Saturday, August 4, 2007

Hello From The Director of Midwest Center

Today, we are launching a new blog which is the net forum for a public policy town hall
meeting for the what we are calling the midwest center for constitutional rights.

We want to foster here a robust discussion all things public and all things necessary
to bring to light the American notion that it is not undemocratic to be critical of one's
government and any public office or officer holder and/or the institutions which
form the backbone of an open and free society.

My own background is one which is both grounded in international relations and mideast
studies as an undergraduate history major at Oral Roberts University as well as son of a prominent democratic southern Ohio officer holder and regionally very well known public servant and judiciary officer for the State of Ohio, for over thirty five years, who was both a "Best Generation" D-Day veteran and a long term honest public servant.

My work inside the State of Ohio's labor department in the late 1980's , along with my own legal and graduate level american history studies have also contributed to the maturation of both my political and social thought.

I have founded the midwest center for constitutional rights in hopes of bringing to light and to "center" a unique and progressive growing set of concerned citizens, academics, grass roots and older traditional political and civil rights organization, individuals and others into a focus based upon the unique needs and issues facing the United States today and in particular the midwest of this county, including but not limited to the region stretching from Minnesota to
Arkansas to Michigan, Indiana to our home state of Ohio and eastward towards Western Pennsylvania and southward towards West Virginia and Western Virginia.

The center is strong on the idea that the 14th Amendment changed the course of American history and the study of how this truly amazing achievement in the law came to be and what philosophical and social movements which helped to create the same are still very present in our society for us to both learn and use as a model to move this country past its current dangerous flirtation with corporate -state oligarchy.

What happened to the 14th Amendment in historical U.S. Supreme Court interpretation and how does this affect us today is a question many are reconsidering today.

What did the last of the great american abolitionists and their friends have to say about the growth of the Corporation for America and what did they understand having fought w/ their entire lives against "the Slave Power" that controlled the U.S for the First hundred years of this country's existence?

What does this, if anything, have to do with modern american politics today?

Here at the Midwest Center we hope to invite and provide a forum both on the net and in the 'real world' which promotes the notion that ideas do matter and most important, as we often
quote, James Madison as saying, "knowledge is preferred to ignorance in a democracy."

We at the Midwest Center believe if we can begin to understand this process and the culmination of the historical forces which led to the initial debates and the language surrounding and contained in the 19th Century's 14th Amendement, we may be able yet, to save this country and our modern world from a tyranny that is as subtle as it is universal and as close to you and your fellow citizen's continuing erosion of your First and Fourth Amendment rights, starting particularly here in the midwest and a process which is as ubiquitous as your Google earth watch eye in the sky, is everywhere...

The blog is but the social and political 'talking head' portion of a website we are calling the
"TheLiberator.name"...which is in turn named after the famous 19th Century American Abolitionist William L. Garrison's newspaper which led the nation and his northern sympathyzers to convince a less than honorable political environment of his day that sometimes, moral truth and moral suasion is more important than profits and keeping peace, even if it means not compromising on human rights of those much less fortunate than either your political party or individual region of your nation.

By setting the tone for such a critically timed controversial public discussion thru much courage and challenges and by his singular "calling out" of the powers of his day, even the religious ones, Garrison helped to shaped the political conversation of his era, which in turned help a rather depressive sorrowful faced Illinois Senator get elected to president who was firm on the question of slavery, if not exactly abolitionist on the issue of racism in America.

We are Not endorsing any candidate by stating this but we are stating that it is time to take the gloves off and fight in the public forum for the most basic of fundamental human rights which were the very rights that Lincoln came to understand were at the heart of the sacrifice which lay before him at Gettysburg, the day after the battle there ended.

Lincoln later after the entire war said, " I was the instrument, Garrison, the Wind..."

We need today, desperately a Garrison and a christian intellectualism which is neither typical or anything but orthordox in the way the "laws of christ" are to be applied to modern society's burning questions.

To that end, please write and share your thoughts and ideas and help give your breath to the mounting Wind of Change that is blowing thru our midwest...and onto hopefully the entire nation...

We dedicate this blog to such a concept of an open society, even when we ourselves have so often been literally jailed and/or publicly criticized by those holding high offices and powers in our midst to make our voice less credible or even to silence the same.

The one major concern of the center overriding all others, is the extent of the endless abuse of power by the formative 'police state' on local, state and national levels, that seems to be growing stronger today, despite many an american's experience and our growing national awareness of the same.

The more we share our thoughts, experiences and views if not our dedication to this ideal of free speech and the priority of 14th Amendment's emphasis on the individual's human rights in the midwest of this country, we believe we will make it harder for the more obvious darker forces to gain ground within the american experience; to that end, indeed, Madison's dictum will come to pass and 'knowledge will, indeed, trump ignorance,' once again, in our era.

With that said, I am inviting all to enter this conversation and dialague, jew, christian, arab, secular, anti establishment, pro life and/or pro gun lobby and all major radicals; from intellectuals to those who have had serious grass roots experience to those who may just be wondering why it appears some of our most fundamental liberties are being encroached upon.

I do not wish to formet idle comments or sicko views. so keep it real, keep it professional and hopefully meaningful and we together will begin anew this effort to roll back that spirit and legal march which in another era resulted in the "night of the knock"...

Its for the betterment of our region and hopefully thru this, our country...we dedicate these comments...