By 5:05 Sunday morning, Bob was back on the beach with his beer and a comfortable blanket. Had he motivated anyone? Had he done his share to try and get the O.U.T.R.A.G.E. organization off dead-center and into a new mode of realism? While he waited for the sun to come up, he pondered his involvement in this rebellious organization. Was he contributing anything of any substance, or had his tirade just been an hours-long way for him to blow off steam?
Living in a true democracy involves considerable risk because, in its purest form, democracy takes power - and therefore, accountability - away from a handful of individuals 'at the top' and hands it all to everyone. If America was to become an absolute democracy, there would be no blaming a President, of the Congress, when things went awry. The "people" would have to accept responsibility for the decisions they made. The old U.S.S.R. was an example of how things could turn out badly once the state stopped being the scapegoat. Under Communist rule, Russian citizens were used to having the government do everything for them: the state told its people where to live, what job to do, and basically controlled the lives of its subjects. When the Soviet Union collapsed, the 'new Russia' wasn't prepared to do things on their own. Millions of Russian citizens found it nearly impossible to make decisions on their own. They'd been so used to being told what to do that when given their 'freedom', they found themselves paralyzed into inaction. The Russian society collapsed. As 'free enetrprise' struggled to take hold, the only entrepreneurs were the country's thugs and criminals who took advantage of the chaos to make themselves outrageously wealthy. Even today, Russia's economy remained crippled from the collapse of totalitarianism as citizens experimented with capitalism for the first time in generations.
Bob took Sunday off, consumed with all of his thoughts as to how O.U.T.R.A.G.E. might turn their revolution into a revolutionary form of governance. He slept comfortably Sunday night, and woke up early Monday morning, December 15, 2008, prepared to once again join the ranks of this "urgent project" taking place in the conference room just down the hall.
He was surprised to see most of the conferees already in discussion. John McCain was the first to notice Bob as he walked into the room. "Bob Ryan," exclaimed McCain, "we were just talking about you. I'm so glad you decided to join us! There's lots more we need to discuss, and we welcome your valuable input."
Looking around the room, Ryan knew that he would be expected to expound on the 'sermon' he'd preached last Saturday and well into the wee hours of Sunday morning. It was as if they expected him to the prophet that might guide them out of the desert. When it was obvious they wanted him to speak, he began quietly, calmly and orderly:
"Look," he said slowly, "I know I said a lot of disturbing things Saturday night. But we have to acknowledge the impact that O.U.T.R.A.G.E. has had on the United States of America. A secret handful of about a hundred thousand people started actually initiated a second American 'revolution' last January. The 'charter members' of this organization conducted a high-tech rebellion against what had become an oppressive, tyrannical government that was corrupted, bloated, and unmanageable due to its sheer size and scale. That is our Constitutional right in America - although it had never been exercised so dramatically since the days of the original American Revolution. EXACTLY two hundred and seventeen years ago TODAY - on December 15, 1791, our Bill of Rights was ratified. The second amendment to that Bill of Rights gave us the right to 'keep and bear arms'. While that right has been abused, misinterpreted, distorted and exaggerated over the decades, it was the intent of our foundng fathers that we never be subjected to the hold of tyrannical and oppressive government. O.U.T.R.A.G.E. used a high-tech version of 'armament' to assassinate the President of the United States, most members of Congress, and much of the 'power base' that had put a stranglehold on this nation for much of the 20th century.
'Power' is a dangerous thing. In many marriages, one spouse might be the 'power' or 'wear the pants in the family'. In the business world, 'power' is in the hands of those who own or manage the business, be it a sole proprietorship or a giant corporation. In government, 'power' is easy to misemploye, and the vituperative impact can be damaging. There is no more universal truth than that two-word testimonial: 'Power corrupts'.
The people of the United States of America had unwittingly become victims of those who had too much power, too much wealth, and too much influence. Behind the scenes, those 'power brokers', those wealthy elitists, those celebrities who coveted more power, wealth and celebrity infused our government leadership with a villainage that ultimately suffocated the system. Politicians chose to become slaves of the slavers instead of servants of the people. The 'people' then became the least significant component of our democratic republic. That wasn't how is was supposed to be. But, even our founding fathers knew that democracy was flawed. Benjamin Franklin once said, 'When people fear the government, it is tyranny; when government fears the people, it is liberty.' John Adams predcited, 'Democracy will not last long [as] it soon wastes, exhausts and murders itself.' Finally, Thomas Jefferson pontificated that, 'The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.' Those prophesies have all been fulfilled. The Bush administration created a Hitler-esque Department of Homeland Security that pushed American into a police state, wherein citizens were presumed guilty until proven innocent. Adolph Hitler had demonstrated how easy it was to instill fear in the population, and - by doing so - how easy it was to control that population. George W. Bush simply followed Hitler's tactics and kept telling Americans how we should fear the 'evil empire'. It allowed Bush to run ripshod over the Constitution, gave him unprecedented, illegal powers, and caused people to fear the government. The most cowardly, incompetent, arrogant, corrupt Congress in U.S. history sat idly by and did nothing as their President (who also happened to be a member of their own political party) ramshackled the nation, wasting and exhausting its principles until the U.S.A. virtually murdered itself through neglect, greed, and apathy. O.U.T.R.A.G.E. comprised the group of 'patriots' that brought down a tyrannical and oppressive government. In its wake, the blood of many tyrants was shed.
Now we're embarked on a new course. The objective is a pure and unfettered democracy wherein the 'people' will rule. The 'people' will make every decision and the politicians will only be the mechanics that institute those decisions. Such a democracy is full of risks and dangers. There will almost certainly be impressive obstacles to overcome. Such a grandiose plan will not - ever - remove the ugly head of corruption, but if we can substance ourselves to modify a Constitution based on all the freedoms we've heretofore enjoyed, and complement that with a dedicated sense of compatibility, compassion, brotherhood, equality for all, and brotherhood among all citizens, we have a chance of cleansing this country of the poisons in which it drowns. We must make amends to those whom we've wronged, including everyone from the nations around the world that we've dominated for no justifiable reasons, to the homeless man on the streets of L.A. whom we've neglected in spite of our collective wealth and good fortune."
Surprisngly, Bob Ryan was becoming the great orator of his time...a virtual Thomas Jefferson of the 21st century. By 2:00 p.m. on Monday afternoon, Bob was back on the beach, sitting next to Cher on that comfortable blanket, sipping a cold beer, and sucking up all that St. Kitts sunshine.