Amidst all the flag-waving and “America the Beautiful” singing, there’s a recurring theme among the chattering classes: “How will America recover from these senseless tragedies?”
Now by this the punditistas usually do not mean "recover" in any economic sense of the word (to them the answer is obvious, and his name rhymes with “reigns”). Nor does "recover" carry any sense of moral or ethical reconsideration of policy (that way spells "treason" to statists).
No, our media masterminds merely seek to "recover" our bully-boy pre-eminence in worldpolitik; hence their slavish fidelity to bombing back to the Stone Age a country for which the Stone Age looks very much like progress.
All this talk of "recovery" has given me pause. What, I ponder, would it take for America to really "recover" – that is, to the state of grace in which she was founded, and away from which she has moved ever since the Whiskey Rebellion?
The answer, at least for me, has become quite clear. It involves our very own “12 Step Program”, guaranteed to turn us all into “recovering imperialists.” Submitted for your consideration:
Step 1
Bring the troops home. No more occupations, no more force projection, no more showing the flag, no more joint operations, no more task forces, no more “War on —“. All of them. Home. Now.
Step 2
Stop the bombing. In Afghanistan, in Iraq, anywhere we’re tempted to pull a Curtis LeMay. Declare a unilateral halt to the practice of killing numerous innocents in the faint hope of hitting one bad guy here and there.
Step 3
Open negotiations with nations willing to assist us in capturing those actually responsible for the murder of American civilians. Required: proof positive of the culpability of those we seek.
Step 4
Stop backing our petty tyrants against their petty tyrants. (In better words, “avoid entangling alliances”.) Realize, better late than never, that our tinpot dictator today will only become their tinpot dictator tomorrow.
Step 5
Reinstate the fundamental, unequivocal, and inalienable right of defense of self and others that is currently denied (in whole or in part) to all citizens of the United States. Encourage and nourish the true self-reliance that was the original essence of the American spirit.
Step 6
Convert the current military-industrial-congressional complex into a true defense establishment reliant on military resources structured in strict adherence to Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution.
Step 7
Dismantle all agencies of the federal government whose true charter is to infringe the rights of American citizens. Start with the IRS, DEA, BATF, FBI, INS, and work down from there.
Step 8
Hold all elected officials strictly accountable for their actions (and ignore their words until they prove themselves worthy of respect). Impeach elected officials who violate their oath to defend the Constitution. Enforce restitution from those convicted.
Step 9
Restore to Congress the powers that they have ceded to the executive and judicial branches. Then require of all legislators that they exercise those powers — and only those powers — in strict accordance with the Constitution.
Step 10
Insist that with citizenship comes responsibility. Make the franchise (and all other privileges and immunities of citizens) something to be earned, rather than passively received as just another meaningless handout from the welfare state.
Step 11
Repeal all unconstitutional laws.
Step 12
Enforce the Bill of Rights.
Is this just a patriot’s version of delerium tremens? Are we so far down the proverbial "slippery slope" that such a prescription is harsh beyond acceptance – perhaps even beyond our befuddled comprehension?
It’s up to each of us.
And the first thing we have to do is admit that we have a problem.
October 18, 2001
