Tuesday 7 April 2009

Obama & the rule of law

'If the truth be known...'

People at my community ask me, as an American, what do I think of Obama.

Besides the obvious, of a man who commands a lot of respect, and has an element of charisma about him, I think that he needs to authorize release of his original, vault-copy birth certificate, AND of his college application records, in order to clarify his legality to run for and be the president of the United States, with its constitutionally-clear requirements.

It is rather ironic that someone who ran in large part on the plank of a return to the rule of law should not observe either the letter or spirit of the law, in intending to redress the grievances of the era of the wartime presidency of George W Bush, and his basic declaration, like the likes of Hitler before him, that 'I am the law'. It was a terribly dangerous precedent; and those laws that his administration guided through Congress during his tenure in the office that went too far, in curtailing basic civil liberties in the country, under the pretext of being at war, with an ill-defined and indefinitely-constituted enemy, need to be rolled back, in order for vandalism of the Constitution - from either the right or the left - not to take place in their wake. Not to be able to take place, by people who would be tyrants.

Well, have I got news for them: Not over my home country you won't. If I have anything to say about it. And millions like me, who will not let you take over the U.S., like it was some up-for-grabs banana republic; or the Roman Republic before it, in history. Which brings up the particularly pertinent point, that either we learn from history, or we are doomed to repeat it. So it's lesson time in America. The main lesson being the importance of living by the rule of law.

Which brings us back to Barack Obama, and his legitimacy to hold the highest office in the land, or the lack thereof.

We are waiting to hear from him on the matter. This seemingly little matter, to some. But therein lies a major tale. Which we need to hear more of; and have less of smoke and mirrors.

Can we get to the truth of matters? Yes we can. And must. Nothing less will suffice, now that human affairs are 'soul size' - are at critical mass, for the next chapter in our history on this planet to be ushered in. For good or ill.

For comment on which, see my blog of yesterday. To which this one is a natural sequel. Testifying to the important role of America in human history, in sounding the basic note that the world will live by: Truth. Or consequences.

I for one would prefer to live by the consequences of truth. Not its opposite.

So: which road will we take. The high one. Or the low one.

The world - and our posterity - waits for our answer.

We. Here. Now.

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