Government ethics 101:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.
These words of Thomas Jefferson are the core principle of government. Perhaps nothing defines being American so much as a belief in these three sentences. So every American must be joyful at the fall of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi.
The bloodbath that the evil dictator promised hasn’t occurred. His troops defending his capital seem to have melted away as the rebel army drove, almost anti-climactically, into Tripoli.
What comes next no one can say. The people who united to oppose the dictator soon will have nothing so powerful to unite them. Qaddafi claimed—like Mubarak before him—that he was all there was between Libya and Al Qaeda-driven savagery. We’ll have to wait and see. Some revolutions produce results worse than the tyrants they overthrow. Think Robespierre, Cromwell, Lenin, Castro, Idi Amin. Some better. Think Washington, Ataturk.
But the Qaddafi regime for 42 years had not had the consent of the governed. Now the Libyan people have a chance to institute their new government. It may not be to America’s liking. But it must be to America’s liking that the governed have the chance. And it’s to America’s pride that our military and our NATO allies stepped in and stopped Qaddafi’s slaughter and gave Libya a new chance.
And if Qaddafi, can Assad be far behind?
Tags: al Qaeda, Assad, Ataturk, Castro, consent of the governed, Cromwell, Declaration of Independence, ethics, Idi Amin, Lenin, Libya, Muammar el-Qaddafi, Mubarak, Robespierre, Thomas Jefferson, Tripoli, U.S. military NATO allies, Washington
Ethics Bob 
August 22, 2011 at 9:09 am |
Very moving!!!!!!!!
These revolutions are like births, we need them to continue the species, but not every child will grow to be lovable.
Tyranny and its accommodation, seems to express some endemic part of the human character, otherwise it’s presence throughout
civilization is accidental, which seems an unlikely coincidence.
The question for me echos Einstein’s,” Is the universe friendly?”.
Are human beings as an extension of that vast territory more good than evil.For me the answer is yes!
LONG LIVE THE REVOLUTION!!!!!!!!!!( Of course only where it is necessary.)
August 22, 2011 at 10:14 am |
There’s far more good than evil in the world. Yeats explained the problem in his poem:
“The best lack all conviction
The worst are filled with passionate intensity.”
August 24, 2011 at 11:22 am |
The “words of Thomas Jefferson are core” principles of many things beyond just government. Jefferson now blogs at http://www.JeffersonLeadership.com/?page_id=68.
Three times each week he posts BRIEFLY on a variety of topics.
See how relevant his wisdom and leadership are for 2011!