Originally
posted from 08-29-04 to 09-06-04
Do We Stand United With Lady Liberty?
by Sergei
Borglum Hoff
"United We
Stand" is the trendy war cry proudly displayed on our homes, automobiles,
and clothing. Historically evident, the intent behind national unity
was not always honorable.
Although their
freedoms had been taken, the citizens of Nazi Germany were patriots
who stood united with a dictator for the "Fatherland" purpose
of world enslavement. The oppressed yet patriotic people of "Motherland"
Russia also united with their tyrannical leaders in order to force a
single ideology upon the weaker of nations.
For what purpose
do we stand united? Do we stand united with honor and courage,
as patriots in defense of our liberties and the American way? Or as
a mob with cowardly intent; refusing to seek out and eradicate the corrupting
influences within our "Homeland?"
Lady Liberty once
inspired freedom within our daily lives and in the very fabric of our
unique and wholesome nation. Resulting from the deceptively labeled
"USA Patriot Act" and our unreasoned fear, we now look upon
her as a threat and an enabler of terrorism. Her promise of liberty
frightens us; there are too many hazards and complications when we are
a free society. Responsibility for our own lives is now widely perceived
as a calamitous prerequisite to freedom.
Indeed, we relinquished
our fundamental rights (1st, 4th, 5th, and 10th Amendments within the
Bill of Rights) to George W. Bush and John Ashcroft for their assurances
of security. Along with the President and Congress, we betrayed the
founding principles of our free nation. With the folly of mob hysteria.
we lynched Lady Liberty.
Given the prevalent
renunciation our precious freedoms, will we remain as a nation of patriots
with honorable intent? I believe that we will not. Our sublime Lady—who
once beheld this nation as worthy of her keeping—will truly be
missed. I have a deep sense of loss and foreboding.
"They that
can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve
neither liberty nor safety."—Benjamin Franklin [1759]