Reply #6: Either way, it's Tradition.

[Octafish]

What Erasmus said 500 years ago:

What Erasmus Knew (And We Didn't)

by Jacob Boas
Published on Wednesday, May 30, 2007 by CommonDreams.org

EXCERPT...

A further danger of making war on the Turks, Erasmus warned, was that it could serve as a pretext for a “tiny clique” to seize power and use that power to undermine our freedoms, abrogating the rule of law, “removing the authority of parliaments,” and plundering the people, so that by “overthrowing the tyranny of the Turks, … we bring a new and worse tyranny upon ourselves.”

A third danger, according to Erasmus, is that the money it takes to make war winds up in the pockets of the few. There are many “holy sermons” about “crusading expeditions” and “valiant deeds and boundless hopes,” but in the end, remarked the humanist, noting how the collection monies and taxes have disappeared into the pockets of the war profiteers, “the only thing that has triumphed has been money.”

Stripped of their Christian shell, many of the outcomes Erasmus predicted would flow from war on the Turks five hundred years ago have come to fruition since 9/11. Whatever our intentions in going to war with Iraq, pure and honorable they were not. We were lied to. The WMD’s were non-existent, while the talk about bringing democracy to Iraq, from which it would spread like wild fire to the entire Middle East, was a smokescreen behind which to pursue hegemonic policies in a strategic and an oil-rich part of the world. Occupation of Arab lands, construction of bases throughout the Middle East, and blind support of Israel — all have provoked hatred and inspired calls for revenge. These are errors that are crying out for correction.

As for Erasmus’ warning regarding the seizure and consolidation of power under the cover of war, we have seen that happen as well. Habeas corpus is in tatters more; the invasion and occupation of Iraq has sapped our national treasure, in blood and in money; until last November’s election and with Congress a rubber stamp, the Bushies have run the country as though it were a private fiefdom. We are a state in which the rule of law and the right to privacy are fast becoming dead letters.

CONTINUED...

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/05/30/1517/

Thank you, hobbit709: There is a difference in "to" us and "for" us. What stays the same is the "gets," as in who gets the gold and gets to count the votes.