Observing the Republic
Julio Almanza
November 19, 2008
Miguel Paz sits outside in the restaurant patio sipping his White Russian. He watches the countless Americans come out of the myriad of furniture boutiques, corporate owned wireless stores, restaurants, bookstores, jewelry shops, and clothing stores adjoining the restaurant.
Walking by is a girl in her twenties strutting about in her Dolce & Gabbana pumps, assembled by a nine year old in Central America, a skimpy denim skirt, sewn in the Philippines by someone´s seventy year old grandmother, matching a white GAP tank top, constructed in India by a 14 year old, J-Lo sunglasses, manufactured in China by a 13 year old Chinese farmer´s son, as she chats away on her new Blackberry. Not far behind her, he sees a man in his thirties wearing a crisp tailored suit looking through his iPhone glancing every few second at his gold Rolex watch. Crossing the street is a teenager sporting Jay Z´s Rocawear brand clothing from head to toe. Opposite from him, a woman in her forties holding four Saks Fifth Avenue shopping bags in one hand and five Neiman Marcus bags in the other. Every single fellow American he saw walking down the street was happily splurging away their hard earned cash and completely oblivious to the closed-circuit TV cameras placed high above their heads, bolted to the street lights.
Do any of them care that the country we live in is at war with two Middle Eastern nations to gain control of oil reserves? Do they care that the Federal Reserve is devaluing the worth of our dollar by bailing out corrupt financial institutions? How about Congress and the Senate giving the Federal Government the power to wiretap our phones and read our email without a warrant or regulation, for the sake of National Security? Do they care that there are an increasing number of police state measures being passed into law by President Bush? Do any of these fellow Americans care that this government supports the use of torture or that the 9/11 Commission Report never really answered the question of why it happened? Do they care about anything?
It seems, in Miguel´s eyes, they only care about their material wealth, their next management meeting, lost weekends at beach resorts, nightclubs, over 500 channels of satellite TV, sex, and drugs. Being complacent, while the government robs us blind of essential liberties endowed to us by our Creator, is their form of patriotism.
Ignorance in 21st century America rules the land. Empathy is oppressed, truth is conspiracy, questioning is unpatriotic, dissent is criminal. And here they are the consumers of America, living in their ignorant bubble without a care in the world.
Are you ready to order, sir?" asked the young, twenty-something, blonde waitress breaking Miguel´s train of thought.
Yes, I´ll have the chicken Caesar salad please."
You want the chicken hot or cold?"
Hot."
Very good sir," She answers. "I´ll be back with your order in a few."
His iPhone rings. He checks it and sees his broker´s number on the screen. Miguel ignores the call. He then pulls out his digital notepad and writes: ´Fire Donald. He´s too greedy.´ He continues, ´People need to be revived from this consumer coma. It has plagued this country for over a century.´ He saved the scribble and put the notepad back in his pocket. He notices two police cars cruising by the restaurant looking for a spot to park. Miguel stares at one of the officers coming out of the patrol car, which reads "To protect and Serve" He chuckled, more like "To Seek and Destroy" he thought.
His mind drifts into thought.
Germany was a democratic republic before Hitler came to power," said Granny Avi, his ex-girlfriend´s grandmother, one Sunday afternoon, "the republic was economically weak. Germans were growing desperate for drastic change and at least a glimmer of hope." She said as she poured honey in her tea. "Education was down, almost every decent German was unemployed, and our economy had grown stale. I remember when Hitler ran for public office. He was a nutcase from Austria. We all thought he was a nutcase. He´d never win, we all thought." She repeated, "Then, next thing I know, Hindenburg is swearing him into office. I couldn´t understand it. How? How did this man rise to power? He was a rambling little rat no one took too seriously and then, POOF! Like a magic trick, he was the chancellor. Of course, I later learned that wealthy Wall Street elitist from America had funded the rat´s seat in power."
Then, the Reichstag fire occurred and everything changed in Germany… forever. The Nazi party blamed the communists for the fire and, under their council, Germany acted swiftly to undermine the Constitution. Hitler gained immense power when parliament passed the Enabling Act. The Enabling Act temporarily suspended our rights in order to ´protect´ us from those evil communist. Sound familiar?" She paused then trembled at the next thought, "I cried as I witnessed 9/11 on the television. I swear to you that I wept for all those poor people who never made it out of the towers. For all those people who lost family members and friends. And when, without hesitation, the United States Congress passed the Patriot Act, I wept for the future of my grandchildren. The Patriot Act is almost identical to the Enabling Act Hitler passed into law."
No." He had said interrupting; irritated she assumed such a thing. "C´mon granny, how can you say that? How can you even think it? Are you implying that George W. Bush is another Adolph Hitler? I can´t believe someone as wise as you would even say something like that. Besides, not while there are living and breathing American citizens living in this country who believe in the Constitution. They, we, will never allow such a thing to happen here. I´m talking about Fascism. Fascism will never take hold of our Republic."
Don´t be so naïve child! I´ve lived through the death of a republic and the first step to its demise is to weaken its constitutional institutions, which this president did after 9/11. You can´t deny that. If people aren´t knowledgeable about it, history always finds a way to repeat itself. You can´t deny that either. As intelligent as you are, you can´t sit here and tell me that this president has not undermined the US Constitution? Right… or wrong?" She extended her hand to caress his. There, for the first time, Miguel saw the tattoo on her forearm, Number M77523. Granny Avi was a holocaust survivor. She was one of the few German citizens who stood up against Nazi rule in Germany. Her punishment for standing up against tyranny was three years in a concentration camp.
Looking back now, Granny Avi had a point. She may have been right about everything she told Miguel that day. There are KBR Detention Centers being built throughout the Southwest without any type of media coverage whatsoever. Why the media blackout about such a new and unique thing in America? What is the purpose of these detention centers? Every time there is a peaceful anti-war protest, paramilitary black-boots march out to violently crush the voices of dissent. Why the destruction of our First Amendment? Whenever a reporter asks the Bush administration a tough question, they receive an annoyed half-assed answer and the reporter is no longer invited to press conferences. Why the censorship? Then there was the incident when Andrew Meyer, a student from the University of Florida, was tasered by the police when he asked John Kerry if he was a member of the Skull and Bones Society. The shocking thing about the entire incident, at least in Miguel´s eyes, was how John Kerry merely watched the poor kid get attacked by policemen for asking him a question without saying a word. Can the citizens of this once great republic stand up against a tyrannical force seeking total power and control over our lives?
Here are your chicken caeser salad," said the waitress placing a bowl and a plate in front of him. "You need anything else?"
There is one thing
Uh-huh? What is it?"
First of all, what is your name?"
Brenda"
Pleasure to meet you Brenda, mine is Miguel" He extends his hand to shake hers. She does.
What do you think about the state of the country?"
Excuse me?"
How well do you think the country is doing at the moment?" He asked
Gee, I don´t think I have enough time to answer that right now. I have a lot of tables."
I won´t take up a lot of your time and if you answer my question I´ll make sure to leave you a nice tip," he said with a smile.
Okay," she says as she wipes some sweat from her forehead "well, um, I think the country is doing ok, I guess. It varies from time to time. I mean, there is a war and the banks are closing down, people are losing their homes and health care costs are through the roof. But, I truly believe the government is doing its best to help us out."
You think so?"
Yeah"
You think it´s the government´s responsibility to take help us with these problems?"
Yeah, that´s their job isn´t it? I mean, we pay taxes in order for them to take care of things we don´t have time to take care of."
Like what?"
Things like keeping the streets, parks, and schools clean. Throwing out our trash from the city… I don´t know, protecting us from foreign invaders."
Well said. What do you think about the government illegally wire tapping our phones to keep us in check?
I´m not a terrorist and I have nothing to hide, so I really don´t care if they do that to me. If it helps catch a terrorist, then I´m all for it."
So you have no problem if some stranger from the NSA is listening in on your private conversations? Conversations you may have with your lover, your child, accountant, or lawyer?
They wouldn´t do that. No one will stand for it."
You really think Americans won´t stand for that?"
No, why would they? Besides, our rights aren´t being taken away from us. This, uh, this suspension of our rights is only temporary, until the war on terror is over."
What if the war on terror never ends?"
It has to end someday. There has always been an end to all previous wars. Only, this one is going to take some time."
I take it you were FOR the Iraq War?"
Yeah. Sadaam had weapons of mass destruction and was a threat to us and our allies. He had to be taken out."
Spoken like a true prodigy
But they never found weapons of mass destruction," he said.
Yes they did, except, they had our names on it."
Miguel laughs.
Look mister, I guess you can say that I am one of those Americans who kind of knows what is going on in the world around me. I simply don´t have time to care. I have other things to think about; school, quizzes, test scores, attending after school activities, working, paying my rent on time, raising my daughter by myself, and getting that degree. I don´t have time to care what Bush signed into law this week or if the vice president shot his friend in the face and got away with it. That´s why we vote in this country. We vote so politicians can lead us down the right path."
What if they aren´t leading us down the right path?" He asks
Then we vote them out of office."
Miguel chuckles, "I see. I have news for you Brenda. They haven´t been leading us down the right path in a very long time."
Are you a reporter or something?"
Sort of, I´m a part-time blogger, but my real job is…"
Brenda!" calls a Middle Eastern man in his thirties from inside the restaurant; "We need you inside." She excuses herself and Miguel begins to eat his lunch.
He notices that a couple police cars have now joined the other two officers across the street. ´What the hell is going on?´ he wonders. The officers looked around and discreetly spoke into their walkie-talkies, scoping out the area for any suspicious activity.
His mind wandered again.
Where are the fighters of liberty? Where are the remnants that will bring upon a 21st Century renaissance? Are they waiting for the right time to come out of the shadows and lead people to a newfound enlightenment? Why are we allowing this injustice to stand?
Consumerism, celebrity gossip, mind numbing psychiatric drugs, and reality television have been destroying the future of this once great and industrious country. No one has a sense of belonging anymore. Everyone is too damn busy to care.
As long as they receive their bi-weekly direct deposit checks on time, Americans don´t care if their government lied to them about going to war in Iraq.
As long as they can go out and binge for the weekend, Americans don´t care if Bush signs another Police State Measure.
As long as the war wages on over there, Americans don´t care how many missiles fall on top of innocent men, women, and children in Iraq and Afghanistan.
As long as they feel ´secure´ inside the Homeland, Americans don´t care that men accused of being terrorists are being held captive and are callously interrogated in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba without presentation of a lawyer.
´What happened to America?´ he thought. Not the country, but the state of mind. What happened to that American idea of standing up to authority?
As he sips his White Russian he hears a faint sound of cheers and chants coming from the street corner. He stares, waiting to catch a glimpse of what it is. He sees cop cars and officers on motorcycles clearing the way. Not far behind he sees a peaceful assembly of citizens demanding to know the truth about 9/11.
Walking by is a girl in her twenties strutting about in her Dolce & Gabbana pumps, assembled by a nine year old in Central America, a skimpy denim skirt, sewn in the Philippines by someone´s seventy year old grandmother, matching a white GAP tank top, constructed in India by a 14 year old, J-Lo sunglasses, manufactured in China by a 13 year old Chinese farmer´s son, as she chats away on her new Blackberry. Not far behind her, he sees a man in his thirties wearing a crisp tailored suit looking through his iPhone glancing every few second at his gold Rolex watch. Crossing the street is a teenager sporting Jay Z´s Rocawear brand clothing from head to toe. Opposite from him, a woman in her forties holding four Saks Fifth Avenue shopping bags in one hand and five Neiman Marcus bags in the other. Every single fellow American he saw walking down the street was happily splurging away their hard earned cash and completely oblivious to the closed-circuit TV cameras placed high above their heads, bolted to the street lights.
Do any of them care that the country we live in is at war with two Middle Eastern nations to gain control of oil reserves? Do they care that the Federal Reserve is devaluing the worth of our dollar by bailing out corrupt financial institutions? How about Congress and the Senate giving the Federal Government the power to wiretap our phones and read our email without a warrant or regulation, for the sake of National Security? Do they care that there are an increasing number of police state measures being passed into law by President Bush? Do any of these fellow Americans care that this government supports the use of torture or that the 9/11 Commission Report never really answered the question of why it happened? Do they care about anything?
It seems, in Miguel´s eyes, they only care about their material wealth, their next management meeting, lost weekends at beach resorts, nightclubs, over 500 channels of satellite TV, sex, and drugs. Being complacent, while the government robs us blind of essential liberties endowed to us by our Creator, is their form of patriotism.
Ignorance in 21st century America rules the land. Empathy is oppressed, truth is conspiracy, questioning is unpatriotic, dissent is criminal. And here they are the consumers of America, living in their ignorant bubble without a care in the world.
Are you ready to order, sir?" asked the young, twenty-something, blonde waitress breaking Miguel´s train of thought.
Yes, I´ll have the chicken Caesar salad please."
You want the chicken hot or cold?"
Hot."
Very good sir," She answers. "I´ll be back with your order in a few."
His iPhone rings. He checks it and sees his broker´s number on the screen. Miguel ignores the call. He then pulls out his digital notepad and writes: ´Fire Donald. He´s too greedy.´ He continues, ´People need to be revived from this consumer coma. It has plagued this country for over a century.´ He saved the scribble and put the notepad back in his pocket. He notices two police cars cruising by the restaurant looking for a spot to park. Miguel stares at one of the officers coming out of the patrol car, which reads "To protect and Serve" He chuckled, more like "To Seek and Destroy" he thought.
His mind drifts into thought.
Germany was a democratic republic before Hitler came to power," said Granny Avi, his ex-girlfriend´s grandmother, one Sunday afternoon, "the republic was economically weak. Germans were growing desperate for drastic change and at least a glimmer of hope." She said as she poured honey in her tea. "Education was down, almost every decent German was unemployed, and our economy had grown stale. I remember when Hitler ran for public office. He was a nutcase from Austria. We all thought he was a nutcase. He´d never win, we all thought." She repeated, "Then, next thing I know, Hindenburg is swearing him into office. I couldn´t understand it. How? How did this man rise to power? He was a rambling little rat no one took too seriously and then, POOF! Like a magic trick, he was the chancellor. Of course, I later learned that wealthy Wall Street elitist from America had funded the rat´s seat in power."
Then, the Reichstag fire occurred and everything changed in Germany… forever. The Nazi party blamed the communists for the fire and, under their council, Germany acted swiftly to undermine the Constitution. Hitler gained immense power when parliament passed the Enabling Act. The Enabling Act temporarily suspended our rights in order to ´protect´ us from those evil communist. Sound familiar?" She paused then trembled at the next thought, "I cried as I witnessed 9/11 on the television. I swear to you that I wept for all those poor people who never made it out of the towers. For all those people who lost family members and friends. And when, without hesitation, the United States Congress passed the Patriot Act, I wept for the future of my grandchildren. The Patriot Act is almost identical to the Enabling Act Hitler passed into law."
No." He had said interrupting; irritated she assumed such a thing. "C´mon granny, how can you say that? How can you even think it? Are you implying that George W. Bush is another Adolph Hitler? I can´t believe someone as wise as you would even say something like that. Besides, not while there are living and breathing American citizens living in this country who believe in the Constitution. They, we, will never allow such a thing to happen here. I´m talking about Fascism. Fascism will never take hold of our Republic."
Don´t be so naïve child! I´ve lived through the death of a republic and the first step to its demise is to weaken its constitutional institutions, which this president did after 9/11. You can´t deny that. If people aren´t knowledgeable about it, history always finds a way to repeat itself. You can´t deny that either. As intelligent as you are, you can´t sit here and tell me that this president has not undermined the US Constitution? Right… or wrong?" She extended her hand to caress his. There, for the first time, Miguel saw the tattoo on her forearm, Number M77523. Granny Avi was a holocaust survivor. She was one of the few German citizens who stood up against Nazi rule in Germany. Her punishment for standing up against tyranny was three years in a concentration camp.
Looking back now, Granny Avi had a point. She may have been right about everything she told Miguel that day. There are KBR Detention Centers being built throughout the Southwest without any type of media coverage whatsoever. Why the media blackout about such a new and unique thing in America? What is the purpose of these detention centers? Every time there is a peaceful anti-war protest, paramilitary black-boots march out to violently crush the voices of dissent. Why the destruction of our First Amendment? Whenever a reporter asks the Bush administration a tough question, they receive an annoyed half-assed answer and the reporter is no longer invited to press conferences. Why the censorship? Then there was the incident when Andrew Meyer, a student from the University of Florida, was tasered by the police when he asked John Kerry if he was a member of the Skull and Bones Society. The shocking thing about the entire incident, at least in Miguel´s eyes, was how John Kerry merely watched the poor kid get attacked by policemen for asking him a question without saying a word. Can the citizens of this once great republic stand up against a tyrannical force seeking total power and control over our lives?
Here are your chicken caeser salad," said the waitress placing a bowl and a plate in front of him. "You need anything else?"
There is one thing
Uh-huh? What is it?"
First of all, what is your name?"
Brenda"
Pleasure to meet you Brenda, mine is Miguel" He extends his hand to shake hers. She does.
What do you think about the state of the country?"
Excuse me?"
How well do you think the country is doing at the moment?" He asked
Gee, I don´t think I have enough time to answer that right now. I have a lot of tables."
I won´t take up a lot of your time and if you answer my question I´ll make sure to leave you a nice tip," he said with a smile.
Okay," she says as she wipes some sweat from her forehead "well, um, I think the country is doing ok, I guess. It varies from time to time. I mean, there is a war and the banks are closing down, people are losing their homes and health care costs are through the roof. But, I truly believe the government is doing its best to help us out."
You think so?"
Yeah"
You think it´s the government´s responsibility to take help us with these problems?"
Yeah, that´s their job isn´t it? I mean, we pay taxes in order for them to take care of things we don´t have time to take care of."
Like what?"
Things like keeping the streets, parks, and schools clean. Throwing out our trash from the city… I don´t know, protecting us from foreign invaders."
Well said. What do you think about the government illegally wire tapping our phones to keep us in check?
I´m not a terrorist and I have nothing to hide, so I really don´t care if they do that to me. If it helps catch a terrorist, then I´m all for it."
So you have no problem if some stranger from the NSA is listening in on your private conversations? Conversations you may have with your lover, your child, accountant, or lawyer?
They wouldn´t do that. No one will stand for it."
You really think Americans won´t stand for that?"
No, why would they? Besides, our rights aren´t being taken away from us. This, uh, this suspension of our rights is only temporary, until the war on terror is over."
What if the war on terror never ends?"
It has to end someday. There has always been an end to all previous wars. Only, this one is going to take some time."
I take it you were FOR the Iraq War?"
Yeah. Sadaam had weapons of mass destruction and was a threat to us and our allies. He had to be taken out."
Spoken like a true prodigy
But they never found weapons of mass destruction," he said.
Yes they did, except, they had our names on it."
Miguel laughs.
Look mister, I guess you can say that I am one of those Americans who kind of knows what is going on in the world around me. I simply don´t have time to care. I have other things to think about; school, quizzes, test scores, attending after school activities, working, paying my rent on time, raising my daughter by myself, and getting that degree. I don´t have time to care what Bush signed into law this week or if the vice president shot his friend in the face and got away with it. That´s why we vote in this country. We vote so politicians can lead us down the right path."
What if they aren´t leading us down the right path?" He asks
Then we vote them out of office."
Miguel chuckles, "I see. I have news for you Brenda. They haven´t been leading us down the right path in a very long time."
Are you a reporter or something?"
Sort of, I´m a part-time blogger, but my real job is…"
Brenda!" calls a Middle Eastern man in his thirties from inside the restaurant; "We need you inside." She excuses herself and Miguel begins to eat his lunch.
He notices that a couple police cars have now joined the other two officers across the street. ´What the hell is going on?´ he wonders. The officers looked around and discreetly spoke into their walkie-talkies, scoping out the area for any suspicious activity.
His mind wandered again.
Where are the fighters of liberty? Where are the remnants that will bring upon a 21st Century renaissance? Are they waiting for the right time to come out of the shadows and lead people to a newfound enlightenment? Why are we allowing this injustice to stand?
Consumerism, celebrity gossip, mind numbing psychiatric drugs, and reality television have been destroying the future of this once great and industrious country. No one has a sense of belonging anymore. Everyone is too damn busy to care.
As long as they receive their bi-weekly direct deposit checks on time, Americans don´t care if their government lied to them about going to war in Iraq.
As long as they can go out and binge for the weekend, Americans don´t care if Bush signs another Police State Measure.
As long as the war wages on over there, Americans don´t care how many missiles fall on top of innocent men, women, and children in Iraq and Afghanistan.
As long as they feel ´secure´ inside the Homeland, Americans don´t care that men accused of being terrorists are being held captive and are callously interrogated in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba without presentation of a lawyer.
´What happened to America?´ he thought. Not the country, but the state of mind. What happened to that American idea of standing up to authority?
As he sips his White Russian he hears a faint sound of cheers and chants coming from the street corner. He stares, waiting to catch a glimpse of what it is. He sees cop cars and officers on motorcycles clearing the way. Not far behind he sees a peaceful assembly of citizens demanding to know the truth about 9/11.
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