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Wednesday, August 08, 2018

Do you want to play 'The Enemy of America Game'? - The only way to win....

Would you like to play a game? Careful now, because if you choose to play, you could lose... and then you might end up as the enemy you are so loudly seeking after. You sure you want to play the game? Well, ok then... let's start.

You will probably have heard of some of these recent headlines:
Trump calls 'Fake News' the enemy of the people!
, many of whom turn around and call him that right back. Fun, eh?
(I've gotta say, I snickered at this part:)

"...Let's recap. Only 10.7 percent believe the press is the Enemy of the People, but 36.5 percent agree with the statement: The Press is the Enemy of the People.
I pause for your frowning, head-scratching and booking of tickets to Canada or New Zealand. ..."

  • One-Third of Americans Think News Media Is the Enemy of the People ...Newsweek-6 hours ago
    • Now, we should try and clear up some of the confusion involved here, because sometimes who the 'enemy' is, and is of, or even what an 'enemy' is, is a wee bit muddled. Sometimes it's asked enemy of, and completed with 'the people', 'America', 'the republic'... maybe it'd be good to start with some basics of popular definitions.
    en·e·my - ['en?me] - NOUN - a person who is actively opposed or hostile to someone or something.
    people. plural people. 1 plural : human beings making up a group or assembly or linked by a common interest.
    na·tion - ['naSH(?)n] - NOUN - a large body of people united by common descent, history, culture, or language, inhabiting a particular country or territory.
    Interestingly, to find a definition for 'America' that didn't take paragraphs to get passed the geographic landmasses of North & South America, and the Indians, and an ancient Rock Band, I had to go to a British Dictionary definition for 'America'
    "America - noun - short for the United States of America"
    Or diving down into Merriam Webster's 'Definition of 'American' for Students'
    American 1 : a citizen of the United States
    More sadly amusing, only Merriam Webster's 'b' definition of Republic is correct,
    republic - 1 a (1) : a government having a chief of state who is not a monarch and who in modern times is usually a president (2) : a political unit (such as a nation) having such a form of government
    b (1) : a government in which supreme power resides in a body of citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by elected officers and representatives responsible to them and governing according to law (2) : a political unit (such as a nation) having such a form of government
    c : a usually specified republican government of a political unit the French Fourth Republic
    Of course if you know me, you may be able to see where I'm heading with this, that in the context of what we're talking about, 'the people', and 'America', and 'the state', and 'the republic', are all by one or more legs, and boiling either up or down, ultimately referring us diligent players back to the American Constitutional Republic, and specifically to the Constitution by which it was formed.

    Can 'The Press', or Trump, or 'The People' for that matter, be enemies of that? I'd say, yes indeedy they can... but are they? And of those, who is more so?

    Well, lets look back at what constitutes an 'enemy', shall we?:
    "a person who is actively opposed or hostile to someone or something"
    What would that, er, constitute in this context? Speaking for myself, I'd say that refers to those who are actively opposed or hostile to a key 'someone', which in this context would refer most correctly to the people as a whole, who are its sovereign, or to the leader of that Republic which they elected by its lawful rules to govern it, which would be President Trump; or in the case of the 'something', referring to the Republic, which has its being from the Constitution which formed it, our Constitutional form of law. This gets a bit trickier.

    Are the Press generally hostile or actively opposed to the idea of government limited to the express powers of the Constitution? Um... yes. I'm not in the mood to argue the obvious right at this moment, but if you've heard the likes of The New York Times, or Rachel Maddow, or Brian Williams, sniggering when talking about 'constitution', or the foolishness of adhering to that 'out moded' document, you know what I'm referring to - and if you wish to pretend that you haven't, I've no time for your merely pretending to play by the rules of this game. And of course, if you are one of those in the public, or wacademia, who want, or yearn for, undermining or overturning it, if you are in the habit of openly praising systems which you hope to put in place of it (ObamaCare, Universal Basic Income, the unfettered authority of Administrative Agencies, etc), which are antithetical to its words and spirit, if you speak respectfully or yearnfully of 'socialism' for instance, or the Administrative State, then, yes, that makes you an enemy of our American Constitutional Republic.

    If you have so little regard for it, that you prefer what has come to replace it, to it - administrative agencies, super national organizations such as the U.N., WTO, EU, etc., legislation that ignores it, Judges who pronounce their own judgments over it, and in opposition to it, then yes, that puts you actively opposed to it as well, and so you too, by your own words and intentions, are an enemy of America.

    If you teach that the origins of its culture and system of laws are invidious evils, patriarchies of tyranny, if you scream at the top of your lungs "F America!", tread upon, spit upon or burn its emblem, the flag,... then, yes, you also qualify - by your own words and actions - as an enemy of America.

    If you march about in menacing disguises - whether 'antify' or 'kkk' or their many likes - beating or sucker punching people for their opinions, using unprovoked violence (for the triggered: This means provoked by imminent threats of actual physical violence, not words you dislike. Sorry. Penalty points to you for that), if you complain about and call for the repeal of all or part of the Bill of Rights, especially in regards to the 1st Amendment and those individual rights of religion, freedom of speech and the press (and no, no irony here), of petitioning govt and assembly that it protects, or the 2nd Amendment's protection for the individual right of self defense without which they cannot exist (if you don't have the right to defend your rights, you don't have the right to exercise them either), if you deliberately and violently disturb the peace, intimidate passers by, destroy property, while expressing your dislike and hatred for everything that America is and stands for, then... yes... you do qualify as an enemy of America too.

    If you demonstrate embarrassingly little care for its fundamental laws, though perhaps while speaking warmly of it, habitually show affection for 'Americana' and the traditions associated with it, you are committed to defending it but aren't all that committed to confining your exercise of political power in accordance with its, or are generally careless of, its laws - and you 'conservatives', 'principled!' Libertarians and Union people opposed to 'Right to Work' while using political power to force the association and support from your fellows as a condition of work: I'm looking at you - all of you... well... calling you an enemy... may a bit much, but, certainly, you show yourself more of a 'sunshine patriot' than a steadfast friend to it - and hello to you too Mr. President - you all might want to tone the rhetoric down just a tad. Or at least the tweets.

    So... who ISN'T an enemy of America?

    Are you in a position to answer that?

    Do tell.

    Strange game. The only way to win, is not to play.
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