UFO Secrecy and the Death of the American Republic

"UFO Secrecy and the Death of the American Republic
by Richard M. Dolan

Like the Agatha Christie twist in Murder on the Orient Express, there have been many killers of the American Republic.
There is of course the obvious culprit, finally and widely acknowledged these days. This is the Spirit (and reality) of Empire, which has provided a none-too-subtle knife in the back. Since the days of Rome, people have understood the incompatibility of republican institutions with the tools of conquest and empire. By the time of Caesar, for instance, Roman rule stretched throughout the Mediterranean, dominating peoples as diverse as those under American military hegemony today.
The problem back then was that the old Roman Senate, already with five centuries of history behind it, was designed for ruling Romans–in Rome. The Senate managed well enough during Rome’s conquest of Italy in the third century BC, and even during the pivotal Punic Wars with Carthage. But ruling faraway (and valuable) lands like Gaul and Egypt were not so simple. Caesar knew this as well as anyone. Solution: end of the Republic, and the creation of such offices as Dictator for Life. Then, after his assassination, Emperor. Indeed, we may wish to remember that Caesar’s successor, his nephew, the Emperor Augustus, stated that his own absolute rule was only temporary, and that he eventually intended to restore the republic.
Ultimately, republics cannot wear the armor of empire. That is because two central principles of republican philosophy–freedom and self-government–wither under its weight.
Empires mean war. Wars mean the stifling of dissent and constriction of free thought at home. This happens every time. Repeat: every time. It has happened in America today. Freedom of expression is a meaningless concept if everyone thinks the same. It is how dissenters are treated that enables us to measure how free a society is.
Empires also prevent people from governing themselves. That is because wars destroy truth. Without freedom of information from the elected and appointed leaders of our government–that is, without truth–how can ‘the people’ rule? This was a point heavily emphasized by America’s Founding Fathers. “An enlightened citizenry,” wrote Jefferson, “is indispensable for the proper functioning of a republic.” Madison agreed: “The diffusion of knowledge is the only true guardian of liberty.” But as Phillip Knightly observed in his classic study of the subject, the first casualty in war is truth. This fact is once again in evidence regarding America’s current fiascos in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The so-called War on Terror is simply the latest manifestation of the new order of things, of what we may call the Permanent Warfare State. In such a situation, the old republican virtues of freedom and self-government cannot survive.
One might argue that Empires don’t have to result in reduction of rights at home. Look at Britain, not a republic of course, but at least a “liberal” monarchy. The British Empire spread around the world, and Brits enjoyed a higher degree of freedom than many other peoples, at least during the Empire’s heyday during the 19th century. That’s true, but the other side of it is that we don’t know how free the British people would have been without Empire. And let us not forget that there was also a great deal of “unfreedom” in Britain, even during glory days of Britannia.
The American Empire Lest you doubt that America is indeed a bona fide empire that garrisons the world, consider that according to the Pentagon itself, the U.S. military has 860 bases in 41 foreign countries. That’s twenty percent of all the nations on Earth.

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