I have to say... [View all]

[MannyGoldstein]

No war is more bitter than a civil war. Even amongst us keyboard warriors, who sleep safely (for now) in our beds each night.

An interesting side effect of this war: I've seen some of the best writing ever on DU in the past week or so. This tribulation has so many of us reaching deep within, feeling around to see who we are.

What we're made of.

Mr. Snowden's adventure is, I think, the third watershed in our country's return to functionality.

Occupy succeeded in getting the conversation going - after 30 years of unrelenting war by the 1% against a clueless 99%, the 99% finally realized: "Oh! We seem to have a problem."

The WikiLeaks situation was our second wake up call. Until then, we had thought that denial of due process and humane treatment was something just done by a single Republican administration, against people from very foreign places. We now know they are the ways of Democrats too, and may be applied against anyone should those in power want to set an example. And they are here to stay unless we take our country back.

For many of us, Snowden's revelations shocked us into understanding the adversary - it is more omnipresent and sneaky than we thought. Thanks to our age's extreme connectivity, the enemy now permeates almost everything we do. Every byte goes through a gate, and every gate is manned by the 1%.

So here we are. It's bad, but we're starting to understand the task at hand. Righting ourselves will be tough, but we can do it.

Ben Franklin said this at the Constitutional Convention (the bold text is my own emphasis):

"I think a general Government necessary for us, and there is no form of Government but what may be a blessing to the people if well administered, and believe farther that this is likely to be well administered for a course of years, and can only end in Despotism, as other forms have done before it, when the people shall become so corrupted as to need despotic Government, being incapable of any other."

Twice before our country has faced its end in despotism, in the 1860s and 1930s. But both those times Americans were able to open up, to "heed the better angels of our natures" and to pull back from the abyss. And both were followed by an amazing American rebirth with new prosperity and new freedom. Never perfect by any means, but always better, better, better.

We can do it again, I know we can. But it will take work.

Excelsior!