In Freedom We Trust!

Different views of America once agreed on a common core of truths–principles/facts, values/service, found in and outside of government, high and low. Now we speak of security–not justice. We blame the poor, who, too often, have been cast off by the rich. Our police sometimes (too often!) shot our children. We take comfort in anger. We employ a squared logic, build around stereotypes.

In excess and waste, the New Lies are without honor: they serve only self. In Dickens’ “Tale of Two Cities,” the lie was a meaningful sacrifice; it contributed and preserved something greater than self or wealth. Advancing in tragic conditions the honor and courage of higher service, the lie exalted and accepted the risks freedom requires.

Now we are told the Big Lie: freedom can be risk-free. By its very practice and definition, freedom implies and fulfills risk, whether in celebration or tragedy. Freedom reminds us in its practice that what makes democracy different from dictatorships and authoritarian regimes is its person-centered risk, shouldered by each, for all. Because we are all bound together, we are free.

The “deconstruction of the administrative state” is a lie whose real intent is to take away freedom by taking away our protections against risks and abuse of authority–it uses “security” to undermine the freedoms security claims to protect! It is a complicated lie with many parts. But like all the New Lies, it is void of honor, self-serving, guilty of blame, and concentrates wealth and power.

Goodbye Spin, Hello Raw Dishonesty https://nyti.ms/2lnixdn

“Nora,” 8. S An American, she was killed in Yemen Jan. 29th for our “security” during a Trump-ordered raid.