Thoughts on the Future
by Ron Beatty
bearfreeliberty@yahoo.com

Exclusive to TLE

As many of you know, up until the last election, I constantly wrote on the subject of voting, of working for peaceful change, of trying to work to reform the system within the existing system. I no longer feel that is possible. I had the great good fortune to meet Mike Badnarik in Columbus, OH, after one of his appearances there, and felt, and still feel, that he would have made a great president. After all the allegations of vote fraud, the claims by the makers of some of the voting machines to 'deliver the election' to Bush, and the sheer stupidity of the national media in ignoring the message and integrity of Mr. Badnarik, I am thoroughly disgusted with electoral politics. While I won't give up on voting completely (after all, as Neil says, a .25 auto is better than nothing when faced with a threat), I honestly don't think it will make any difference.

When the Soviet Union fell, many in this country, and around the world, feared that the leaders of the Soviet Union would strike out with nuclear weapons, rather than face the loss of their power and influence. This didn't happen, because by and large, the leaders of the Soviet Union were rational men. They knew that nothing would be gained. Being, in their own minds, patriots, they chose to risk the future to give their country a chance to survive. Unfortunately, I don't think the same situation holds true in this country today.

We have seen numerous reports from Capitol Hill Blue that various highly placed political figures are losing or have lost their grip on reality. We have the evidence of history, when this country invaded a third party nation for no real reason. Iraq was not a party to the attacks on 9/11. Iraq did not have nuclear weapons, and was not negotiating to buy nuclear materials, despite what was claimed in certain sectors. Now, with our army caught in a no-win situation in Iraq, and the so-called leaders of this country facing a huge loss in public support, we hear the same types of lies being promulgated against Iran. With all of its current military commitments (we have troops in over 100 countries around the globe), there is no way that we can mount or sustain a credible military action in Iran as well as continuing combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. There is an old military truism: Never get involved in a land war on the Asian land mass. Review the history. No non-asian has ever won a land war in Asia. French and American troops couldn't win in Vietnam. Korea was a bloody stalemate for three years, and is still technically in a state of war today. Russia couldn't win in Afghanistan in ten bloody years of fighting. The closest to succeeding in that goal was Alexander, and he died before he could accomplish it. I don't think he would have won in the long run anyway, since he was at the end of a long supply line and drastically over-extended at the time of his death.

What does all this have to do with us? Simple, really. Our leaders have put us in an untenable position. They are losing power and influence, despite the efforts of dedicated statists such as a certain politician from Wisconsin to maintain control. They are pushing draconian police state legislation, ostensibly under the guise of protecting us from terrorism, but with the actual goal being to maintain their power, influence and control. National identification cards, domestic spying, warrantless searches, detention without charges or representation, allegations of torture and abuse of prisoners, and the huge percentage of people in jails and prisons for 'victimless' crimes or paperwork violations are only the tip of the iceberg, showing the lengths they will go to in order to maintain their grip.

Right now, we live in a police state. I fear it will only get worse, and soon, as more and more the leaders of this country see their power beginning to slip as more and more people begin to question. Kate Graham wrote an article recently suggesting that there might be a major attack on a US city, and hinting that it might not be what it would seem to be. I will not argue this point either way at this time, but I do not consider it beyond the realm of possibility. I fear we will see martial law in the near future. If this occurs, will the Third American Revolution begin? I don't know, but if it does, hopefully, the third time will be the charm, and we'll get it right this time.

None of us knows what the future will bring. Right now, I admit, it's looking rather gloomy. I know this: I will not die in some prison camp or detention center. If I die in this upcoming war, it will be as a free man, and on my own terms, insofar as I have the capability of accomplishing this. If I live through it, which I doubt, will I see a new rebirth of freedom? Or, instead, will we see the lamp of liberty extinguished forever? It's up to us to make the choice.

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