HispanicVista Columnists
Happy 4th of July: Who Do You Trust on That Day?
By Steven J. Ybarra, JD/HispanicVista.com
July 11, 2005
Notas por La Casa Politica
I like to read the Declaration of Independence each 4th of July because it reminds me just what the Founding Fathers put on the line so that today I can write the stuff I write. I especially like the closing line, “…and our sacred honor.” That is pretty heavy stuff, if you get right down to it. Sacred honor is all about one’s word to others.
I remember when I got my first checking account; I went home proud to show my Pop. He looked at the checkbook and said, “That is your grandmother’s name do not ever embarrass it.” As a result, I have never bounced a check.
This week, I want to write about trust because I think we have lost our way and have forgotten what we are supposed to be about.
It is the simple things in life that disappoint me. For instance, I bought a Wagner sprayer from Home Depot. They had a 50-dollar rebate on it, so I thought it was a great deal. I filled out all the rebate paper work and sent it in. I know that companies count on 85% of all people who get rebate items not to send in the paperwork, but hey, I need the money. A few weeks later, I got a note saying that I did not send in the paperwork on time. So I dutifully sent them a note saying they were wrong I got another note telling me I was wrong and to forget it. So I wrote a note to the president of the company telling him that every time I was in line at Home Depot I would make sure that everybody knew that they did not live up to their word. A few weeks later, I got a call from the executive assistant to the president who told me they screwed up and that he would personally send me out a rebate to cover the one I did not get. I am still waiting.
Here is the question of the day – What has happened to our valuing of our word to others?
I got this problem. We are filled with a country of liars. Karl Rove took an oath to protect, preserve and defend the Constitution of the United States, and what does he do? He used terrorist tactics to try to kill a CIA agent who he does not like. He did this by turning over to a scumbag journalist confidential/top secret intelligence, including the name of the agent.
It seems like deja vu. For those of you too young to know about Watergate, it is time to ask the question - what did the President know and when did he know it? Karl Rove is like Bush-lite. This guy sleeps in Bush the lesser’s underwear. I do not think a bird dies in the Republican nation that Rove does not know about. He needs to be indicted immediately and be made to resign in disgrace for this outrage and flagrant disregard for American security in a time of war.
I got a place to send him. It is called Gitmo. It is the place for terrorists. For you who do not know, a terrorist is one who uses violence or the threat of force and violence to overthrow a legal government. As far as I can tell, we have a government of laws and not men. It seems like Rove wants an oligarchy (See government of the few, not of the many). He wants to make sure that only those who agree with him and his fascist friends get to stay in power. It is this kind of poisonous thinking that deceived General Powell into believing the lies about WMD, so he would pass on the lie to us.
I got an answer - start telling the truth to everybody you know. I do not lie because I am getting too old to remember the lies. I do not steal other people’s money because no amount of money is worth losing my reputation or losing the trust and respect of others. It is time for America to read the Declaration of Independence and demand that justice be served and that our leadership is not above the law; the Founding Fathers did not mutually pledge to each other their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor for us to do any less. We must demand no more lies and no more hypocrisy! [Besides a real terrorist said patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel; personally, I cannot think of a bigger scoundrel today than Bush the lesser.]
As for me, I collect books and yesterday I found a signed first edition of Walter Cronkite’s autobiography. He is, you might make note, the last trusted man in America. I am going to read it before I go out and paint the fence with my Home Depot sprayer. You know the one I did not get the rebate for. Tomorrow I have to go to Home Depot; I hear they are having a big rebate sale.
p.s.: To my right wing colleague, Raoul Contreras Lowery who said I was wrong in saying that 50,000 died in Korea and only 35,000 died. I was wrong. From the American Battle Monuments Commission website the following quote is taken, “The Department of Defense reports that 54,246 American service men and women lost their lives during the Korean War.” My apologies to the 4,246 I left out in the number, I try to correct my errors when I can.
©Steven J. Ybarra JD is a retired civil rights attorney who operates a consultant company in California. He is a member of the Democratic National Committee and a long time political activist. Contact Steven at: sjybarra@aol.com. This article is copyright by Steven J. Ybarra JD, originally published in http://www.hispanicvista.com/ but permission is granted for reprint in print, email, blog, or web media if this entire credit paragraph is attached.