Thoughts and Highlights from Former Senator Hart's Essay, The American Republic Can Save American Democracy! His Truth is Marching On!

 

United States Special Envoy for Northern Ireland 

10-21-2014 to 1-20-2017 

Vice Chair of Homeland Security Advisory Council 

6-5-2009 to 2-8-2011

United States Senator from Colorado

1-3-1975 to 1-3-1987

Hart's Essay gets to the heart of what has and is happening in America today. He admits he cried when he saw the insurrectionists moving through the Capitol, going into an office where he might have once worked long and hard hours...and then desecrating the Senate Room where all senators have gathered for so many years to discuss and act on issues that face America...

He, like so many of us, including President Biden knows that something is happening that has never happened before in America. There are those, incited by the former president, but, perhaps, led by many behind the scenes who want America to become a country led by an authoritarian... any man would do? And, perhaps, they even made the wrong choice...

Like Putin who is now attempting to take over Ukraine to merge under his presidency of Russia...

Like Italy whose new prime minister hearkens back to former Mussolini, a fascist regime. Will Italy soon start moving backward based on what seems to be happening around the world today...

Like Iran where women have taken to the streets, burning her hijab and cutting their hair... after the death of a journalist by a supposed group of "morality police..." who monitors dress code!

Will any chance of democracy 

soon be gone? Everywhere?

Certainly just one of the writers watching what is happening in America is Former Senator Gary Hart, in his short, but powerful essay, The American Republic Can Save American Democracy.

Can you recite the Preamble to the Constitution? If you can, you might be around my age--a time when Civics Class in junior high, if I remember right, was a required course, so that we could learn all about the Constitution of our United States...

Here is the current state of high school civics education:* Only nine states and the District of Columbia require one year of U.S. government or civics, while 30 states require a half year and the other 11 states have no civics requirement. Care to Know More?

Hart first hones in on the very important fact, which I agree with, that we have greatly decreased the teaching of Children About Our Government! Why? The referenced article closes with:

Moreover, low rates of millennial voter participation and volunteerism indicate that schools have the opportunity to better prepare students to fulfill the responsibilities and privileges of citizenship. While this article calls for increasing opportunities for U.S. government, civics, or service-learning education, these requirements are only as good as how they are taught. Service learning must go beyond an act of service to teach students to systemically address issues in their communities; civics exams must address critical thinking, in addition to comprehension of materials; and civics and government courses should prepare every student with the tools to become engaged and effective citizens.

I have to ask, when was the last time that concern for public education was raised in America at the national level... Hart brings up education as the first issue related to democracy...our republic as a democracy...

Yet, "suddenly" the republican party has approached the issue from the opposite direction, in my opinion, than Hart does. There are rampant concerns for banning books, for instance, that teach something that a small percentage of Americans do not want to have available for children, in particular. Sure, there should be a concern, but when we were more able to trust our leaders, we placed that duty to educated teachers and administrators and School Boards choosing appropriate age-related books. Additionally, history, itself, has become something that many don't want to have taught--if it contains the truth!

Consider the slaves kidnapped from foreign lands to be sold to white land owners, the wars and loss of life of the indigenous peoples who were living across the national lands--prior to any immigrants even thinking about coming to this land... those were never mentioned or, if they were, it was not as a negative period of time for those humans involved! Indeed those individuals who were treated badly in history, are the same people who, today, are still being treated unfairly, or worse...

And most importantly, remember that under the former president's administration, there was little if any emphasis on public schools, but, rather, on private schools... I recall that, it seems at least a year into the new administration, the Secretary of Education acknowledged that she had never visited any of our public schools...

Now let's consider this from a political standpoint, for, in my opinion, that has to be behind what was started years ago, Deliberate Dumning Down of Americans... I've picked up just one of the books on the topic so will be sharing on that later... It is clear from the blurb for these books that somebody higher than local schools just might have been forcing decisions to be changed... Who was responsible? Who IS responsible, for sure this has only gained visibility of what was an ongoing plan of action...

Certainly, if the plan is to move toward fascism, disguised under the name conservativeness which seems to be happening across the world...then keeping citizens of those countries "dumb" is the best idea, right? If they don't know their rights under the constitution, then they will have no interest in getting those rights fulfilled... Further, if they have no knowledge of just how America was founded--that all men and women are considered equal--then the inclusion of discrimination against all non-white peoples can proceed...then they will have no reason to consider who and how the government is actually working...

Let's consider how the family is involved in relation to living in a democracy... Well, there really should be no difference for anybody, right? Yet, it is ONLY since President Biden took office that citizens from all groups of Americans have representation in the Cabinet of the President! Remember the old phrase as America was being formed... No Taxation Without Representation! And, indeed, that is how it should be... and had been...for many years. Yet, in MY lifetime so very much has changed!

AND, The Culmination, it seems, was to have a president elected that would do what needed to be done--the move toward White Nationalism, the rule of an authoritarian leader, and the loss of individual rights that were granted under a constitution which no longer is...relevant...

Slowly, insidiously, conservatives/fascists have invaded American politics... To Wreat Havoc through violence against any who oppose the conservative/ fascist white nationalism agenda.

And it might have begun in my lifetime, as teaching our young--all of those children who attended public schools during the last 60 years, we allowed to go without significant introduction to how to actually living and participate as a voting citizen in America... and learning sufficient information to ensure that they, with the rights that came to them as those who VOTED and placed our leaders into power, actually acted to on behalf of the entire nation, regardless of differences in those citizens...

The Preamble The U. S. Constitution

The Preamble We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Purpose of the Preamble • The Preamble of the Constitution establishes what the founding fathers wanted to do with our new government • It is like an introduction paragraph (states the purpose) • There are six goals established in the Preamble

“We the People…” • Popular Sovereignty – the people are in charge of the government • In 1787, there were 3,894, 000 people in the country • Currently, there are 308,794,894 people in the country

Goal #1 • “In order to form a more perfect union…” • This is the writers of the Constitution stating that the original government, the Articles of the Confederation, did not work.

Goal #2 • “Establish justice…” • All of the laws that are created under the new constitution must be fair and reasonable for all citizens to follow.

Goal #3 • “Insure domestic tranquility…” • Under the Articles of Confederation, the states were often in arguments with each other • With the creation of the new constitution, the founding fathers wanted to create peace within the new nation

Goal #4 • “Provide for the common defense…” • The new nation realized that to be able to defend themselves, they needed to create a strong army and navy.

Goal #5 • “Promote the general welfare…” • The individual governments of the states needed to come together for the well-being of the country as a whole

Goal #6 • “And secure the blessings of liberty for ourselves and our posterity… do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America” • Posterity – descendants… children or future family members • Establish – set up or create

Gary Hart, I, and Millions of America Lament how America has been taken over by domestic terrorists who are using military style weapons to murder our children... This is NOT America. Yet, part of its citizens has been lied to, have been molded into a cult where they are willing, just on the word of one man, to attack our Capitol and scream out death messags to the vice-president, and those who were there in their "normal" duty of confirming the election of a new president. 

Now those same people are diligently working to attempt to overturn any future elections through one way or another... At the same time, hundreds are being arrested for their acts of insurrection.  How can those who now act in violence against their fellow countrymen, while claiming they are the only true patriots, ever be trusted to continue FREE and outside of confinement for their acts of treason against the nation. Surely the tide has turned...but how do we proceed...

Next Issue: Follow the Money Coming Next...

Still we can take heart...just as the Ukrainians fight for their freedom...Just as the women of both Iran and America now fight against the men who want to have them forever in subservience white supremacists now coalesced into a cult who follows a criminal, not being charged for all the crimes that have accumulated to his based upon past actions...