Lead By Example

I was recently looking at some songs that were popular with drag queens (back in the day). The remarks made by listeners and/or viewers often get my attention.

For instance when I was checking out the song His Eye is on the Sparrow I was shocked to see a comment from someone stating they had “never really understood the title or meaning of that song”.

Then the other day I was checking out the youtube video of Congressman Ron Paul talking about the governments bold statement that it can now legally assassinate heads of state, a US citizen and apparently anyone they deem a threat.

In his speech Ron Paul mentioned Habeas Corpus and how we citizens lost that with the implementation of the Patriot Act. Ron Paul mentioned how Habeas Corpus dated back to the signing of the Magna Carta in the 1200’s.

The U.S. National Archives has The Magna Carta listed as a Featured Document. The first page provides enlightenment on this matter:

King John of England agreed, in 1215, to the demands of his barons and authorized that handwritten copies of Magna Carta be prepared on parchment, affixed with his seal, and publicly read throughout the realm. Thus he bound not only himself but his "heirs, for ever" to grant "to all freemen of our kingdom" the rights and liberties the great charter described. With Magna Carta, King John placed himself and England's future sovereigns and magistrates within the rule of law.


When Englishmen left their homeland to establish colonies in the New World, they brought with them charters guaranteeing that they and their heirs would "have and enjoy all liberties and immunities of free and natural subjects." Scant generations later, when these American colonists raised arms against their mother country, they were fighting not for new freedoms but to preserve liberties that dated to the 13th century.


When representatives of the young republic of the United States gathered to draft a constitution, they turned to the legal system they knew and admired--English common law as evolved from Magna Carta. The conceptual debt to the great charter is particularly obvious: the American Constitution is "the Supreme Law of the Land," just as the rights granted by Magna Carta were not to be arbitrarily canceled by subsequent English laws.


This heritage is most clearly apparent in our Bill of Rights. The fifth amendment guarantees


No person shall...be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law


Written 575 years earlier, Magna Carta declares


No freeman shall be taken, imprisoned,...or in any other way destroyed...except by the lawful judgment of his peers, or by the law of the land. To no one will we sell, to none will we deny or delay, right or justice.

Indeed, blood has been shed in order to preserve these rights. Yet we allowed them to be removed with a stroke of a pen.

I remember when I found out they were taking away Habeas Corpus. I was in shock and telling everyone I knew that this was wrong. That Habeas Corpus is the foundational cornerstone of civil liberty. Without it, we can be arrestted, detained and imprisonned without even being told why and without a trial! This is a huge step backwards.

Ron Paul seemed as shocked about it as I was. He also, could not believe the American people sat silent while being stripped of this basic right.

I loved the message in the video but one of the comments struck a nerve with me. The comment suggested that the “Government Lead By Example”.

This struck me as an odd statement. Irregardless of how the Government acts, it is always ‘the example’. I can only hope the intent of the comment was to say the Government needs to take more responsibility for the example it is setting.

The current societal climate is not good. We see children committing murder, school climates that push kids to suicide, citizens flying airplanes into government buildings and abuse of power scenarios playing out in rapid succession.

These are some of the side effects from the example our government is setting.

When people see our government in debt up to its ears, they follow the example. When people see our government take nearly half of our earnings, those who can, follow the example. When people see our government breaking laws and lying, they follow the example.

Indeed, our government sets an example everyday and people notice.

It would seem parts of our government have turned into a bully. It would also seem the bully has become so big and powerful that we the people may not be able to bring much needed change.

We are now required to obtain permits to protest and the authorities decide where we will be allowed. Often times, being placed far from ‘the action’ itself.

The young people and the public school system is a sort of litmus test. We see school students being bullied so badly they commit suicide. We see school students committing pre-meditated murder against other students and teachers (individually and as co-conspirators).

Our society sends many messages each day. Unfortunately so many of them are negative, condemning, judgmental and damaging.

It’s rather difficult to have positive results when surrounded by so much negativity.

But every once in awhile we see a bright ray of hope and that reminds us to never give up. Never give up hope.

We need more love in the world. Great people have died because of this simple message. The truth is powerful but often interrupts the plans laid by those in power. After all, they wouldn’t want the people to feel secure and loved. That would directly conflict with a divide and conquer strategy.