First, The Bad News on Independence Day, as told through an Inspirational Star Trek Speech (1/2) (Guest Post)

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One of the hazards of blogging is not getting to a topic quickly enough and somebody who’s smarter than you beats you to the punch. That’s exactly what happened here when Bill Whittle released this great video on how we’ve become a nation of dependents. That was two years ago – sadly the subject has not become less relevant. Combine that with the busy goings on in the Bob family and I never got to write this around July 4th of 2013 as I had hoped, but the subject never got less topical and I had a few things to add that made me still want to write on this.

Among the five Star Trek series the one that was truly underrated and in my opinion the best of the bunch was Deep Space Nine. Before the comments section here become the first thread to get me more flames from geeks than leftists, hear me out. It had the most hardcore captain in Benjamin Sisko, and it featured a well planned story arc that played out over the entire series, unlike the others which were mainly stand alone episodes. DS9 had the best villains in The Dominion and Lead Heel in Dukat (sorry Borg – these guys saw far better character development than you did), It used its characters to flesh out some of the alien cultures (Cardassians, Ferengi) to make their universe far more interesting, and they had the best battle scenes of any of the series.

Easily lost in the mix is how well DS9 developed its minor characters. The character Damar started as a petty toady, and went on to became the leader of a race known as the Cardassians. To make a looong storyline short, DS9 developed a story arc of a war that spanned several seasons between the Federation (for you semi-geeks that would be Captains Kirk and Picard’s stables) and an alien invasion force known as The Dominion. The Cardassians had a history of war, and that included with The Federation. So having recently lost a few wars they decided to make a power play by allying themselves with the invading force. The Cardassians wound up facing a bitter truth about these allies who they had put so much faith in restoring their glory. Cardassia’s leaders found themselves boxed out of any key decision making, their troops used as cannon fodder, and their planet occupied by people very hostile toward those they are supposed to view as allies. This transformation is personified in Damar, and his face turn completes with a speech he gives to his people, which starts at the 6:14 mark of this video. Full transcript:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2A74KSCelA[/youtube]

And so two years ago, our government signed a treaty with the Dominion. In it, the Dominion promised to extend Cardassia’s influence throughout the Alpha Quadrant. In exchange, we pledged ourselves to join the war against the Federation and its allies. Cardassians have never been afraid of war. A fact we’ve proven time and again over these past two years. Seven million of our brave soldiers have given their lives to fulfill our part of the agreement. And what has the Dominion done in return? Nothing. We’ve gained no new territories. In fact, our influence throughout the quadrant has diminished. And to make matters worse, we’re no longer masters in our own home. Travel anywhere in Cardassia and what do you find? Jem’Hadar, Vorta, and now Breen.

Instead of the invaders, we have become the invaded. Our allies have conquered us without firing a shot. Well, no longer. This morning, detachments of the Cardassian First, Third, and Ninth Orders attacked Dominion outposts on Rondac Three. This assault marks the first step toward the liberation of our homeland  From the true oppressors of the Alpha Quadrant. I call upon Cardassians everywhere. Resist! Resist today. Resist tomorrow! Resist till the last Dominion soldier has been driven From our soil!

Obviously we’re not at the same point as what befell the people of Cardassia, and outside of the occasional and reliable fringe element nobody’s calling for open rebellion against our government. Nobody is calling for the armed destruction of President Obama’s Jem’Hadar IRS Agent cloning facilities on Rondac Three. But as bad as I thought things had gotten in 2013, two years later things are much worse. Local police forces have militarized themselves to set our government apart from its citizens that even reliably leftist publications like Salon have taken notice, and stories like this are hardly isolated.

We’ve seen a Supreme Court that decided that’s its place is to no longer interpret laws but to become a legislative branch of its own. We’ve seen a sports franchise be singled out for attack based on a mascot that a few elites pretend is offensive. We’ve seen the radicals in our society get portrayed by our media as mainstream as they shriek that a private company’s benefits program is anyone else’s business. We’ve seen our borders ignored, and our own government seem to put greater support for foreign invaders over its own citizens. We’ve seen the same people who call for a socialized health care system yawn at the abuses that happen to veterans in such a system. And recently we’ve seen a weaponized division of the federal government attack citizens over such trivialities as free speech. And when caught they present the most petty, vile excuses, and then sneer at their accusers, knowing that no punishment will ever come their way. The Gaystapo, fresh of of enjoying the Supreme Court deciding that the 1st Amendment no longer protects freedom of religion, are already demanding that churches lose their tax-exempt status and are calling to legalize polygamy. Not content with destroying the lives of a family with two children, it is now illegal to speak of impure thoughts regarding gay wedding cakes. The OPM data breach has constituted what amounts to our digital Pearl Harbor. Does anyone reading this think that aside from some taxpayer-funded vacations and early retirements no punishment of any significance will actually happen?

The most painful part is that as all of this happens we have a leader who openly mocks what should be his accountability in the press as he declares his many scandals as “phony”. One year later, Bill Whittle has made another video, explaining all of the horrible reasons why our nation’s capitol should not be named for someone as great as its founder and instead be called “Obamadelphia“.

Lest this sound like what my favorite Facebook lefty troll likes to call “nothing but doom and gloom”, there is hope. As Ace summed it up so well, Quinnipiac: Plurality of Public Now Says Obama Is An A**hole (censorship is mine). Where there is life, there is hope.

Happy Independence Day, everybody. If you’d like to read the optimistic companion piece, click here.

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Even an activist, right wing SCOTUS sees that the US cannot progress into the future with the current haters and lunatics on the right.