Brits, Yanks, Asleep as Ancient Liberties Fade (Media Monitors)

[struggle4progress]

by William Hughes (Sunday 20 February 2005)

Their history books, British and American alike, are filled with heroic tales of rebellion against tyrannical authorities over the issue of liberty. John Wilkes, a courageous political radical, is as much a legend to the Brits, as Sam Adams is to his fellow Americans. (1) It was the activism of Adams and the Sons of Liberty, which contributed significantly to the consciousness of resistance and to the eventual success of the American Revolution, via the Gen. George Washington-led Continental Army. The latter’s recruits came mostly from the farming, working class and immigrant communities. (2)

Who, really, are these Brits and Yanks? We do know that, at one time, you were asking for big trouble, like in a Missouri (or Essex, England) mini-second, if you dared to trespass on their land, or tried to stop them from going to church, or kept them from publishing a pamphlet expressing their ideas. Now, they mostly watch the mindless Reality TV shows or their favorite pro sports events and let the repulsive Neocons and George W. Bush, and his “poodle,” UK’s PM Tony Blair, run their warmongering agendas. (3) Incidentally, where is the national interest in fighting a war in the Middle East for the benefit of Israel, Big Oil and the Military-Industrial Complex? (4)

In the past, if a Brit or Yank were jailed without due process of law, their antagonist would passionately be reminded of historic Runnymede, the Magna Charta, the majestic Common Law, William Blackstone’s brilliant Commentaries, Natural Law and of the supremacy of their Constitutions. Ours is a written document, the Brits, strangely, isn’t. (5) And don’t even think of taking their guns away, especially from the Yanks - ever! This is an absolute no-no! The psyches of both peoples were steeped in conspiracy theories and still are. It is part of their heritage. (6) They have always expected the worst from their governments, since they knew human nature is flawed, with a tendency, unless checked, to abuse political power.

And yet today, law after draconian law, has been placed on the statutory books in both countries that rip the revered “Rights of Englishmen,” the cherished U.S. Constitution, and the hallowed Bill of Rights to shreds. In the U.S., it’s the dreaded USA Patriot Act and related devices, the domestic intelligence agencies created after 9/11, and also the fact that preventive detention is now the law of the land, that are doing the foul deed. (7) And in Queen Elizabeth’s shaky Realm, it’s their “Prevention of Terrorism” law that is the main culprit. The Brits first tried it out on the feisty Irish, who continue to object to having their country partitioned by scheming imperialists. Now, that feared law is on the books in merry old England itself. This is an example, too, of the great Law of Karma at work. <snip>

http://usa.mediamonitors.net/content/view/full/13354/

[necso]

1. !