Qui Tacet Consentit -- silence implies consent

DAILY KOS

The Sunday paper arrived by my mailbox carrying its usual heft of ads, sports, and television schedules. Above the headlines on the front page was the story of a man who killed his wife and kids, and was foolish enough to not only do so on the basis of the plot from a popular TV crime show that aired the previous week, but to base his murder scheme on a plotline in which the murderer was caught . The rest of the front page was taken up with a story of religion in baseball, the difficulties of a local museum, and a study on mass transit. Nothing too unusual.

In the meantime, we have a Vice-President who has declared his independence from law and regulation, and a President who, far from reigning in in this ridiculous Constitutional overreach, has decided to play me too , even in reference to regulations that explicitly address the office of the president and vice president.

Cheney is not subject to the executive order, she said, "because the president gets to decide whether or not he should be treated separately, and he's decided that he should."

In the ultimate evolution of Nixonian dogma, they are quite blatantly asserting that the rule of law may be ignored, and that the president and vice-president obey only at their own discretion.

Did you know that members of the St. Louis Cardinals often stay after the game to talk to fans about faith? Or that Paris has agreed to have an interview with Larry King? Or that Conservapedia states that the Pleistocene is a "theoretical" period of time? All those stories made the "A" section of my Sunday paper.

There have been some voices raised that the we are nearing a constitutional crisis. That's not true. We are in a constitutional crisis. And to lose this fight, we don't have to land in jail. We don't have to see troops on the street or get a midnight knock on the door.

People are still speculating over the meaning of the Soprano's finale. A rare monkey was born at the Tokyo Zoo. Colin Powell is coming to town to give a motivational speech.

We have only to worry about the events of everyday life. We have only to flip on the tube. We have only to be silent. Qui Tacet Consentit -- silence implies consent.

Toward the page of section A, there's a story on more soldiers losing their lives in Iraq. That's sad, but look there's a bit on how Peru has lowered the age of consent to 14, and a human interest piece on the struggles of Muslim detective in France.

Every paper that is not running this story on the front page, every day, is providing a blessing to the administration's actions. Every television station that wastes a minute on celebrity gossip, is complicit in the destruction of democracy. And every one of us not actively protesting these actions is passively supporting them.

There's a review of the newest model from Saturn in the auto section, the business section mentions that gas is below $3 nationally, and just look at those ads! Some department stores are already discounting summer merchandise

Meteor Blades has already given you a terrific insider's history of the protest movement during the Vietnam era, and told you about Iraq Moratorium Day , the series of protests that are planned to start in September. I plan to participate, and I hope you will, as well.

There's a long section in News Watch about how we may have no choices but New Yorkers in the election. The Midwesterners interviewed for the story don't seem too thrilled about it. And hey, the city museum had a two-headed hermaphroditic albino snake. How cool is that? Oh, but it died.

But don't wait for September. If you already belong to a local group, keep participating, if you don't, then join. And even if you're not out involved in a formal protest, conduct a constant, personal protest. It can be at your school, at your church, or at the copy machine, but whenever opportunity allows, make it clear that you do not consent. Make it clear that this is not okay with you. It's not ordinary. It's not something that "all politicians do." It's not business as usual. Do not be silent .