From the February 2005 Idaho Observer:

While we have each other’s attention...

Last month’s editor’s desk column, "Concede the nation; inform our people," prompted the largest response of any editorial comment I have made in 10 years of dissident opinion writing. All of it was "positive" in that each respondent agreed with the premise that it is no longer possible to save our nation because one cannot save something that doesn’t exist.

The timing for last month’s column must have been divine. In the last 30 days the floodgates of phone calls, emails and letters have opened up. Heretofore sleeping Americans are awakening to the reality of their future—and its scaring them into activity.

So, good. Now that we have each other’s attention, we have work to do. We haven’t the luxury of mourning the death of our once great nation; we have the responsibility of preparing for her rebirth.

As stated last month, what we accomplish in the hearts and minds of our countrymen between now and the day Dan Rather announces, "The world as we know it came to an end today," will determine the magnitude of misery that survivors will endure and whether or not the institutions of civilization will be rebuilt to reflect the needs of free people or serve the interests of despots.

This month we are highlighting the State of the Union address from the perspective of those who believe the president when he tells us that our future is bright in the land of the free and the perspective of those of us who see things differently. The difference between how the president and his cronies view our future and what the future really portends provides an excellent illustration of how our hopes and dreams and plans for our childrens’ futures do not factor into their plans for the New World Order.

No matter how deep "our" leaders mire us into a future of war, misery and servitude, I simply refuse to believe that Americans are so corrupted of mind and so faint of heart that they cannot be taught to stand in defense of their own dignity.

Therefore, I am challenging everyone of you who have grown alongside us in knowledge to step into the realm of resolve, wherein the forces of ruthless greed and oppression will fail because good people refuse to accept the future planned for them. It is in this realm we will find each other—working for a world wherein aggressor nations are not tolerated; where nations’ sovereignty, the dignity of their people and the marketing of their resources are respected by the community of nations whose guiding principle is peaceable coexistence and; people will no longer be allowed to evade responsibility for their actions by hiding behind government-blessed corporate constructs.

And now I feel as if a decade of researching and reporting the fall of our society has all been in preparation for what is to come. I want my experience to accomplish something more than a bullet between our dissident eyes or numbers tattooed on our foreheads.

We must immediately adopt a state of mind allowing us to provide people with the eyes to see and the ears to hear—and we need the eloquence of Thomas Paine to accomplish our objective over the next several weeks and months. If Thomas Paine, with a manual printing press, could unite our people under the cause of freedom during the birth of our country, then we can, with our modern communications capabilities, unite them for its rebirth. See pages 12-13 for creative concepts toward this end. (DWH)