EVERYONE PANIC! On 8/25/06, Gruss Gott <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > For those of us who believe history holds valuable lessons, there is > instruction to be had from the experience of other great powers. In > the particular case of the American Republic it is important to > consider the history of other republics. Not the least of these > examples is the demise of the ancient Roman Republic and its > transition to the Roman Empire. > > That history is well known. The civil wars of the mid-first century BC > led to the acquisition of dictatorial power by Julius Caesar lasting > from about 49 BC until his assassination on the Ides of March 44 BC. > Further unrest if not chaos ensued until, in 27 BC, Caesar's adopted > son Octavianus became the first Roman emperor as the first Augustus. > > So much for the dates and names. The question is how Augustus became > emperor. How did he go about finally ending a republic founded in 510 > BC? > > First, "he took steps to neutralize the army as a political force." Of > course, in a republic that would be a good thing, because in > republican Rome the armies as political forces had helped bring about > the demise of the Republic. But in Augustus's case he achieved his > objective by making the army his instrument. Control of the army was > control of state power. > > Second, he took control of the system of laws and justice. Little > could happen with the magistrates and judges that did not meet his > approval and conform to his policies. To control the legal system was > to control the entire nation. > > And, third, like his adoptive father Caesar, Augustus was "imaginative > and innovative in his exploitation of religious sentiments." Augustus > understood that the integration of the state with religion was the key > to control of the nation's culture. > > The army, the courts, and religion. The keys to the creation of the > Roman Empire. > > In 21st century America the current government (the presidency and > Congress of one party) has taken control not only of defense and > military policy, but also military operations. No other > administration, including that of Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War > or Franklin Roosevelt in World War II, has ever done that. The > unprecedented imposition of neoconservative ideology on military > operations has led directly and inevitably to the debacle in Iraq. > > In the last five years we have seen an effort by the current > government to control the American judicial system by the appointment > of ideologically selected judges. The unprecedented attempt to make > the administration of justice the instrument of ideology is > incompatible with the Constitution of the Republic whose flag we > salute. > > And, of course, the Republican party has been imaginative and > innovative in its exploitation of religious sentiments. The > unprecedented submission of social policy, and foreign policy in the > Middle East, to religious fundamentalists violates the First Amendment > to the U.S. Constitution and has weakened America in the world. > > The army, the courts, and religion. The keys to the creation of the > American Empire. > > > (This was written by Gary Hart - not my favorite guy, but this is more > or less how I feel) > >
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