"The people have the power, all we have to do is awaken that power in the people. The people are unaware. They're not educated to realize that they have power. The system is so geared that everyone believes the government will fix everything. We are the government."—John Lennon
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How do you balance the scales of justice at a time when Americans are being tasered, tear-gassed, pepper-sprayed, hit with batons, shot with rubber bullets and real bullets, blasted with sound cannons,
detained in cages and kennels, sicced by police dogs, arrested and jailed for challenging the government's excesses, abuses and power-grabs?
Politics won't fix a system that is broken beyond repair.No matter who sits in the White House, the shadow government will continue to call the shots behind the scenes.
Relying on the courts to restore justice seems futile.
Indeed, with every ruling handed down, it becomes more apparent that we live in an age of hollow justice, with government courts, largely lacking in vision and scope, rendering narrow rulings focused on the letter of the law. This is true at all levels of the judiciary, but especially so in the highest court of the land, the U.S. Supreme Court, which is seemingly more concerned with establishing order and protecting government agents than with upholding the rights enshrined in the Constitution.
Even so, justice matters.
It matters whether you're a rancher protesting a federal land-grab by the Bureau of Land Management, a Native American protesting an oil pipeline that will endanger sacred sites and pollute water supplies, or an African-American taking to the streets to protest yet another police shooting of an unarmed citizen.
Unfortunately, protests and populist movements haven't done much to push back against an authoritarian regime that is deaf to our cries, dumb to our troubles, blind to our needs, and accountable to no one.It doesn't matter who the activists are (environmentalists, peaceniks, Native Americans, Black Lives Matter, Occupy, or the Bundys and their followers) or what the source of the discontent is (endless wars abroad, police shootings, contaminated drinking water, government land-grabs), the government's
modus operandi has remained the same:
shut down the protests using all means available, prosecute First Amendment activities to the fullest extent of the law, and discourage any future civil uprisings by criminalizing expressive activities, labelling dissidents as extremists or terrorists, and conducting widespread surveillance on the general populace in order to put down any whispers of resistance before it can take root.Thus, if there is any means left to us for thwarting the government in its relentless march towards outright dictatorship, it may rest with the power of juries and local governments
to invalidate governmental laws, tactics and policies that are illegitimate, egregious or blatantly unconstitutional.
Comment: The heck with Jeffrey Goldberg and his biased concerns of past and present. If allowed to take place, political and 'human'itarian evolution will provide psychopathic Israel the means and will to join the human race. Caught in the antisemitism snare with blind allegiance, the US could help foster the change by addressing its own tricked obedience. By denying Jewish/Israeli passive-aggressive martyrdom and its complementary manipulative-based propaganda, the US might loosen the yoke of psychological and monetary leverage currently influencing congress and the American people.