A Case of Identity Theft

On this Wednesday after the Tuesday, the paperwork will be filed away. The principals have been identified, and their names made public. The attention during the culmination of this case, was directed toward the victims, as it should be. Those who perpetrated the theft of the identity of so many were placed on public display, even confronted with a degree of public disdain, and then silenced. They were dispatched, and denied the power to commit that same crime again.

The man who then stood before us, the People whose identity had been stolen, and then defiled repeatedly, spoke kindly, but directly. The recovery from these crimes would be lengthy, but certain, he said. We ourselves were complicit by our permissiveness, even by our naivete. We must remain vigilant, and committed, went his advice. Our identity was a bequest, ours to guard and to partake in, but not to own outright.

This Nation, We the People, have received what may be a reprieve. Our reputation and standing is diminished. Our purposes are suspect. Our history is stained and unfamiliar on the pages we have lived for many years now.

But in this theft of our identity as a People, we were witting accomplices. There were, and remain signs that our election processes was subverted. We handed money to corporations who were unaccountable for their services, for serving our soldiers putrid ice and water, electrocuting them in their showers, and diverting our national wealth to purposes even now undiscovered.

A few spoke out, and then more. Our law-makers stood mute for the most part, or shook their feeble fists in the air, only to let them drop to their sides and claim there was nothing they could do. Our judges gave us rulings, none heeded by the King. Every norm in our society was at risk of breaking down.

We will not carry our wallets in our baggy pant pocket, nor carry it dangling in a purse upon our outstretched arm. We know these men who prowl the public walkways in search of claiming to be "We the People", but who are truly "We the Powerful". Will we know them when they are on the sidewalks again, looking to overcome a trusting people?

Perhaps. For now we stand wary of them. May it ever be so.