Critical thinking skills in action: Your policy analysis of current events, past and presentInstructions: In order to understand current events, people may have to discern among competing statements regarding facts, meaning, and policy opinions. This assignment has you:

Read a history of US government current events that are typically omitted from high school US History texts, included in many AP texts, and always included in comprehensive college courses. These accounts are not contested to my knowledge; that is, non-controversial for factual accuracy. Current events of our present cannot be understood without this history to place the present into context.

Research one current, important issue of interest for you. Compare different sources of reports in good faith effort to receive comprehensive facts.

Use critical thinking skills to determine the key facts as you best see them, reflect and communicate what the facts mean for you, and state your best policy response from your current understanding in writing.

Use your written information as notes to report your findings to the class.

To begin, read the sections below by the due date. Prepare to discuss the section questions listed below. Each reading section will have the short-response questions due at the start of the next class period (details below). As you read, research the documentation at your interest. Please do independent research at your interest.

At the end of all the reading, select one current event from the list provided, or propose your own for my approval. Consider the questions and resources for each topic, do your own research, and answer all twelve questions at the end of the assignment. I suggest that you access the electronic version. This activates the numerous Internet links, and allows you to cut and paste the questions for your word processing program.

Print a copy of your answers to present your findings to the class.

This assignment is 67 points: 23 for written responses to questions: 1 point per question (10 for #3, a brief), 2 for grammar

and spelling. 22 for your oral brief to the class (3-12 only): 1 point per question (5 for #3), 5 for visual

element (Prezi, Animoto, video, etc. (up to five extra for great work), 2 for clarity. 22 for reading comprehension short-responses: 2 points per 11 sections.

Sections:1. Purpose of Social Science, challenge to get the facts: pages 5-9 2. Your competent citizenry: three of historys greatest voices: 10-13

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3. Reviewing California Content Standards and critical thinking skills: 14-18 4. A revealing current event of our United States: MCA: 19-25 5. Revealing current event: waterboarding and its reporting by corporate media: 26-34 6. Past current events: Native American treaties, Mexican-American War: 35-38 7. Past current events: US overthrow of Hawaii, Spanish-American War: 39-44 8. Past current events: World War 1, CIA wars, Vietnam War: 45-50 9. King familys civil trial for the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: 51-56 10. Critical thinking skills in action: policy analysis of current events assignment: 57-64 11. Great voices in history offer insights for effective citizenry: 65-74

Reading comprehension short-responses instructions: This assignment will help your learning (and grade). Short-responses can be brief; they can be bullet points. They must clearly demonstrate your understanding of the ideas. Please note: do not directly copy your responses with classmates: you are welcome to benefit from class discussions to improve your ideas, but plagiarized work results in zero grades for giver and receiver, plus school policy consequences.

1. Purpose of Social Science, challenge to get the facts: pages 5-9: The History-Social Science Framework for California Public Schools articulates the context or

reason to learn US history, government and economics. Explain briefly what this document says about the focus of these classes. Include the skills we want students to master from them, how to teach controversial topics, and the importance of critical thinking skills.

Expert testimony is from someone with academic training and/or professional experience to walk an audience through facts of a complex issue. Explain why clear explanation and independently verifiable comprehensive data are the two ways to evaluate the effectiveness of expert testimony.

Explain why a person of reasonable intelligence can determine for him or herself when a basic law is being outrageously violated when the person knows the law; that is, the explanation of an alleged expert or the president of the US is not needed to verify the outrageous violation. Invent or explain an example with a rule or law to show your understanding of this idea.

2. Your competent citizenry: three of historys greatest voices: 10-13: Explain Ciceros admonition against people who avoid a really big responsibility (Cicero was a

leader to defend Romes constitutional government from those who would subvert it for dictatorial power unlimited by the rules of a constitution).

Gandhi wrote that he wanted to serve the British Constitution and God in communicating to the public the gap between British law and what the British were actually doing with grossly unequal treatment. Explain Gandhis strategy to remove this misunderstanding.

Explain what Dr. King meant that silence is betrayal. Explain if this is what J.K. Rowling also meant in her remarks to Harvard graduates in 2008.

3. Reviewing California Content Standards and critical thinking skills: 14-18: Explain why understanding and applying the fundamental principles and moral values

(inalienable rights) of American democracy is a big deal.

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Explain the three components of critical thinking and civic competence that this section reviews.

Explain how Lincolns advice of unimpassioned reason can overcome cognitive dissonance.

4. A revealing current events of our United States: MCA: 19-25: Explain what the Military Commissions Act of 2006 allows. Explain US Constitution Bill of Rights guarantees that MCA violates. Explain how the Mexican-American War of 1846 was a clear violation of a treaty by the US, or

how the US could legally avoid the Adams-Ons Treaty.

5. Revealing current event: waterboarding and its reporting by corporate media: 26-34: Explain what case law is, and its use to determine if a specific act already decided by the courts

is a lawful or unlawful act in the present. Explain what Harvards Kennedy School of Government published about their review of the

US four most-read newspapers about labeling waterboarding as torture. Explain what the polling data says about Americans trust of US corporate media reporting.

Given the examples of NY Times coverage of the UN Summit for Children, Occupy Wall Street, and your personal experience of corporate media, explain the degree that you trust US corporate media reporting.

6. Past current events: Native American treaties, Mexican-American War: 35-38: Explain what a treaty means under Article Six of the US Constitution; that is, when a US

president signs a legal agreement and its ratified by at least 2/3 of the Senate, how obligated is the US to follow what it says?

Explain your analysis (what you see when you take something apart and study it) of the 1869 Board of Indian Commissioners report.

If a person knows what a treaty means under the US Constitution, knows the basic ideas of the Adams-Ons Treaty, and knows the spot where President Polk claimed that Mexico invaded the US, if that person needs anybodys help to know if the president is telling the truth or not about who invaded whom, and on whose soil blood was shed.

7. Past current events: US overthrow of Hawaii, Spanish-American War: 39-44: Explain how the US overthrow of Hawaiis government was unlawful or lawful. Explain whether the US takeover of the Philippines was an expression of spreading democracy,

or imperialism to control strategic resources (like a naval base) and make corporate profits. Explain whether US support of a vicious dictator in Cuba is an expression of spreading

democracy, or imperialism to control resources and make corporate profits.

8. Past current events: World War 1, CIA wars, Vietnam War: 45-50: Given Mexicos obvious response to reject Germanys invitation to invade and attack the US if

the US declared war with Germany first, explain how the Zimmerman Telegram posed a threat to US national security, or whether there was no national security threat.

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After multiple CIA overthrows of democratic governments, explain what Operation Northwoods would do to make the American public more willing to support direct US military use to overthrow governments.

Explain how the Vietnam War was an expression of spreading democracy, or imperialism for control and corporate profits.

9. King familys civil trial for the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: 51-56: Explain the evidence that supports the King family and civil trial jurys conclusion that the US

government assassinated Dr. King. The official assassin, James Ray, claims that the government-appointed attorney told him he

needed to sign a confession in order to obtain a trial. When Ray explained this and he asked for a trial, he was denied, despite the formal requests from the King family and the admission of evidence that Ray was not the killer. Rays government-appointed attorney refused to comment. Given the evidence from the civil trial, explain your analysis of the validity of Rays confession.

Explain the burden of proof someone takes when they assert an idea is crazy and/or a conspiracy theory. For the claim, the idea our own government assassinated Dr. King is a crazy conspiracy theory, what can you legitimately ask the person to explain and prove?

10. Critical thinking skills in action: policy analysis of current events assignment: 57-64: Explain what current event youd like to research from the list or the idea youre proposing to

me, and why this topic is of interest.

11. Great voices in history offer insights for effective citizenry: 65-74: Paraphrase your three most favorite quotes from the list, and why theyre your favorites. Your

paraphrasing may be concise if its accurate. Youll need to do this as homework.

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Purpose of Social Science, challenge to get the facts

To understand why we study social science in California public schools, we find the answer here: History-Social Science Framework for California Public Schools, pgs. 2, 7-8

The study of continuity and change is, as it happens, the main focus of the historysocial science curriculum. The knowledge provided by these disciplines enables students to appreciate how ideas, events, and individuals have intersected to produce change over time as well as to recognize the conditions and forces that maintain continuity within human societies.

As educators in the field of historysocial science, we want our students to perceive the complexity of social, economic, and political problems. We want them to have the ability to differentiate between what is important and what is unimportant. We want them to know their rights and responsibilities as American citizens. We want them to understand the meaning of the Constitution as a social contract that defines our democratic government and guarantees our individual rights. We want them to respect the right of others to differ with them. We want them to take an active role as citizens and to know how to work for change in a democratic society. We want them to understand the value, the importance, and the fragility of democratic institutions. We want them to realize that only a small fraction of the worlds population (now or in the past) has been fortunate enough to live under a democratic form of government, and we want them to understand the conditions that encourage democracy to prosper. We want them to develop a keen sense of ethics and citizenship. And we want them to care deeply about the quality of life in their community, their nation, and their world.

This framework encourages teachers to present controversial issues honestly and accurately within their historical or contemporary context. History without controversy is not good history, nor is such history as interesting to students as an account that captures the debates of the times. Students should understand that the events in history provoked controversy as do the events reported in todays headlines. Students should try to see historical controversies through the different perspectives of participants. These controversies can best be portrayed by using primary sources, such as newspapers, court decisions, and speeches that represent different views. Students should also recognize that historians often disagree about the interpretation of historical events and that todays textbooks may be altered by future research. Through the study of controversial issues, both in history and in current affairs, students should learn that people in a democratic society have the right to disagree, that different perspectives have to be taken into account, and that judgments should be based on reasonable evidence and not on bias and emotion.

This framework proposes that critical thinking skills be included at every grade level. Students should learn to detect bias in print and visual media; to recognize illogical thinking; to guard against propaganda; to avoid stereotyping of group members; to reach

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conclusions based on solid evidence; and to think critically, creatively, and rationally. These skills are to be taught within the context of a curriculum that offers numerous opportunities to explore examples of sound reasoning and examples of the opposite. The above passages from the California Department of Education explicitly support your learning critical thinking skills and applying them for your analysis of our most important current events. The Framework emphasizes the fragility of democratic forms of government and the need for developing your competent citizenry within a constitutional republic.

We shall do so.

The following assignment will take a few hours of your time to read, and further time to verify factual accuracy of the claims. It will then take a few hours to research a current event of your own and answer the question for your analysis. That said, if youve spent more than a few hours wondering about how truthful politicians and corporate media really are, and youve wanted to develop the critical thinking skills to know for yourself the extent that factual claims are true regarding policies that are literally life or death to millions, can uplift or impose tyranny to billions, and direct trillions of our dollars, then this investment of reading is worthwhile.

My challenge in teaching this to you is how to appropriately communicate the facts of historical and current events while bridging gaps of history unknown to you. That statement doesnt appear to be challenging at all, at first. I mean, thats what all teaching does, to communicate the facts, yes? But you will discover the challenge of getting to the facts of history that is central to a governments interests with resources, money, and power in this reading :)

Please allow me to explain this deceptively simple challenge.

Part of my professional contribution to you is my experience working with leadership of both political parties and US corporate media. The insight people gain who do this is similar to the discovery in the movie The Wizard of Oz when our protagonists seeking intelligence, love, courage, and home see the veil of power pulled back. The story shows that the dominating images and sounds of government are contrived distractions to elicit obedience. We see a human hand upon these knobs and levers that prefers dictatorial power (literally the power to say what we do) rather than educate and empower the will of the people in a democracy, just as our above passage from the California teaching Framework states is the tendency. This wisdom allows us to recognize distractions and propaganda from politicians and media for what they are, and address political leadership, our wizards, face-to-face with the power of objective facts and without fear.

The following paragraph of my background is what I also shared with your parents/guardians in my letter to them:

For 18 years I helped create and grow the citizens lobby, RESULTS now in over 100 US communities and 7 countries, working with economics and policy to end domestic and global

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poverty. RESULTS has been a leading voice for US Head Start programs that reach over a million children. The United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF) Executive Director, James Grant, credited RESULTS with saving over one million childrens lives a year from increased funding we won for cost-effective programs that reduce infant mortality. We championed two UN Summits for heads of state: the 1990 World Summit for Children (largest meeting of heads of state in world history) and the 1997 Microcredit Summit (topic of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Economics). The UN and nations were so impressed with our work that they asked RESULTS to manage nations progress toward the Microcredit Summits goals. Today, over 100 million of the worlds lowest income families now have access to credit; a total population greater than the United States. This saves millions of lives, tremendously improves quality of life, and in every historical case has reduced population growth rates and promoted wiser environmental management.

Part of my work was to help frame and document information on 200-300 policy briefs for members of Congress and heads of state. We practiced the highest professional and academic standards for the accuracy and documentation of our information. Moreover, we helped anticipate and counter likely attacks on our information from political opponents.

Since 1997 Ive focused my hobby on economics research, writing, and lobbying (teaching is my career). The short version: I helped create The Public Banking Institute by initiating lobbying for a California state-owned bank for at-cost credit, and am a leading advocate for reforms in government CAFR data (Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports), and credit and monetary reform (for example, I was one of six international speakers at Claremont Colleges conference on monetary reform in April, 2012). I publish on three main sites: CSU Sonomas Daily Censored, Washingtons Blog, and Examiner.com. Other sites republish from there.

Project Censored is one of the organizations that we should listen to, to be assured that our newspapers and our broadcasting outlets are practicing thorough and ethical journalism. - Walter Cronkite, 2004, US news journalist likely the most-respected in all US history

Btw: I had assumed my leadership in the above areas would result in my hire to work in government for policy development and realization. Because both parties leadership has so far declined to commit to any of the above policies, Ive worked as a teacher since 1984. I take teaching social science with the same passion as I do for its real-world application: Im a National Board Certified Teacher, and was honored by two Los Angeles mayors and USC for being among the best teachers in the city.

My experience working with state legislators, Congress, three US presidents, two UN Summits, and directly engaged with US corporate media coverage qualifies my brief to you (this assignment) as expert testimony to compare objective facts of current events with the rhetoric of political leadership and corporate media. Evidence also indicates that Ive been effective to appropriately create assignments for high school-age students to learn critical thinking skills and apply them to understand current events.

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http://www.results.org/about/our_results/http://www.results.org/about/our_results/http://www.unicef.org/wsc/http://www.unicef.org/wsc/http://www.microcreditsummit.org/http://www.microcreditsummit.org/http://www.microcreditsummit.org/state_of_the_campaign_report/http://www.microcreditsummit.org/state_of_the_campaign_report/http://www.microcreditsummit.org/state_of_the_campaign_report/http://www.microcreditsummit.org/state_of_the_campaign_report/http://publicbankinginstitute.org/home.htmhttp://publicbankinginstitute.org/home.htmhttp://www.examiner.com/article/ca-finance-director-no-hidden-money-ca-cafr-600-billion-hidden-moneyhttp://www.examiner.com/article/ca-finance-director-no-hidden-money-ca-cafr-600-billion-hidden-moneyhttp://www.examiner.com/article/3-reforms-for-us-economic-breakthrough-money-credit-cafrhttp://www.examiner.com/article/3-reforms-for-us-economic-breakthrough-money-credit-cafrhttp://www.examiner.com/article/3-reforms-for-us-economic-breakthrough-money-credit-cafrhttp://www.examiner.com/article/3-reforms-for-us-economic-breakthrough-money-credit-cafrhttp://www.examiner.com/article/carl-herman-explains-working-with-criminal-1-at-two-un-summits-monetary-reformhttp://www.examiner.com/article/carl-herman-explains-working-with-criminal-1-at-two-un-summits-monetary-reformhttp://www.examiner.com/article/carl-herman-explains-working-with-criminal-1-at-two-un-summits-monetary-reformhttp://www.examiner.com/article/carl-herman-explains-working-with-criminal-1-at-two-un-summits-monetary-reformhttp://www.dailycensored.com/author/carl_herman/http://www.dailycensored.com/author/carl_herman/http://www.dailycensored.com/author/carl_herman/http://www.dailycensored.com/author/carl_herman/http://www.washingtonsblog.com/author/carl-hermanhttp://www.washingtonsblog.com/author/carl-hermanhttp://www.examiner.com/nonpartisan-in-national/carl-hermanhttp://www.examiner.com/nonpartisan-in-national/carl-hermanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Cronkitehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Cronkitehttp://www.powells.com/biblio?isbn=1583226052http://www.powells.com/biblio?isbn=1583226052http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Expert+Testimonyhttp://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Expert+Testimony

Importantly, expert testimony is never to be believed. That is, since The Enlightenment, authorities are never to be believed on their word but to be used as possible guides to point to objective data.

I will always encourage you to never believe anything I say regarding government, economics, and history. If Im successful in my teaching you critical thinking skills, youll be able to ascertain credibility for factual claims on your own. Indeed, anyone of ethics will never ask for belief, but transparently provide evidence for others thoughtful consideration. Those of us who are serious to get to the facts in social science are deeply appreciative just how hard it is to do so, and apply professional and academic standards in our communication.

Expert testimony is only any good to the extent it does two things for the reader/audience:

1. Help understand available facts rather than confuse or obfuscate.2. Transparently present facts that are objectively true. That is, the testimony shines light upon

data that thereafter anyone can confirm or refute. This removes any need for belief, as the facts will speak for themselves.

Successful expert testimony therefore allows an audience that had been confused by an issue at first to understand it in concept and factual detail. The audience would thereafter be able to look at the data and understand the issue for themselves.

For example, baseball is confusing to someone new to the game. Imagine you became friends with a foreign exchange student who was familiar with baseball, but never saw a game. You two go to a game. If you explained the rule of when a runner is safe or out at first base, your friend would have a noticeable breakthrough in understanding what was going on. Indeed, your friend might ask your opinion on a close play, but could independently see with full confidence when runners are safe or out at first base.

Importantly, if a runner was out by twenty feet and the umpire called the person safe, and the official media at the game also said the runner was safe, your friend could determine with full confidence that the game was rigged.

Important rules are meant to be crystal-clear to everyone. Egregious violation is clear to anyone informed on the rules, paying attention, and with the intellectual integrity and moral courage to tell the truth.

Similarly, if you understood basic Constitutional rules, you also might ask someones opinion on a close play, but when there are egregious violations of the law you wouldnt need anyone to confirm the obvious. The facts would tell you the whole story.

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This is as true with laws of war and torture as they are with laws of stop signs while driving, and perhaps your familys rule about taking out the trash after dinner (8 PM after dinner is close enough to be simply reminded; not having it done by 8 AM the following day is a clear violation).

So, students and young citizens, in hope that my experience speaks to you, and that important current events mean life or death to millions, opportunity or misery to billions, and the power of trillions of our dollars that will have effects on these conditions, I respectfully request your full attention to this lesson.

I understand that Im asking for your time to read, research, and write. My respect for your time and attention is balanced by my experience of what seems to be required to achieve your learning of critical thinking skills to understand current events for what they are rather than the noises and flashes of distracting colors that come from politicians and corporate medias mouths.

My intent is to empower you with this skill for the rest of your life.

"At first blush, a man is not capable of reporting truth; he must be drenched and saturated with it first." - Henry David Thoreau, I to myself: an annotated selection from the journal of Henry D. Thoreau, 1837. Thoreau, like Abraham Lincoln in a speech on the floor of the House of Representatives, recognized claimed reasons for a defensive war against Mexico were obvious lies when inspected.

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http://books.google.com/books?id=3FEJA_dAewgC&printsec=frontcover&dq=henry+david+thoreau+i+to+myself&source=bl&ots=gIK0MAnvwZ&sig=yhFToDnWwWK7WXHd5ETXitfPit8&hl=en&ei=uMvQS_vIM4LStgOPh9GMCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CAYQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&qhttp://books.google.com/books?id=3FEJA_dAewgC&printsec=frontcover&dq=henry+david+thoreau+i+to+myself&source=bl&ots=gIK0MAnvwZ&sig=yhFToDnWwWK7WXHd5ETXitfPit8&hl=en&ei=uMvQS_vIM4LStgOPh9GMCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CAYQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&qhttp://books.google.com/books?id=3FEJA_dAewgC&printsec=frontcover&dq=henry+david+thoreau+i+to+myself&source=bl&ots=gIK0MAnvwZ&sig=yhFToDnWwWK7WXHd5ETXitfPit8&hl=en&ei=uMvQS_vIM4LStgOPh9GMCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CAYQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&qhttp://books.google.com/books?id=3FEJA_dAewgC&printsec=frontcover&dq=henry+david+thoreau+i+to+myself&source=bl&ots=gIK0MAnvwZ&sig=yhFToDnWwWK7WXHd5ETXitfPit8&hl=en&ei=uMvQS_vIM4LStgOPh9GMCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CAYQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&qhttp://www.examiner.com/la-county-nonpartisan-in-los-angeles/abraham-lincoln-on-unconstitutional-us-wars-of-invasion-courageously-standing-against-obvious-lieshttp://www.examiner.com/la-county-nonpartisan-in-los-angeles/abraham-lincoln-on-unconstitutional-us-wars-of-invasion-courageously-standing-against-obvious-lieshttp://www.examiner.com/la-county-nonpartisan-in-los-angeles/abraham-lincoln-on-unconstitutional-us-wars-of-invasion-courageously-standing-against-obvious-lieshttp://www.examiner.com/la-county-nonpartisan-in-los-angeles/abraham-lincoln-on-unconstitutional-us-wars-of-invasion-courageously-standing-against-obvious-lies

Your competent citizenry: three of historys greatest voices

Lets consider three of historys greatest voices to understand the fragility of democracy and the demand of your civic competence to defend it. These historic current events were at the heart of having democracy rather than dictatorship.

First: Marcus Tullius Cicero, Romes leading political figure who stood for their constitutional republic as would-be dictators and paid-off Senators sought to subvert their government to an oligarchic dictatorship. Cicero rejected an offer of money and power to silence his criticism of Romes move toward unconstitutional dictatorship. He felt it was his duty to voice the long-term costs and benefits of the choice between citizen responsibility to stand for their constitutional rights or to submit to dictatorial tyrants.

One of the most important lessons of history is to understand that Cicero and his colleagues failed, as had similar statesmen defending Greece from internal subversion to dictatorship four hundred years earlier.

The American Founding Fathers read and embraced Cicero in consideration of how to create a US Constitution with the best hope to survive tyranny from within our own country. They understood the danger that the United States must have competent citizens in recognizing emerging facts of ongoing current events, or else suffer similar self-destruction as Greece and Romes democratic republics into dictatorial and war-mongering empires, and then collapse.

Cicero wrote to encourage his fellow citizens to embrace the responsibility of defending their constitutional republic from dictatorial forces, and the fragility of freedom if they chose short-term pleasures:

We denounce with righteous indignation and dislike men who are so beguiled and demoralized by the charms of pleasure of the moment, so blinded by desire, that they cannot foresee the pain and trouble that are bound to ensue; and equal blame belongs to those who fail in their duty through weakness of will, which is the same as saying through shrinking from toil and pain. These cases are perfectly simple and easy to distinguish. In a free hour, when our power of choice is untrammeled and when nothing prevents our being able to do what we like best, every pleasure is to be welcomed and every pain avoided. But in certain circumstances and owing to the claims of duty or the obligations of business it will frequently occur that pleasures have to be repudiated and annoyances accepted. The wise man therefore always holds in these matters to this principle of selection: he rejects pleasures to secure other greater pleasures, or else he endures pains to avoid worse pains. - Marcus Tullius Cicero, On Duties: The Extremes of Good and Evil, 44 BCE, translated by H. Rackham (1914).

Second: Mohandas Gandhi was an attorney who acted for realization of the civil rights in the rhetoric and religion of the British Empire. When the empire refused to recognize those civil and

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Christian rights, Gandhi led the movement for Indian independence from British imperialism. As an attorney, Gandhi had the academic training and professional experience to powerfully voice the hypocrisy of the Empires promises of democracy, civil rights, and rule of law versus the reality of denying the public their power of vote, crushing civil rights, and then using the law to criminalize the publics voice for those rights. Gandhi also shone light upon the hypocrisy between the British declared religious values of Christianity versus their brutal attacks and public enslavement. Gandhi asked British Christians to honor the one commandment Jesus gave them: love.

Gandhi asked that the British show their love by granting full political and civil rights to all, and with equal protection under just laws. The British response was propaganda and force to retain their dictatorial and unlawful control.

Gandhi communicated to the public through speech, media that would accept his voice, and his own newspaper. He found that he had to address that current events as propagandized by the British government was very different from the actual facts:

"One thing we have endeavoured to observe most scrupulously, namely, never to depart from the strictest facts and, in dealing with the difficult questions that have arisen during the year, we hope that we have used the utmost moderation possible under the circumstances. Our duty is very simple and plain. We want to serve the community, and in our own humble way to serve the Empire. We believe in the righteousness of the cause, which it is our privilege to espouse. We have an abiding faith in the mercy of the Almighty God, and we have firm faith in the British Constitution. That being so, we should fail in our duty if we wrote anything with a view to hurt. Facts we would always place before our readers, whether they are palatable or not, and it is by placing them constantly before the public in their nakedness that the misunderstanding can be removed." - Mohandas K. Gandhi, Indian Opinion (1 October 1903)

Another quote youve probably heard that is attributed to Gandhi but unsourced, explains the British governments strategy to stop activists work for recognition of their rights:

First they ignore you. Then they laugh at you. Then they fight you. And then you win.

Regarding your opportunity to earn extra credit, I invite you to watch and then do some kind of review of the 1982 movie, Gandhi. It won eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture. For the HD official trailer, view here.

Need an excuse to ask someone you like in our class on a date? Youre welcome :)

Third: Dr. Martin Luther King stood for civil rights and equal protection under American laws for all. Dr. King learned from Gandhi, and powerfully communicated the 100 years of American hypocrisy between the legal promises of citizenship and rights versus the reality of brutal

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segregationist oppression by government. For the last year of his life, Dr. King addressed the unlawful Vietnam War. His plan for the summer of 1968 was to lead a march and then camp-in at Washington, D.C. until the US government ended the Vietnam War, and directed war resources to end poverty and invest in US hard and soft infrastructure. He was assassinated after his last speech before beginning the march to D.C. in April, 1968.

Dr. King also had to address Americans difficulty to look their Wizard in the eye and address their government directly and without fear:

A time comes when silence is betrayal. That time has come for us... The truth of these words is beyond doubt but the mission to which they call us is a most difficult one. Even when pressed by the demands of inner truth, men do not easily assume the task of opposing their government's policy, especially in time of war. Nor does the human spirit move without great difficulty against all the apathy of conformist thought within one's own bosom and in the surrounding world.

... A true revolution of values will soon cause us to question the fairness and justice of many of our past and present policies. ... A true revolution of values will soon look uneasily on the glaring contrast of poverty and wealth. ... A genuine revolution of values means in the final analysis that our loyalties must become ecumenical rather than sectional. Every nation must now develop an overriding loyalty to mankind as a whole in order to preserve the best in their individual societies. ...We can no longer afford to worship the god of hate or bow before the altar of retaliation. The oceans of history are made turbulent by the ever-rising tides of hate. And history is cluttered with the wreckage of nations and individuals that pursued this self-defeating path of hate.

... These are revolutionary times.

- Dr. Martin Luther King, Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence

And one surprise bonus for citizen competence in a participatory democracy in order to build a brighter future: Harry Potter author, J.K. Rowling at Harvards 2008 Commencement:

Every day, I saw more evidence about the evils humankind will inflict on their fellow humans to gain or maintain power What is more, those who choose not to empathize may enable real monsters. For without ever committing an act of outright evil ourselves, we collude with it through our own apathy If you choose to use your status and influence to raise your voice on behalf of those who have no voice; if you choose to identify not only with the powerful, but with the powerless; if you retain the ability to imagine yourself into the lives of those who do not have your advantages, then it will not only be your proud families who celebrate your existence, but thousands and millions of people whose reality you have helped transform for the better. We do not need magic to

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http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/45a/058.html%20http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/45a/058.html%20http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2008/06/text-of-j-k-rowling-speech/http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2008/06/text-of-j-k-rowling-speech/

change the world, we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already: we have the power to imagine better.

As these quotes assert, part of responsible citizenry is to hold political leaders accountable for the public good. To do so, citizens must understand the fundamental rights promised by government and the facts of current events. This is required to avoid tyranny and constructively use the power of our group work funded by our group resources (another word for government).

To naively trust power to the people in government is against the intent and design of the US Constitution. Indeed, without intelligent and courageous citizen leaders, the United States would never have become a nation. The US was created only from courageous citizens who drove a political wedge between those who valued and demanded their political and civil rights promised in their Bill of Rights from British government leadership who would take those those rights away to increase their own power and monetary profit.

Knowledge of your rights, powerful communication of those rights, and the courage to stand for your rights are much of the California teaching standards for the course on US Government, as you shall read next.

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Reviewing California Content Standards and critical thinking skills

Principles of American Democracy Content Standards: California State Curriculum12.1: Students explain the fundamental principles and moral values of American democracy as expressed in the U.S. Constitution and other essential documents of American democracy. 12.2: Students evaluate and take and defend positions on the scope and limits of rights and obligations as democratic citizens, the relationships among them, and how they are secured. 12.3: Students evaluate and take and defend positions on what the fundamental values and principles of civil society are (i.e., the autonomous sphere of voluntary personal, social, and economic relations that are not part of government), their interdependence, and the meaning and importance of those values and principles for a free society. 12.6: Students evaluate issues regarding campaigns for national, state, and local elective offices. 12.8: Students evaluate and take and defend positions on the influence of the media on American political life. 12.9: Students analyze the origins, characteristics, and development of different political systems across time, with emphasis on the quest for political democracy, its advances, and its obstacles. 12.10: Students formulate questions about and defend their analyses of tensions within our constitutional democracy and the importance of maintaining a balance between the following concepts: majority rule and individual rights; liberty and equality; state and national authority in a federal system; civil disobedience and the rule of law; freedom of the press and the right to a fair trial; the relationship of religion and government.

These principles of American democracy can only be practiced and realized through civic participation with the current events of the day, our most important policy decisions. Rational civic participation, of course, is only possible through mastery of critical thinking skills.

This is a big deal, and the purpose of this assignment.

The California Framework and Content Standards, the admonitions of a few of humanitys most honored historical figures, and I hope now your own conclusions have prepared you to provide your full attention and care to this assignment. Your success empowers your citizenship in ongoingly building a brighter future

The only missing component is your declaration and promise that you have the will, the intellectual integrity, and moral courage to accept being a competent citizen. You may make this declaration and promise to yourself, now, if you so choose.

Literally billions of human voices ask this of you, with all their heart. Do you accept?

Lets review our last assignment on critical thinking skills with attention to how they apply to analysis of current events.

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http://(http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/hstgrade12.asphttp://(http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/hstgrade12.asp

Part of the political climate you enter as young adults is public ambiguity as to what the facts are concerning important political actions, irrational and vicious argument, and disengagement from public participation in policy decisions. This is why its difficult for almost all students your age to tolerate listening to most politicians and media pundits. You feel that politicians and medias words are at least lies of omission, and that they definitely do not respect American citizens enough to fully and honestly educate them on the issues, and work as the publics partners to represent their educated views in policy.

For those paying attention, such politicians and media voices who go after the comprehensive facts, attempt to educate the public, and work for the glaring economic needs of the public are recognized as rare national treasures.

The condition of the American publics confusion and temptation for apathy call for a breakthrough in critical thinking skills for their civic competence. Your competence with critical thinking skills and participation can, and should, be a voice of reason with all you touch. As I presented in your first assignment on critical thinking, I suggest that whats needed for your next ~70 years of citizenry are your mastery of three specific skills:

Discern fact from spin. Participate in civil conversations based on fact. Engage in policy decisions.

We will help each other master the above skills daily in our class discussions.

A note about controversy: the etymology of this word is a Latin compound that roughly means talking against each other. To converse means to be talking together. In democracy, talking against each other, controversy, is predictable and welcome. As we discussed in the assignment on critical thinking, policy consideration begins with people of intellectual integrity and moral courage helping each other get the facts. Facts are the same for everyone, objective, and independently verifiable. We then welcome multiple points of view as to the meaning of those facts; in other words, controversy. Controversy allows the entire audience depth of discussion and multiple policy options. Therefore, we embrace controversy. With your mastery of critical thinking, you will be a voice of reason for the facts, encourage rational discussion with diverse views as to interpretation and policy proposals, support a democratic vote, and respect the losing policy as a possible future option should the winning policy not perform to expectations.

The etymology of diverse is to intentionally separate. Encouraging diversity adds depth, unforeseen perspective, and variety of choice; all good in political discussion when based on factual accuracy.

In our consideration of government and economics, we will embrace controversy and diversity. We will use prima facie evidence and help each other clarify facts. We welcome multiple views based on fact.

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We touched on the psychological term, cognitive dissonance in the last assignment. Lets consider it deeper here. When ones beliefs are challenged by factual evidence, people without intellectual integrity and moral courage will reject the facts in order to cling to their belief system.

A lie is a story known to be untrue. When someone refuses to consider facts, then whatever is communicated without those facts is at least a lie of omission. Being afraid means that one is not facing something difficult. Rejecting facts from fear of changing what one believes is both an act of fear and irrational.

You wouldnt want to still believe in Santa and the Easter Bunny, would you?

Cognitive dissonance tells us that when the facts collide with our beliefs, there are two possible outcomes. One is that we have the intellectual integrity and moral courage to embrace factual analysis. The other is to reject the facts, keep ones falsified belief system, and choose lies and fear.

Which outcome do you prefer?

Do you have the intellectual integrity and moral courage to follow the facts, wherever they go?

This is simply the definition of education, is it not?

Even though were discussing this now, and even though all of you want to commit to the truth, some of you will fail the test of cognitive dissonance at least once. Its not about your age; my experience of communicating challenging information to adults, even among our most successful and educated, has shown me that adults are also subject to cognitive dissonance.

Remember, fact, by definition, is objective, measurable, and independently verifiable. Therefore, when we discuss facts there is no element of belief or political point of view. Anyone can check facts and theyre the same for everyone who checks them.

Moments will occur in your life when people you wish to engage in factual consideration will choose a belief system and reject objective evidence. They will choose fantasy over reality. An aspect of cognitive dissonance is that this choice will appear as slightly sub-conscious; that is, you may notice irrational avoidance tactics to keep the fantastical belief system away from the shining light of the facts.

These moments may feel awkward. However, they are entirely human and necessary to understand and move through because we choose competent citizenship to lead our lifetimes of consideration of objective evidence in current events.

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You may wish to stand with Lincoln related to this issue:

Passion has helped us; but can do so no more. It will in future be our enemy. Reason, cold, calculating, unimpassioned reason, must furnish all the materials for our future support and defence.--Let those materials be moulded into general intelligence, sound morality, and in particular, a reverence for the constitution and laws. - Abraham Lincoln, Lyceum Address, 1838

The easy resolution is for the person involved in a moment removed from reason to recommit to the facts. However, what might happen is that the person rejecting facts will become resentful at having this behavior become visible. The person may irrationally argue, withdraw, and/or later campaign to speak badly of those who merely asked to engage with the facts. These are likely to be real-world examples of ad hominem and straw man arguments. I invite you to support these people to recommit to our best documented factual evidence.

Please note again: our class practice will be to cooperate in understanding the objective and comprehensive facts, and then welcome diverse interpretation of the meaning of those facts and any policy position.

This is academic freedom.

Im about to present two current events for your respectful consideration that may evoke cognitive dissonance because they reflect US government policies in apparent direct violation of the US Constitution. Those will be followed by documented examples of revealing US history that in my professional experience are crucial to understand if we want proper context on current events in our life in the present. These are summaries of the comprehensive and objective facts that I communicate in good faith as a professional educator.

As with any ethical good faith prima facie legal argument, I welcome any correction of alleged facts that are in error, inclusion of additional facts for better comprehensive understanding, and analysis that will help bring the facts into a policy perspective. If the evidence presented in the following cases cannot be refuted, we honor the conservative legal process of prima facie that these facts will hold as our best available evidence.

Rejecting facts because one doesnt like them, one is uncomfortable with them, or that ones beliefs are challenged by them, has no legal or academic standing and are dismissed in professional academic environments. This includes our class.

What does that mean?

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http://www.examiner.com/nonpartisan-in-national/void(0)/*252*/http://www.examiner.com/nonpartisan-in-national/void(0)/*252*/

It means that if the following summaries of current events and previous US history cannot be refuted either directly or through a more comprehensive factual understanding, well hold those summaries as our best explanations.

It means that when we see clear lies of omission, we have the intellectual strength and moral courage to say whats right in front of everyone to see; a kind of emperor has no clothes obvious statement of fact.

For example, within the lifetime of almost all of your parents, US President Richard Nixon and his administration lied to the American public for two years in the Watergate Scandal. Media had various coverage: from simply repeating White House assurances that the Presidents office was completely removed from the scandal, to damning indictments of direct White House involvement in multiple and serious criminal acts.

The American public believed President Nixon for over four months after evidence became public in the media, re-electing him by a landslide in 1972. But eventually, with ongoing commitment to understand the facts, discern who within political leadership and media were reporting on facts and who was not, and eventual disclosure of smoking gun evidence,1 the facts of that ongoing current event became clear.

This is exactly what Gandhi told you was required, to never to depart from the strictest facts... Facts we would always place before our readers, whether they are palatable or not, ... placing them constantly before the public in their nakedness...

And yes, such a scenario begs the question of why at least some in US corporate media would choose to merely repeat White House assurances and fail to communicate powerful facts.

Well consider that.

I hope youre intrigued.

Heres our first revealing current event...

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1 The smoking gun evidence were tape-recordings the President made in order to write books upon retirement. In discussing this scandal, the President ordered the CIA to ask the FBI to end their investigation. Importantly, the reason Nixon gave is that it would open the whole Bay of Pigs thing. Nixons Chief of Staff wrote this referenced the Kennedy assassination. Transcript here. Related transcripts to put this passage in context here. A 2-minute video from UK History documentary here (The Whole Bay of Pigs Thing). AP US History teacher John Hankey made a powerful documentary on this and other verifiable facts, Dark Legacy. Search online to watch it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watergate_scandalhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watergate_scandalhttp://watergate.info/tapes/72-06-23_smoking-gun.shtmlhttp://watergate.info/tapes/72-06-23_smoking-gun.shtmlhttp://www.ajweberman.com/tape.htmhttp://www.ajweberman.com/tape.htmhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-y2KQvvYtghttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-y2KQvvYtghttp://thedarklegacy.com/http://thedarklegacy.com/

A revealing current event of our United States: MCA

In our world of the present, you face demanding political issues that challenge the heart of what it means to be an American. These issues include the legislated end for all people of habeas corpus (right to challenge an arrest as unlawful and be freed) and replacing it with indefinite detention at the governments dictate in the Military Commissions Act of 2006 (MCA).

The basic legal meaning of MCA is this: the Executive Branch now has legal authority to say any person is an unlawful enemy combatant (a designation invented for this act). MCA removes nearly every imaginable protection from unchallengeable and endless dictatorial imprisonment. The government has explicit authority under MCA to detain any person forever without charge of a crime, not provide an attorney until trial through tribunal (if the government chooses to prosecute rather than hold in prison for as long as they choose), consider as legal evidence any confessions extracted through enhanced interrogation techniques (this is the same term Nazi Germany used for their torture that would leave no marks: Verschrfte Vernehmung), not disclose evidence against the declared enemy but only a summary of the evidence (that means the government could say they have video of you planning to blow-up the school because youve chosen a career path as a professional terrorist, never show you the video for national security reasons, but give the court a written description of the video. This would be considered legal evidence under MCA, and not subject to your challenge of its authenticity), appoint an attorney for you of their choosing, and have you tried by a three person military tribunal selected by the same Executive Branch that accused you of being an enemy combatant. Your sentence can include your death. MCA text allows this to be applied to persons; which means American citizens:

DETERMINATION OF UNLAWFUL ENEMY COMBATANT STATUS DISPOSITIVE.A

finding, whether before, on, or after the date of the enactment of the Military Commissions Act of

2006, by a Combatant Status Review Tribunal or another competent tribunal established under the

authority of the President or the Secretary of Defense that a person is an unlawful enemy combatant

is dispositive for purposes of jurisdiction for trial by military commission under this chapter.

Dispositive in law means providing a final resolution, and having control over an outcome.

The US updated MCA in 2009, but the current status has become even more tragic-comic. The US now claims legal right that if a US president so dictates, American citizens are targeted for assassination by US military. President Obama authorized a list of American citizens to be killed,

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http://www.lectlaw.com/def/h001.htmhttp://www.lectlaw.com/def/h001.htmhttp://www.lectlaw.com/def/h001.htmhttp://www.lectlaw.com/def/h001.htmhttp://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=109_cong_bills&docid=f:s3930enr.txt.pdfhttp://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=109_cong_bills&docid=f:s3930enr.txt.pdfhttp://Versch%C3%A4rfte%20Vernehmunghttp://Versch%C3%A4rfte%20Vernehmunghttp://dictionary.reference.com/law/dispositivehttp://dictionary.reference.com/law/dispositive

with the first assassination reported on September 30, 2011. The term for this policy is extrajudicial assassination.2

Let that sink in. The U.S. presidency, supposed leader of the free world, has a clandestine committee that chooses American citizens to assassinate. This from the administration that promised unprecedented transparency and a ratcheting back of Bush-era civil liberties abuses. This from the president who vowed to restore habeas corpus and subject executive war powers to judicial scrutiny. This from the Nobel Peace Prize laureate. ... For generations much of the world has been under the spell of the lie of American democracy, the propaganda that the brutality of power politics can be tempered through elections and an eloquent piece of parchment.3

Congressman Ron Paul asks a poignant question:

What if the media becomes a threat?... This is the way this works. Its incrementalism.4

American journalists and citizens were imprisoned for even questioning Americas full-scale war in WW1 (Well consider later the 10-year prison sentence forced upon the Socialist Partys presidential candidate for asking Americans to voice their stand on the war with their votes). Under MCA and authorized assassination today, leading American voices challenging current wars can be locked-up and killed at will for supporting terrorism.

For video coverage of the US assassinating American citizens at will, here for summary explaining this as unlawful, and here for coverage attempting to explain it as legal.5 And here is a 4-minute video comparing the policy of assassinating American citizens, or any person, versus the text of the US Constitution.6

In contrast, the Declaration of Independence emphasizes unalienable rights for everyone from our Creator, that it is the function of government to secure those rights rather than in your face

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2 Among many: Marjorie Cohn. The targeted assassination of Osama bin Laden. May 9, 2011: http://www.marjoriecohn.com/2011/05/targeted-assassination-of-osama-bin.html , Greenwald, G. Presidential assassinations of U.S. citizens. Jan. 27, 2010: http://uruknet.com/index.php?p=m62651&hd=&size=1&l=e , Examiner.com. Herman, C. Official US policy: kill American citizens when President/Fuhrer declares them terrorists. Jan. 29, 2010: http://www.examiner.com/la-county-nonpartisan-in-los-angeles/official-us-policy-kill-american-citizens-when-president-fuhrer-declares-them-terrorists , Salon.com. The due-process-free assassination of U.S. citizens is now reality. Greeenwald, G. Sep 30, 2011.3 Global Research. Obamas very real death panel: the CIAs assassination program. Gregory, A. Oct. 7, 2011: http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=26984 4 Mail Online. C.I.A. could begin assassinating journalists claims Republican presidential hopeful Ron Paul. Miller, D. Oct. 6, 2011: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2045898/C-I-A-begin-assassinating-journalists-claims-Republican-presidential-hopeful-Ron-Paul.html 5 Revolutionary Politics tv. When the president can kill who ever he wants: http://revolutionarypolitics.tv/video/viewVideo.php?video_id=16288 and Revolutionary Politics tv. The president signs a piece of paper & its a death sentence: http://revolutionarypolitics.tv/video/viewVideo.php?video_id=16284 6 Revolutionary Politics tv. The plain truth about executive assassination. Judge Napolitanos Freedom Watch. Oct. 3, 2011: http://revolutionarypolitics.tv/video/viewVideo.php?video_id=16304&title=the-plain-truth-about-executive-assassination

http://revolutionarypolitics.tv/video/viewVideo.php?video_id=16288http://revolutionarypolitics.tv/video/viewVideo.php?video_id=16288http://revolutionarypolitics.tv/video/viewVideo.php?video_id=16284http://revolutionarypolitics.tv/video/viewVideo.php?video_id=16284http://revolutionarypolitics.tv/video/viewVideo.php?video_id=16304&title=the-plain-truth-about-executive-assassinationhttp://revolutionarypolitics.tv/video/viewVideo.php?video_id=16304&title=the-plain-truth-about-executive-assassinationhttp://revolutionarypolitics.tv/video/viewVideo.php?video_id=16304&title=the-plain-truth-about-executive-assassinationhttp://revolutionarypolitics.tv/video/viewVideo.php?video_id=16304&title=the-plain-truth-about-executive-assassinationhttp://www.earlyamerica.com/earlyamerica/freedom/doi/text.htmlhttp://www.earlyamerica.com/earlyamerica/freedom/doi/text.htmlhttp://www.marjoriecohn.com/2011/05/targeted-assassination-of-osama-bin.htmlhttp://www.marjoriecohn.com/2011/05/targeted-assassination-of-osama-bin.htmlhttp://www.marjoriecohn.com/2011/05/targeted-assassination-of-osama-bin.htmlhttp://www.marjoriecohn.com/2011/05/targeted-assassination-of-osama-bin.htmlhttp://uruknet.com/index.php?p=m62651&hd=&size=1&l=ehttp://uruknet.com/index.php?p=m62651&hd=&size=1&l=ehttp://www.examiner.com/la-county-nonpartisan-in-los-angeles/official-us-policy-kill-american-citizens-when-president-fuhrer-declares-them-terroristshttp://www.examiner.com/la-county-nonpartisan-in-los-angeles/official-us-policy-kill-american-citizens-when-president-fuhrer-declares-them-terroristshttp://www.examiner.com/la-county-nonpartisan-in-los-angeles/official-us-policy-kill-american-citizens-when-president-fuhrer-declares-them-terroristshttp://www.examiner.com/la-county-nonpartisan-in-los-angeles/official-us-policy-kill-american-citizens-when-president-fuhrer-declares-them-terroristshttp://www.salon.com/news/yemen/index.html?story=/opinion/greenwald/2011/09/30/awlakihttp://www.salon.com/news/yemen/index.html?story=/opinion/greenwald/2011/09/30/awlakihttp://www.salon.com/news/yemen/index.html?story=/opinion/greenwald/2011/09/30/awlakihttp://www.salon.com/news/yemen/index.html?story=/opinion/greenwald/2011/09/30/awlakihttp://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=26984http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=26984http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=26984http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=26984http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2045898/C-I-A-begin-assassinating-journalists-claims-Republican-presidential-hopeful-Ron-Paul.htmlhttp://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2045898/C-I-A-begin-assassinating-journalists-claims-Republican-presidential-hopeful-Ron-Paul.htmlhttp://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2045898/C-I-A-begin-assassinating-journalists-claims-Republican-presidential-hopeful-Ron-Paul.htmlhttp://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2045898/C-I-A-begin-assassinating-journalists-claims-Republican-presidential-hopeful-Ron-Paul.htmlhttp://revolutionarypolitics.tv/video/viewVideo.php?video_id=16288http://revolutionarypolitics.tv/video/viewVideo.php?video_id=16288http://revolutionarypolitics.tv/video/viewVideo.php?video_id=16288http://revolutionarypolitics.tv/video/viewVideo.php?video_id=16288http://revolutionarypolitics.tv/video/viewVideo.php?video_id=16284http://revolutionarypolitics.tv/video/viewVideo.php?video_id=16284http://revolutionarypolitics.tv/video/viewVideo.php?video_id=16304&title=the-plain-truth-about-executive-assassinationhttp://revolutionarypolitics.tv/video/viewVideo.php?video_id=16304&title=the-plain-truth-about-executive-assassinationhttp://revolutionarypolitics.tv/video/viewVideo.php?video_id=16304&title=the-plain-truth-about-executive-assassinationhttp://revolutionarypolitics.tv/video/viewVideo.php?video_id=16304&title=the-plain-truth-about-executive-assassination

explicitly legislate to destroy those rights, and that government only derives its power from the consent of the governed.

The US Constitution is the rules of US government; that is, the promises by government to the public for the limits of its authority. The essential term, limited government, means the boundaries beyond which government action becomes unlawful, and the Enlightenments philosophical response to end unlimited government through claimed divine rights from kings. Limited government is codified in the US Constitutions 9th and 10th Amendments.7 The US Constitution is the legal definition of what it means to be American, and provides a form of limited government called constitutional republic. That means government power is strictly limited by what is said in its constitution.

Its explicit under this form of government that if officials act beyond Constitutional limits of authority that they face impeachment and/or arrest.

Indeed, it was from English violation of the 1689 Bill of Rights that Americans petitioned their government for restoration, and then revolted when King and Parliament refused to uphold rights that were crystal-clear in letter and intent (here for Jeffersons argument in A summary view of the rights of British America). The specific violations included no representation in Parliament and no vote for taxation, a standing army on American soil, open-ended search warrants, mercantilism that acted as a de facto tax transferring wealth from Americans to a British oligarchy of politicians and insider merchants, and attempting to remove the peoples arms in militias for their defense that were paid and managed by local taxes.

The US Constitution provides detailed rights to all persons in the US Bill of Rights from prosecution by the US federal government. These rights include freedom of speech and press without fear of being declared an enemy of the state, freedom from searches unless government obtains a specific warrant from a judge upon probable cause of having committed a crime, right to juries of ones peers (both a Grand Jury to examine the evidence before a trial, and then to determine the facts of the case for innocence or guilt), freedom from helping the governments case through ones own testimony, a speedy and public jury trial, being informed of the governments charges of alleged crimes, freedom to engage directly with government evidence and witnesses, immediate right to attorney representation, no excessive bail, and no torture.

Again, and as always: the above summaries of MCA and the promises guaranteed under the US Constitution is my professional understanding of the objective facts. I actively discourage anyone from believing what I say, and actively encourage everyone to look to the evidence for verification. I welcome any refutation of my claims.

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7 Among many: Revolutionary War and beyond. The 10th Amendment: http://www.revolutionary-war-and-beyond.com/10th-amendment.html

http://constitutionallawenforcementassoc.blogspot.com/http://constitutionallawenforcementassoc.blogspot.com/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_of_Rights_1689http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_of_Rights_1689http://libertyonline.hypermall.com/Jefferson/Summaryview.htmlhttp://libertyonline.hypermall.com/Jefferson/Summaryview.htmlhttp://libertyonline.hypermall.com/Jefferson/Summaryview.htmlhttp://libertyonline.hypermall.com/Jefferson/Summaryview.htmlhttp://www.lewrockwell.com/mcmaken/mcmaken53.htmlhttp://www.lewrockwell.com/mcmaken/mcmaken53.htmlhttp://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution.htmlhttp://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution.htmlhttp://www.revolutionary-war-and-beyond.com/10th-amendment.htmlhttp://www.revolutionary-war-and-beyond.com/10th-amendment.htmlhttp://www.revolutionary-war-and-beyond.com/10th-amendment.htmlhttp://www.revolutionary-war-and-beyond.com/10th-amendment.html

If my summary of MCA is correct, this is a big deal. Please allow its meaning to penetrate: Unless you want to make the argument that the words of the MCA paragraph Ive provided or the word assassination mean something other than what they say, this means that the US Constitution no longer applies if the president or SecDef (Secretary of Defense) dictate.

Again, US Constitutional rights define being American. When a government is no longer limited by the laws in its constitution, we have to change its description from constitutional republic to another term. In this case, because MCA applies whenever a leader says so/dictates, that is the exact definition of a dictatorship. In at least this area of law, the US is far closer to fascism than a constitutional republic.

But let me make this distinction even sharper: If were basing our American government on what the President/leader says rather than limitations of clear law, such as the dictates of a leader to apply Verschrfte Vernehmung or other MCA provisions, there is another analogous German word for the leader doing the dictating: the German word for leader is fuhrer.

Ouch.

Am I exaggerating, or is the explanation of MCA youve just read an accurate description of what kind of law it is, and the meaning when MCA removes Constitutional limits from abusive dictatorial power?

While more Republicans supported MCA than Democrats, this legislation is possible only with the ongoing support of Democratic Party leadership (for example, see this curious statement8 by President Obama on his vote for MCA).

Do you really think that the American public would have supported MCA if the Democratic Party leadership clearly communicated what MCA does, and its explicit language that includes Americans in the removal of virtually all Constitutional rights?

And where is US corporate media to explain this??? Am I correct that MCA is news to you?

Feeling any cognitive dissonance yet?

This is what I mean by the title of this assignment: Critical thinking skills in real-world action.

Im spending some time asking you to think about this because the idea that the US government can willfully destroy its own constitution is new for most people, but absolutely proved by the facts and repeated time and again in our history. Let me provide a snippet of history with Abraham Lincolns first encounter with the destruction of our own Constitution when a US president and the majority of Congress chose to steal land through waging a War of Aggression.

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8 The White House. Statement of President Barack Obama on Military Commissions. May 15, 2009.

http://Versch%C3%A4rfte%20Vernehmunghttp://Versch%C3%A4rfte%20Vernehmunghttp://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/statement-president-barack-obama-military-commissionshttp://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/statement-president-barack-obama-military-commissions

"At first blush, a man is not capable of reporting truth; he must be drenched and saturated with it first." - Henry David Thoreau, I to myself: an annotated selection from the journal of Henry D. Thoreau, 1837.

Thoreau, like Abraham Lincoln in a speech on the floor of the House of Representatives recognized the claimed reasons for a defensive war against Mexico were obvious lies when inspected. Lincoln:

I carefully examined the Presidents messages, to ascertain what he himself had said and proved upon the point. The result of this examination was to make the impression, that taking for true, all the President states as facts, he falls far short of proving his justification; and that the President would have gone farther with his proof, if it had not been for the small matter, that the truth would not permit him Now I propose to try to show, that the whole of this, issue and evidence is, from beginning to end, the sheerest deception.

And Lincoln in a letter to his law partner:

Allow the President to invade a neighboring nation whenever he shall deem it necessary to repel an invasion, and you allow him to do so whenever he may choose to say he deems it necessary for such purpose, and you allow him to make war at pleasure. Study to see if you can fix any limit to his power in this respect, after having given him so much as you propose. If to-day he should choose to say he thinks it necessary to invade Canada to prevent the British from invading us, how could you stop him? You may say to him, "I see no probability of the British invading us"; but he will say to you, "Be silent: I see it, if you don't."

The US taking Texas as a state was in direct violation of the Adams-Ons Treaty that guaranteed all the land that is now the Southwest US to forever belong to Mexico (signed in 1819 with Spain, and formally transferred to Mexico in 1831). Lincoln attempted to force President Polk to report to Congress and answer several pointed and brilliantly-worded questions from Lincoln that would prove Polks claimed border dispute was really 400 miles into agreed-upon land of Mexico.

I invite you to read Lincolns Spot Resolutions for yourself as an example of why Lincoln is considered to be one of the most brilliant writers in all American history.

Thoreau refused to pay his taxes to support the unlawful war and was jailed. Despite Lincoln having all the facts on his side, because the president, majority of Congress, and majority of the press wanted this war as an expression of the racist Manifest Destiny, Lincoln didnt have the votes to pass the Spot Resolutions. In fact, Lincoln was called unpatriotic and Spotty in derision by both parties leadership and the press.

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http://books.google.com/books?id=3FEJA_dAewgC&printsec=frontcover&dq=henry+david+thoreau+i+to+myself&source=bl&ots=gIK0MAnvwZ&sig=yhFToDnWwWK7WXHd5ETXitfPit8&hl=en&ei=uMvQS_vIM4LStgOPh9GMCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CAYQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&qhttp://books.google.com/books?id=3FEJA_dAewgC&printsec=frontcover&dq=henry+david+thoreau+i+to+myself&source=bl&ots=gIK0MAnvwZ&sig=yhFToDnWwWK7WXHd5ETXitfPit8&hl=en&ei=uMvQS_vIM4LStgOPh9GMCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CAYQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&qhttp://books.google.com/books?id=3FEJA_dAewgC&printsec=frontcover&dq=henry+david+thoreau+i+to+myself&source=bl&ots=gIK0MAnvwZ&sig=yhFToDnWwWK7WXHd5ETXitfPit8&hl=en&ei=uMvQS_vIM4LStgOPh9GMCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CAYQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&qhttp://books.google.com/books?id=3FEJA_dAewgC&printsec=frontcover&dq=henry+david+thoreau+i+to+myself&source=bl&ots=gIK0MAnvwZ&sig=yhFToDnWwWK7WXHd5ETXitfPit8&hl=en&ei=uMvQS_vIM4LStgOPh9GMCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CAYQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&qhttp://www.examiner.com/la-county-nonpartisan-in-los-angeles/abraham-lincoln-on-unconstitutional-us-wars-of-invasion-courageously-standing-against-obvious-lieshttp://www.examiner.com/la-county-nonpartisan-in-los-angeles/abraham-lincoln-on-unconstitutional-us-wars-of-invasion-courageously-standing-against-obvious-lieshttp://quotationsbook.com/quote/44696/http://quotationsbook.com/quote/44696/http://www.tamu.edu/faculty/ccbn/dewitt/adamonis.htmhttp://www.tamu.edu/faculty/ccbn/dewitt/adamonis.htmhttp://www.sewanee.edu/faculty/Willis/Civil_War/documents/LincolnSpot.htmlhttp://www.sewanee.edu/faculty/Willis/Civil_War/documents/LincolnSpot.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racism%23In_historyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racism%23In_historyhttp://www.ushistory.org/us/29.asphttp://www.ushistory.org/us/29.asp

Lincoln became so unpopular from these intentional lies and propaganda that he had no chance for re-election.

A treaty is the Supreme law of the land in Article Six of the US Constitution. In this case, when a US president and Congress had the votes to violate a treaty and the Constitution in order to take land and resources, they lied, went to war, and took the land and resources.

The war killed over 50,000 Mexicans and over 5,000 Americans, and is a clear historical precedent for US leadership to choose lies, dictatorship, and War of Aggression rather than truth, limited government under the law, and peace.

Although this history of the Mexican-American War is uncontroversially factual and as far as Im aware undisputed among professional historians, corporate media-published high school textbooks will only state that the causes of war were a border dispute and repeat President Polks claims that Mexico invaded the US with American blood shed on American soil.

This is a massive lie of omission and commission to not communicate at least the preceding few paragraphs.

If your text explained that a US President was the war-mongering liar that Lincoln explained in his speech and documented in the Spot Resolutions, and that Congress voted in criminal complicity to shred a US treaty, lie to the American public about who invaded whom, and be guilty of war-murdering tens of thousands of human beings, would you look at current US wars from the benefit of that accurate history?

And yes, an area for you to consider in this policy analysis assignment is whether current US wars are also a choice of leadership to lie, dictate, and invade other countries in unlawful Wars of Aggression that violate treaties and the Constitution.

Thats a daunting, but powerfully important issue to factually command. The skills of this assignment are meant to allow you competence to quickly and accurate command such facts.

Students: perhaps related, our18 years of experience in RESULTS working with three US presidents, two UN Summits, and leadership of both parties, we found that leadership reneged on each and every public and private promise to end poverty.

And just as US corporate media will not walk you through the fact that US war with Mexico in 1846 was in direct treaty violation (in analysis of current US wars or in your textbooks), US corporate media refused to interview us at RESULTS and/or expose US political leadership failure to fulfill their promises to end poverty.

Youll have an assignment called The economics of ending poverty to consider the importance, costs and benefits, and politics of that issue that kills a million children every month from

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http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/articlevihttp://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/articlevihttp://www.examiner.com/la-county-nonpartisan-in-los-angeles/economics-of-ending-poverty-0-7-of-gni-is-all-it-takeshttp://www.examiner.com/la-county-nonpartisan-in-los-angeles/economics-of-ending-poverty-0-7-of-gni-is-all-it-takes

preventable poverty. Our findings of why US leadership reject ending poverty are consistent with the testimonies of former IMF Chief Economist Simon Johnson9, former World Bank Chief Economist and Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz10 (and here)11, former Chief Economist John Perkins, and most effectively shown in a 3-minute video12 from the group Renegade Economist and a 2-minute video13 of John Perkins: US political and economic leadership prefer to retain an imperialist/Robber Baron mentality and policies to take as much as they can for themselves, say that its legal and good for everybody, buy media coverage to say the same, and hope they can get away with it. Johnson, Stiglitz, and Perkins have all authored multiple bestselling books to explain and document their findings of how this works.

The point of Abraham Lincoln, Thoreau, and testimony regarding ending poverty is not to illicit your belief in those conclusions. It is to provide facts and analysis omitted from most Americans consideration from politicians and media. Its purpose is to empower you to:

Allow the facts to lead your analysis of policy; not the rhetoric of politicians and media. Allow the facts of history to provide best context to understand the present. Once you have the most comprehensive set of facts through use of critical thinking skills,

to reflect upon the meaning of the data, and discover/develop your unique, powerful, and beautiful voices of citizenry.

As the Romans simply stated in their understanding of law under a constitutional republic (before it devolved into dictatorship and purchased politicians): res ipsa loquitur: the facts tell the story.

Now that Ive hopefully accomplished my objective to have you spend some time considering what MCA says, what it means, and open your inquiry with a touch of vitally important and game-changing history thats right there for anyone to verify that the California Frameworks admonitions of the fragility of democratic institutions and the importance of your competent citizenry mean exactly what they say: lets move onto our second and last example of a really important current event.

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9 Project Syndicate. Did the poor cause the crisis? Johnson, S. Jan. 19, 2011.10 The Independent. Joseph Stiglitz: It takes more than free trade to end poverty. Feb. 3, 2006.11 Project Syndicate. The end of the beginning of ending poverty. Stiglitz, J. July 7, 2005.12 Examiner.com. 3-minute video: US policy causes poverty, terrorism, war to enrich US oligarchs. Herman, C. Sept. 9, 2011.13 Examiner.com. 2-minute video: Best-selling Chief Economist reveals criminal US foreign policy. Herman, C. April 24, 2011.

http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/johnson16/Englishhttp://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/johnson16/Englishhttp://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/joseph-stiglitz-it-takes-more-than-free-trade-to-end-poverty-465421.htmlhttp://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/joseph-stiglitz-it-takes-more-than-free-trade-to-end-poverty-465421.htmlhttp://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/stiglitz60/Englishhttp://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/stiglitz60/Englishhttp://www.examiner.com/nonpartisan-in-national/4-minute-video-us-policy-causes-poverty-terrorism-war-to-enrich-us-oligarchshttp://www.examiner.com/nonpartisan-in-national/4-minute-video-us-policy-causes-poverty-terrorism-war-to-enrich-us-oligarchshttp://www.examiner.com/la-county-nonpartisan-in-los-angeles/2-minute-video-best-selling-chief-economist-reveals-criminal-us-foreign-policyhttp://www.examiner.com/la-county-nonpartisan-in-los-angeles/2-minute-video-best-selling-chief-economist-reveals-criminal-us-foreign-policyhttp://www.amazon.com/13-Bankers-Takeover-Financial-Meltdown/dp/030747660X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1317570228&sr=1-1http://www.amazon.com/13-Bankers-Takeover-Financial-Meltdown/dp/030747660X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1317570228&sr=1-1http://www.amazon.com/Globalization-Its-Discontents-Joseph-Stiglitz/dp/0393324397/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1317569932&sr=1-2http://www.amazon.com/Globalization-Its-Discontents-Joseph-Stiglitz/dp/0393324397/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1317569932&sr=1-2http://www.amazon.com/Secret-History-American-Empire-Economic/dp/0452289572/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1317570337&sr=1-3http://www.amazon.com/Secret-History-American-Empire-Economic/dp/0452289572/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1317570337&sr=1-3

Revealing current event: waterboarding and its reporting by corporate media

Lets briefly consider allegations of US torture to detainees/claimed unlawful enemy combatants. Remember, a detainee hasnt been charged with a crime; the persons habeas corpus right has been destroyed, and the US government currently claims authority to imprison the detainee indefinitely or simply assassinate anyone claimed to be a terrorist.

The US applies interrogation techniques to unlawful enemy combatants/terrorists that previous case law found were torture. For example, President Bush and Vice President Cheney have both admitted to authorizing waterboarding,14 found by courts to be torture in all previous case law in the US and internationally.15 When previous US courts are unanimous in their findings,16 that means the legal definition of an act is absolutely certain. In this case, waterboarding, or more accurately controlled drowning, is torture.

The US Constitution expressly forbids torture in the 8th Amendment. United States Federal Law forbids torture under Code 18 section 2340. The US is bound by several treaties to never torture: the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (legally defining the meaning of the UN Charter treaty, and the most-translated document in world history), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (an interesting study of the US saying one thing and doing the opposite), the Geneva Conventions, and the UN Convention Against Torture.

Importantly, these laws do not say there are exceptions to allow torture; that is, the torturer cannot use the specious ticking time bomb excuse that torture was required to save lives. For example, one US treaty to end torture is the UN Convention Against Torture. It states under Article 2:17

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14 To understand waterboarding, you can watch leading journalist Christopher Hitchens get waterboarded: Watch Christopher Hitchens get waterboarded (Vanity Fair): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LPubUCJv58 .15 This story was opened by ABC News. Sources: top Bush advisors approved enhanced interrogation. Greenburg, J.C., Rosenberg, H.L., deVogue, A. April 9, 2008: http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/LawPolitics/story?id=4583256&page=1 and obvious follow-up analysis calling for prosecution (among many in alternative media) from Common Dreams. Arrest Bush: Bush confesses to Waterboarding. Call D.C. cops! Rall, T. April 30, 2008: http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/04/30/8611/ . For more current analysis, consider these entries from Washingtons Blog: Cheney admits to being War Criminal. Feb. 16, 2010: http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2010/02/cheney-admits-to-being-war-criminal.html , Obama team feared revolt if he prosecuted War Crimes. Sept. 12, 2011: http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2011/09/obama-team-feared-revolt-if-he-prosecuted-war-crimes.html , Everything you need to know about torture. March 7, 2011: http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2011/03/everything-you-need-to-know-about-torture.html16 the link is a nice visual and list from ProCon.org. For legal discussion: Washington Post. Waterboarding used to be a crime. Wallach, E. Nov. 4, 2007: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/02/AR2007110201170.html , Washington University Law Review. Waterboarding is illegal. Huhn, W. May 10, 2008: http://lawreview.wustl.edu/slip-opinions/waterboarding-is-illegal/ 17 For discussion, consider Virginia Law. U.S. may be sidestepping U.N. Convention Against Torture in War on Terror. March 20, 2003: http://www.law.virginia.edu/html/news/2003_spr/torture_ps.htm

http://usiraq.procon.org/sourcefiles/background_information_waterboarding.pdfhttp://usiraq.procon.org/sourcefiles/background_information_waterboarding.pdfhttp://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data/constitution/amendment08/http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data/constitution/amendment08/http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/18/2340.htmlhttp://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/18/2340.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Declaration_of_Human_Rightshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Declaration_of_Human_Rightshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Covenant_on_Civil_and_Political_Rightshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Covenant_on_Civil_and_Political_Rightshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Covenant_on_Civil_and_Political_Rightshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Covenant_on_Civil_and_Political_Rightshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geneva_Conventionshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geneva_Conventionshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UN_Convention_Against_Torturehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UN_Convention_Against_Torturehttp://www.hrweb.org/legal/cat.htmlhttp://www.hrweb.org/legal/cat.htmlhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LPubUCJv58http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LPubUCJv58http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/LawPolitics/story?id=4583256&page=1http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/LawPolitics/story?id=4583256&page=1http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/LawPolitics/story?id=4583256&page=1http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/LawPolitics/story?id=4583256&page=1http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/04/30/8611/http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/04/30/8611/http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2010/02/cheney-admits-to-being-war-criminal.htmlhttp://www.washingtonsblog.com/2010/02/cheney-admits-to-being-war-criminal.htmlhttp://www.washingtonsblog.com/2010/02/cheney-admits-to-being-war-criminal.htmlhttp://www.washingtonsblog.com/2010/02/cheney-admits-to-being-war-criminal.htmlhttp://www.washingtonsblog.com/2011/09/obama-team-feared-revolt-if-he-prosecuted-war-crimes.htmlhttp://www.washingtonsblog.com/2011/09/obam