I Veri "leghisti Del Nord"

[parmigiano (POL)]

voglia di indipendentismo...vero, per quello che io ho potuto capire. Mi si e' rotta la dentiera e a masticare l'inglese ...che doloreeeeeee.



TIME TO SET ALASKA FREE?

'..not part of the scenery.'
-Alaskan native and tavern owner, referring to the
people of Alaska
. Rev Antonio Hernandez
I have often thought about the positive points that
have been made by secessionists and militant groups,
here in the U.S. I've tried to put myself in their
shoes, and see America and its government as they do.
Re-reading the writings of the Founding Fathers, and
especially the Federalist Papers, has brought home a
powerful point: these separatists really do have
something vital to say.

After viewing an interesting crime documentary, it
struck me for the first time that bigger issues are at
stake than just the murder of an elderly Alaskan man
in 1994. The murdered man was Joe Vogler. He founded
the Alaskan Independence Party (the only true third
party in the nation), and was getting dangerously
close to presenting a possibility of the secession of
Alaska from the United States. Many Alaskans want
their state to be a free, sovereign nation, and one
cannot blame them.
I learned from this simple documentary, and from Mr.
Vogler, that Alaskans who want sovereignty are not
militant, racist, hateful screw-heads. They are, in
fact, exactly as I have always imagined our Founding
Fathers were. They are sick of being plundered by
Corporate America and its asinine government
officials. If it seems revolution is in the air, it is
exactly the type of revolution Thomas Jefferson
predicted might occur if any state's people felt
themselves to be under tyranny.

We are fortunate: people who legitimately feel
tyrannized are granted the right to rise up to fight
the tyrannical government, if necessary. Again, thanks
to Thomas Jefferson, there is a remedy. Alaska doesn't
seem to want conflict; Alaskans, with Mr. Vogler as
their statesman, approached secession and independence
as intelligently and thoroughly as anyone could
possibly hope. The cherished cause was carried all the
way to the United Nations in Mr. Vogler's careful
arms.

But in the mid-1990s Joe Vogler was shot down, and
Alaska worried while a fruitless search was made for
his body, then mourned him when they learned the
truth. The going would be hard without good old Jim.
Too many resources abide in Alaska; the Alaskan
Pipeline is a household word; environmentalists don't
want their distant utopian dream to be fouled by
"enthusiastic" Alaskan freedom fighters. At the same
time, jobs and money go right out of Alaska to other
states. Mr. Vogler spoke long and tirelessly about
this and other problems Alaskans have to face. We may
ask, "But they are just separatists, aren't they?
Rabble-rousers, and obnoxious ones at that! They are
ingrates." These thoughts sound a lot like the British
sentiments of the 18th century. In the Electoral
College, Alaska has the fewest votes of any state,
having the fewest representatives in the House. It
seems Alaska has quite the legitimate axe to grind.

Alaskans have proved their worth, and their sincerity.
They should at least have the chance that our Founding
Ancestors had. What they all really want is what any
American wants: security, resources, freedom-- and the
right to self-government. Sadly, they have found
little of any of those things in the America of today,
and they have the courage to say so: Alaskans as
American citizens have been betrayed by the United
States government.

A man is in jail for the murder of Mr. Vogler. It is
said the murder was a burglary gone bad. Very few
Alaskans believe it. The former lieutenant governor
has said of the murder that "it is the cleanest
take-out" job he had ever heard of; and he's not the
only person in high places asking questions. The
murder went unsolved for just over a year. Patently
absurd? Perhaps. Why would our government approach a
self-described "street person" with a rap sheet, to
assassinate a 78-year-old man over the Alaska
Question? The murderer, Manfried "Cartoon Freddy"
West, was sentenced to 80 years in prison for second
degree murder; Jim Vogler, who is missed sorely by
many Alaskans, has become the first true martyr in a
modern cause for separatism-- no matter why he was
killed.

But just as often as I think about separatists, I
think about their motives. We were very close to
ending up like Canada back in 1776-- indeed, a vast
number of Canadians are descendants of Americans who
fled the Colonies because they weren't up to
revolution. Canada must have received a substantial
second exodus after 1787, when Congress ratified the
Constitution, establishing a federal government.
Canada has experienced tiny American exodi ever since,
especially during American wartimes.

Just as there were Americans who wanted no revolution,
there were those, afterward, who wanted no federal
government. Once the American Revolution was won, they
reasoned, why not stay with the tightly-knit
confederation of sovereign states? These people, wary
of "Big Brother" (and big government) as far back as
1787, were able to foresee problems such as the
present Alaskan Question. Even Franklin and Washington
were nervously disagreeing with a federal government.
They voted for it, anyway. They asked, back in 1787
and for years prior, "What if a state is unhappy,
later? What if a state desires to secede?" They
reasoned, "Surely civil war would result." These fears
were silenced by retorts that anarchy would result
without federal government. But the fears about
federal government were right, and fear is growing
that they may prove to be right once more.

Still, most of us feel that "this is America: love it
or leave it!" I agree, but only to the extent that our
government is functioning as best it should; I do not
think that is the case just now. "Corporate" America
is America, and no one illustrates that point better
than the downtrodden good people of Alaska.

We may feel a certain twinge about Canada. Robin
Williams joked that Canadians are our quiet, nerdy
"upstairs neighbors". Is there more than a hint of
envy in that joke? After all, how bad does the quiet
upstairs neighbor really have it? We may have ended up
like Canada, if not part of Canada..

But Canada we most certainly are not -- we are
supposed to be democracy itself, at least in theory.
At the end of the day, we should all recall our duty
to uphold that freedom and democracy. We should
hearken back to the worries of our ancestors. We
should be decent enough to recognize Joe Vogler's
work, honoring his memory and at the very least give
Alaska a chance to be heard.

© A. Hernandez - August 2002

[QUOTE]In origine postato da parmigiano
[B]voglia di indipendentismo...vero, per quello che io ho potuto capire. Mi si e' rotta la dentiera e a masticare l'inglese ...che doloreeeeeee.

Ti ricordo che molti non capiscono neanche l'italiano....