Phillips, Naomi Klein, and Jeff Scharlet.
Every single freedom listed in the First Amendment of the U. S. Constitution, in Oklahoma has been violated by the current regime in the Oklahoma Legislature, government, and many of the courts. This is especially true of government bodies who do not want to recognize the obligation of the separation of Church and State.
How much ”Common Sense” does it take to see sedition here?