We don't need REAL ID, we need our Constitution back in the halls of government, intact and functioning.

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Well, let's see the news headlines:

"Halliburton/KBR get no-bid contracts for concentration camps"

"Dissenters rounded up and held on disused pier in New York"

"Congress gives Bush leave to increase spying on Americans"

"Geneva Conventions on treatment of prisoners and against torture and other abuses are quaint," says Gonzales.

Hundreds of thousands find themselves on no-fly lists and other restrictions. They cannot find out why (National Security) nor get off them.

"Federal Government wants REAL ID for Americans."

We are not far from having Blackwater Security "helping" the law enforcement agencies keep We the People in check. "Your papers, please?" was a phrase hated and feared across Europe and Asia during the last rise of fascism in the world. That continued for many more years in the CCCP.

Congress takes an oath at the beginning of each session, "To protect and defend the Constitution of the United States from all enemies, foreign and domestic."

During the past seven years, Congress (Republican or Democrat, it makes no difference) has contributed more to the shredding and flushing of the Constitution than its protection and defense.

There is nothing in the Constitution that indicates that Americans and visitors must carry and show their "papers" to any official that asks for them. If you read the Bill of Rights (the first ten amendments of said Constitution) you will find in fact that the government is forbidden to interfere in the freedoms guaranteed by that Constitution.

The idea behind the Constitution is that the government serves at the will of We the People, and it exists to do the bidding of We the People.

The government, as perceived by Cheney/Bush and their henchmen (apparently including all but a very few in the House and Senate), is to have absolute authority over every aspect of American life. That We the People exist only to serve and pay for the government.

Now listen carefully, for I shall say this only once. We the People fought a long and exhausting war to gain our independence and freedom from England and King George. We shed our blood and national treasure in huge amounts to rid the world of fascism in WWII.

If you refuse to actively and aggressively live up to your oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, you may well find out what Thomas Jefferson meant when he said, "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure."

If it should become necessary for We the People to rise up and cast out the tyrants that are suborning our nation, it shall come to pass. Our appeals to the alleged representatives that we have elected to office for the purpose of redressing these grievances have fallen on deaf ears. The real enemies of the Constitution are proving to be domestic, not foreign, and our alleged representatives are proving themselves daily to be amongst those enemies.

We the People of the United States do not want to be a part of an empire, striding with its jackboots over the wreckage of other sovereign nations that refused to do its bidding. If you are going to persist in trying to fit us into that mold, remember the Declaration of Independence from the last King George. It can hold for the new one as well, along with his corrupt and self serving ministers.

Authors Bio:
Biobyte:
Stephen M. Osborn is a freelance writer living on Camano Island in the Pacific Northwest. He is a columnist for the Populist Party website and has had a number of articles published internationally. 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. Much of his antiwar poetry may be found on the poetsagainstthewar.org site.