Freedom is not the providence of Americans alone. Our founding father wrote, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers form the consent of the governed.

Our founding fathers did not say that theirs was the only form of government, nor the only correct one. That the head of our executive; the titular head of the American State, will stand idly by as the government of another nation, a nation composed of men and women not unlike ourselves, crushes the people in order to maintain power is a disgrace to American values.

There are those among us that believe that the countenance of evil in the furtherance of our own well being is a sustainable principle. Better that others fail in their pursuits of a government which derives its power from the consent of a justly government, lest we be troubled in their struggle. It flies in the face of our own national birth; of the French, of Lafayette and von Steuben. Our own freedom was not born of America alone; it involved a bitter struggle that pitted empires against one another.

And yet.

Today, we stand on the cusp of a new day – a new beginning with the Persian nation of Iran. A chance to mend that which we have undone. It is true that we once help subjugate the government in a cynical attempt at realpolitik; out of this, the seeds of discord grew the tyranny which the Iranian people now face. And yet, now that we are offered the chance to stand behind the movement which seeks to right this most grievous of wrongs, we again fall prey to such realpolitik. Better that the students be crushed than we are dirtied; now they deal with the inevitable legacy of our failure.

It is a disgrace. This is a sad day in American history, when the nation which has done the most to advance the cause of freedom shall stand aside and legitimize a despicable, tyrannical government. It flies in the face of our very own values. It is unfathomable that a nation such as ours, the greatest force for good in the world, shall now tolerate evils in the name of some temporary and fallible goal. Sacrifice the blood of young Iranian women and men so that we may entertain some fleeting notion of security? It is despicable beyond belief, and an anathema to the foundation of this great nation. We must stand up. We must enjoinder ourselves once again to the notion that all men are created equal, Persian and American alike; and that all men deserve freedom. This is not a call to subjugate the nation of Iran to our will, but to acknowledge that the power of government is derived ultimately from the people which it represents, and when those people are no longer represented, “it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness”.

That’s what I’d like to see from our fellows in power, but they will not speak the words.

flashoverride on June 23, 2009 at 8:03 AM