I’ve been reading letters on the Tribune-Star’s editorial page and, of course, the airwaves are full of right-wing commentators like Rush Limbaugh and that ilk. They’re all saying the same thing … and that is the awful “government” is going to reach out, take away our guns, and crush us.
What a pile of monkey manure this is. This republic is just a couple of hundred years old and we haven’t had any great dictators and that sort of politician. All of these men who are making this cry are men who are mostly unfit for military duty. Some of these groups, such as the Michigan Militia, are well-armed, but will find it difficult standing up to well-trained, well-armed soldiers who have modern equipment.
So here’s the real crux of the matter. The super money doesn’t want anyone who disagrees with their political attitudes to have a free vote. They don’t wish the government to have Social Security, Medicare, or any of these so-called entitlements. The big con is the political right wing spreading the word that world government is on its way and we’ll become a socialist state.
So they keep this group of naysayers armed, in a fever, and the truth of the matter is simply this … it’s not your liberal neighbor who is going to pull the plug on their freedoms, it will be the same people who run the NRA. You know … no government except for the government THEY approve of. Back in the 1930s when the Great Depression was on, a bunch of super-rich men tried to get an Army general to take over the government with an armed effort. Fortunately for America, it failed. It was real and the same type of people with the same hatred and want of power are still there today.
You see, our government was not imposed upon us … we actually stood in defiance of King George III of England. Some of the smartest men, and the bravest, stood up to make this a free nation. Our forefathers did not accept a government that was already in operation. They built this from the ground up. So every human being who is a citizen and of legal age could have a vote. And they still can today. (Originally only men who were landowners could vote, and the state legislators would choose the men who would become senators for their state.) Our government sits in Washington being what you allow them to be. In other words, this government, this stupid gridlocked Congress, is our fault.
I would suggest a course in civics … you know, how the government is run. Once we know that and become more intelligent voters, this kind of crazy idea the government is out to get you will fade into the trash bin where it belongs.
It is unlikely we will see United Nations’ forces trying to take over our country. The governments who volunteer their soldiers to aid the cause of other nations around the world can only get there if we fly them there. I guess everybody wants to be the kind of hero our history books are full of, but if you see United Nations’ soldiers wearing their blue helmets marching down any street in Terre Haute, I’ll volunteer to be on permanent KP for those who think they and their guns are here to save us. Like Rush Limbaugh, they’re beating the same drum, saying the same dumb things, and they are here because rich, powerful men want it.
So, it’s the big con job. You think by screaming about the Constitution you’re saving it. In reality, you’re playing into the hands of the people who want it gone. But, just in case I’m wrong, I’ll keep my potato-peeling knife sharpened. It won’t be the first time I have spent tedius hours on KP.
Ronn Mott, a longtime radio personality in Terre Haute, writes commentaries for the Tribune-Star. His pieces are published online Tuesday and Thursday on Tribstar.com, and in the print and online editions on Saturday.
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RONN MOTT: Your Government
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