June 4, 2009
by Steve Osborn

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I'm about out of steam on this whole political thing. However, the following is a letter I've written to Obama. It goes out in snail mail tomorrow and to his "the president really wants to know what you are thinking" e-mail address, tonight. (Never been answered before, why now? Oh, well....)

I know I left out an awful lot of the Constitutional trashing, but figured that over two pages would go straight to the trash, instead of being, possibly, read by some minion.

My level of disgust is so high, I can't figure out why I keep writing. Seems a waste of time, energy, and electrons.

President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington DC 20500-0001

Dear President Obama,

I, like many millions of Americans, voted for you in the last general election in the hope that your promise of change would be the change that we had longed for during the previous eight years. Powerlessly, we watched our nation being run into the ground by a runaway despotic regime. We saw wars begun under false pretenses, which have cost millions of lives and trillions of dollars; we saw our natural resources being despoiled by greedy profiteers; we've seen our small businesses and small farms being destroyed by bureaucratic intrusions into every aspect of their lives and businesses, apparently for the enrichment of the big megabusiness cartels. We've seen most of the jobs that gave America a healthy middle-class outsourced to nations where people will work twelve hours or more for a dollar or two a day, or for a cup or two of rice to feed their family.

We have seen the Constitution and Bill of Rights, that have been the rule and guide of our nation for over two centuries, shredded by the executive branch, and this shredding seems to have been approved by both the legislative and judicial branches.

We the People have watched with dismay as our civil rights have been criminalized by the government. You spoke to us of change; you spoke to us of rebuilding America; you said you would close Guantánamo and end torture as a United States policy; you said you would return habeas corpus, and that you would uphold the law.

Many of us were very concerned as we watched you pick your cabinet and found that most of them were the same old retreads that have caused the problem over the last two or three decades. We noted with dismay that very few, if any, dedicated to peace, dedicated to law, dedicated to the environment, were brought into your government.

Now we find that you are apparently going to continue the policies of the past eight years, and even augment them with increased policies of surveillance, of imprisonment, possibly even rationalizing torture again, and indulging in still wider and more deadly wars against indigenous populations in the Middle East, most of whom's only crime is that of poverty, a dislike of foreign occupation, and the fact that many of them live on top of what we apparently consider our oil.

Many millions of Americans have lost or are losing their homes to foreclosures to rapacious banking policies. Yet, what have we watched? The bankers and speculators have all been rewarded and protected; have been given hundreds of millions if not trillions of dollars of our money with which they could reward themselves with their golden parachutes. While We the People have received nothing but lip service from You the Government.

The mass media, which has gotten rid of all of its investigative reporters, seems merely to parrot the pronouncements of the current government and defends the policies of the old.

You were touted to us as a constitutional scholar. Would you please explain to me, what is wrong with for instance, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

We the People have many grievances, and they are growing daily. What we have learned, is that we can expect either to be ignored, or to face arrest, for assembling to protest and ask for a redress of grievances. We are looking at a flood of laws designed to restrict freedom of speech and freedom of opinion; which seems to be now defined as some species of Orwellian thoughtcrime.

Would you explain to me why, "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized," is being discarded?

I really don't understand what is wrong with, "No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb, nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation."

The following seems to me to be one of the hallmarks of our nation. "In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed; which district shall have been previously ascertained by law; and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense."

In a democracy or democratic republic such as ours, it does not seem proper for the above to be replaced with, "We the Government reserve the right to torture a confession out of a defendant, and then lock them away for life without trial if it suits our convenience. Furthermore, should we bring them to trial, they will not be able to face their accusers, nor see evidence, because We the Government have determined that it is a matter of National Security." Yet that seems to be, what has been done and is continuing to be done by your current administration.

There was a time, in this nation, when "Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted." But apparently that is no more.

Perhaps, Mr. President, you recognize the above quotes. They are excerpts from the first ten amendments to the Constitution of the United States, known as the Bill of Rights. I would also like to point out that, "The enumeration of the Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people." And also that "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people," not the government. Those quotations are from the ninth and tenth amendments of the same document.

The above just scratches the surface of the concerns of both me and millions of other Americans. I would really appreciate an explanation from you as to why the above mentioned document no longer applies in the United States of America, preferably without a bunch of spin that translates out to, "Might makes Right," and "Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely." We all know that. That is why our forefathers wrote the Constitution. We should be living by it and you should be governing by it. Why aren't you?

I am,

most sincerely,
Stephen M. Osborn

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Stephen M. Osborn [send him email] is a freelance writer living on Camano Island in the Pacific Northwest. He is an "Atomic Vet." (Operation Redwing, Bikini Atoll 1956, ) who has been very active working and writing for nuclear disarmament and world peace. He is a retired Fire Battalion Chief, lifelong sailor, writer, poet, philosopher, historian and former newspaper columnist.

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