By Michael LaFemina

Let’s review what first made us Americans.

“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…. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security,” reads the Declaration of Independence.

It is our right. It is our duty. It is our obligation as Americans to stand up for the rights of all humanity-that we may be the example of a governed people and offer our consent and the authority of the institutions of government only to those who deserve it.

Our government has become destructive of its ends, and, as Jefferson warned, we are more likely to suffer while evils are sufferable than to right them. How dare we abandon our most precious freedoms!

How have we become so disinterested as to allow the long train of abuses and usurpations that is the record of President Bush’s administration stand without questioning it, without being critical of it, without demanding better for ourselves, our country and our future?

We have allowed the media, in their ever-more-pathetic demonstrations of journalism, to frame our debates for us.

The sound byte is quite possibly the worst thing to ever happen to public discourse, as it has reduced critical reasoning to rhetorical finger pointing.

“Values Voters.” Shouldn’t all people vote in accordance with what they value in society?

This seems obvious to me. But, according to a link off of valuevoters.com, this is a plea to those who “are concerned about important issues such as the sanctity of life, the Biblical definition of marriage, the freedom of religious expression and passing more moral legislation” to vote.

I say: go for it, Values Voters, but don’t forget to include caring for the poor, caring for the sick, feeding the hungry, defending those in need, loving our enemies, and, most importantly, treating our neighbors as ourselves. Those, too, are values highlighted in the Bible.

“Support the troops.” What does that mean? Does that mean proposed budget cuts to the veteran’s health care in 2009 like Bush’s budget called for? Does that mean extending deployment for U.S. soldiers by 25 percent (from 12 to 15 months)?

I think it’s a pathetic rebuttal to anyone who calls for an end to the war in Iraq, and we have allowed it to become synonymous with being unpatriotic. Unpatriotic? Wait…there’s another one!

A patriot, as defined by the Random House Dictionary, is a person who loves, supports and defends his or her country and its interests with devotion and also a person who regards himself or herself as a defender, especially of individual rights, against presumed interference by the federal government.

The interests of America, the American people, are in the preservation of our civil liberties and have been since the idea of America was conceived. Our interests are in supporting the Constitution and exercising it accordingly, not supporting an illegal war (the policy not the soldiers).

This war is an embarrassment to the true American ethos, and has brought us tens of thousands of American casualties: death, wounds, sickness, capture (R.H. Dictionary), and has brought death to tens of thousands of and displacement to nearly four million Iraqis (Department of Defense, IraqBodyCount.org, and the U.N.).

Our abilities have been spelled out for us in the First Amendment to the Constitution, which prohibits laws that abridge freedom of speech, or of the press, or of the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

“Unpatriotic” should be synonymous with “apathetic,” not “dissent,” as it was the Patriots of America, the forefathers, who stood up for the rights of Americans before there was even a United States of America. They faced the crime of treason; we face no crime for peacefully demonstrating or speaking out -why don’t we do these more often?

How dare we stay quiet while our brothers and sisters of the U.S. armed forces are dying. That is the sufferable evil that we live with each day because the majority of us remain removed from that population, blind to that truth, or distracted away from it.

When was the last time you saw a picture of an American soldier’s coffin? When was the last time you were reminded of how many Americans have died in Iraq and Afghanistan? (3,837 and 383, respectively, according to D.O.D.) Our ignorance is our government’s free pass to keep doing whatever they want because as long as our lives aren’t inconvenienced, as long as we don’t have to be disturbed by the realities and horrors of war (death, mutilation, injury, fear, loneliness, diaspora, etc.) we allow it to go on.

Congressman Charles Rangel (D-Harlem) was right, we should have instituted a draft in January of 2003-it would have freed us all of the chains of ignorance, and I would bet my last dollar that we would have much more to say if we were all in line to fight.

Michael LaFemina is a graduate student. You may e-mail him at [email protected].