National Constitution Day 2007

That's right ladies and gentlemen, today is National Constitution Day. A "holiday" recently created by congress (2004), designed to raise students knowledge of constitutional law, and I had the opportunity to attend a town hall type presentation on campus discussing recent changes to the U.S. Constitution. Among those speaking were several constitutional law professors, and the chief judge of Ingham County.

Several interesting points were raised during the discussion. One that I had no prior knowledge to was the real reasoning behind the recent firing of the eight district attorneys. Apparently, despite subterfuge to the contrary, these eight particular attorneys were fired based on their unwillingness to aid Bush/Rove in discouraging several activist groups from gathering/enabling lower class citizens to vote in areas of the country that have traditionally suffered from low voter turn out. The reasoning behind the Republican's fear is rooted in statistical fact. 80% of those with income greater than $75K vote, while less than 20% of those with income below the 10K mark actually ever vote. Therefore, the more lower class citizens who turn out to vote, the greater the probability that one day, the Republican party as we know it will cease to exist.

In reference to Dennis Kucinich's recent move to impeach Vice President Dick Cheney, all those present agreed that the evidence is sufficient enough to impeach him, but that the ensuing bureaucratic swamp of attempting to do so would postpone his actual removal from office until around August 2008, at which point it would no longer really matter, and we would have wasted millions of dollars, and a great deal of congress' time. The general attitude was that we should have moved to impeach Cheney in 2002, and that even that long ago, the evidence would have been sufficient to do so.

The discussion of war came up, of course, and the panel pointed out that the way in which the Bush Administration handled our attacking Iraq was really nothing new for America. That in fact, the last time there had been an official declaration of war was sixty years ago prior to our entering into WW2. Everything since then has been glorified police actions that have sought to subvert standard policy by exploiting back doors and constitutional loop holes, going directly against the War Powers Act, so that we could wage war despite global opposition abroad, and from U.S. citizens here at home.

They also discussed the near absolute power that is being wielded by the current administration, and it how it is being referred to as "The Imperial Presidency Theory," or rather: The Unitary Executive. The speakers reminded us that our government was originally designed to have the three branches in order to provide checks and balances through a circular system, with an even distribution of power in order to prevent the types of things that have been perpetrated onto the American people since Sept. 11th, 2001.

Perhaps the most surprising moment of the meeting was when the judge, slamming his hands down on the table, shouted into his microphone that we the people are to blame. According to the Honorable R. George Economy, "No one cares enough to do anything. There is far too much lethargy in the American people. Singularly you think that you can't accomplish anything, but you can! You need to stand up and be heard. There are others like you everywhere, who feel the way you do who need to know that you are with them!" He went on to say that "Anytime you begin to notice your rights being chipped away at, it's time to revolt."

However my favorite comment came from Professor Frank Ravitch who stated: "Bush's approach is to destroy what America is, in order to save America. What's the point?"

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On a slightly different, but similar note, my eight year old brought home a handout she was given in class today, listing the 10 original amendments. After looking them over, the thought occurred to me that there are probably many Americans who are not even familiar with what those amendments are. Anyway, I'd like to post that list here, and see how many of these amendments are still in place, and how many have recently been ignored, violated or removed.

• Amendment 1: Freedom of speech *critically endangered*, freedom of the press, freedom to assemble Reverend Yearwood: YouTube it, see for yourselves, freedom of religion, and freedom to appeal to the government.
• Amendment 2: The right of the people to bear arms.
• Amendment 3: The government can't force people to house soldiers.
• Amendment 4: Protects our right to privacy. *critically endangered*
  
• Amendment 5: A person cannot be tried twice for the same crime. Mychael Bell?
  
• Amendment 6: The right to a fair trial with a jury. The Jena 6?
  
• Amendment 7: The right to ask for a jury in a lawsuit where more than twenty dollars is involved.
• Amendment 8: Forbids the use of cruel or unusual punishment. Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo," war on terrorism?"
  
• Amendment 9: Protects other rights that people have. As long as it is not against the law, it is OK.
• Amendment 10: States have the powers not given to the central government as long as they don't go against the Constitution.

"The revolution may not be televised, but it will be uploaded!" ~ Rev. Yearwood.

An Inconvenient Corporate Climate

Whether anyone wants to believe it or not, global warming is upon us. Our climate is changing. Storms have increased in frequency, intensity and size. The glaciers are melting. The ocean temperatures are rising. Tropical fish are branching out into waters that were once too cold for them to survive in. Animals who used to migrate away from polar regions during the winter months, are now staying year round.

Observations show that the oceans have been heating up since 1975. Climate and ocean experts now agree on the cause of the temperature rise -- human-produced global warming.

The good news? We are not completely ignorant to this reality. We have responded in a number of ways including but not limited to: alternative energy sources, emission controls, hybrid engines, recycling, and green living. Yet despite our efforts, the current level of active awareness amounts to very little. A drop in the bucket of what’s needed. So why are we dragging our collective heels on this issue? Is it because of money? Do the corporations fear that attempting to repair the Earth would cut into their profit margins?

Sure there would be a heavy R&D phase, and initial production costs would bite into their coffers, but in the long run, corporations would stand to benefit the most. Why? Because they would hold the technology, and therefore they would set the prices. Next we would see governments writing it into law that all citizens must have items x,y,z and refusal to comply would be unlawful. Don't corporations and governments already scratch each other's backs? How much of a stretch of the imagination is it to assume this behavior will continue?

So please set aside any anxiety you might have regarding the wealthy or elite getting richer, and realize that this is the way that our cash driven world currently works. Whether we like it or not, corporations control the influence, the technology, and the money needed to avert a global climate catastrophe, and they could do it, while simultaneously amassing untold fortunes through scandalous profiteering. So let’s ask ourselves, why don't they?

Al Gore, the creator of An Inconvenient Truth has been under fire recently with allegations accusing him of profiting from the sale of carbon offsets, and making money off global warming. The claims indicate that he stands to gain billions of dollars over the next couple decades, and alarmists seem bent on using this as an excuse to disclaim the existence of global warming as little more than some liberal money making scheme.

In my opinion, Al Gores motives are irrelevant. Whether we believe in the existence of global warming or not is irrelevant. Our Earth is extremely polluted. If the gaping hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica isn't enough to convince us, how about the Cuyahoga river that exists in such a level of filth, that between 1868 and 1969 the water itself has caught fire eleven times!

We consider ourselves to be intelligent beings, but the plain truth is: our actions often reveal that we are not nearly as smart as we think. Have we ever seen a porpoise pollute her environment? Have we ever witnessed an ape waging war against his fellow apes to gain control over a mountain rich in bananas? The answer is no, of course we haven’t, those animals are intelligent; it comes with the territory of being sentient. Why then, are we so stupid? Why do we defecate where we eat and sleep? There is another animal that behaves like this. The cockroach.

Is this innate stupidity responsible for our unwillingness to heal our mother Earth? I don’t think so. I think that ignorance is just something we all hide behind. It saves us from having to do any work, take any risks, become involved with anything. We know that these problems need to be addressed. We know that the lives of our children, and their children, depend on our taking an active role. So why are we still debating it?

Why doesn't the corporate collective jump at the opportunity to save the world, if it means making trillions of dollars, euros, yens along the way? Their approach doesn't need to be altruistic; even a position predicated on greedy self-preservation based profiteering would be something, and that is more than nothing.

You hear that corporate America? Corporate world? Take advantage of us. Play the system, fill your pockets, just like you have been for hundreds of years already. Only now, do it for a reason. Look at it this way. If humanity is wiped out, you will no longer have anyone to profit from. When it’s gone, it’s gone. Open your collective eyes and realize that we are the dinosaurs, here and now.