elsua's clippings

I am sure that, at this point in time, you may have read the following couple of news articles: “Lo que de verdad ocultan los Gobiernos” by El País (In Spanish), and “Not-So-Gentle Persuasion: US Bullies Spain into Proposed Website Blocking Law” by Electronic Frontier Foundation that have just been recently published and which basically come to confirm how on December 21st, my home country, Spain, will become part of that exclusive bunch of countries known as banana republics, as that’s the date when a bunch of Spanish politicians will be approving, and passing!, a law that’s been imposed by the US government’s pressure, which basically comes to violate nothing more sacred to any so-called democracy than its own Constitution itself. If you haven’t read either of those articles, I would suggest you take a few minutes and do so. You would probably be just as appalled as I am that we are in this situation in the first place altogether!

I have never thought that in my 13 years of Internet life I would ever get to blog about one of those three subjects that all along I have stayed away from, on purpose. Yes, that’s right! When I first started making use of the World Wide Web, all along, and from the very first beginning, I decided that there would be three topics I would stay away from, more than anything else because of perhaps how opinionated I am myself about each of them: Politics, Religion and Sports. Yet, recent events are making me re-think that position and change that opinion; maybe, because somehow I feel, very very soon, I might not even have an opportunity to share that opinion freely as one of my fundamental rights: that of my own voice. My own self.

You may be wondering that this may well be a bit too alarmist, melodramatic, controversial and everything, but again I would strongly encourage you all to read those two articles (There are zillions more on that very same topic out there already, by the way!) to see how it’s no longer about being an alarmist, but simply the defining moment of individuals / citizens to start protecting themselves from the invisible government(s) that govern them. It all comes from the recent cablegate that Wikileaks has unleashed just recently, which certainly comes to bring to question a whole bunch of topics I will be touching base on soon enough, but one that comes to mind as of late: the sovereignty of states AND their own governments given the pressures from third party lobbies / organisms, including other state governments.

I know that this blog post is probably not going to change things that much, unfortunately, just like much of what’s been said all over the place already; however, I would want to take this opportunity to encourage those politicians who will be passing the law next Tuesday 21st of December to think very carefully about that vote, so that they they, finally, put an end towards alienating their own constituencies for good. I know it’s not going to be easy, given all of those pressures they have been submitted for a while already, but one thing for sure, is that if my home country, Spain, enters the realm of becoming the next banana republic, I will start questioning the validity not only of our own political system, but that of the so-called state of democracy. Because somehow it will stop existing any longer from that day onwards with that free spirit of how it was born over 30 years ago.

Thus, dear politicians,

Azpiazu Uriarte, Pedro María (GV (EAJ-PNV)) – pedro.azpiazu@diputado.congreso.es
Buenaventura Puig, María Nuria (GER-IU-ICV) – prensa.icv@gpiv.congreso.es
Colldeforns i Sol, Mª Montserrat (GS) – mcolldeforns@diputada.congreso.es
Gastón Menal, Marta (GS) – marta.gaston@diputada.congreso.es
Montoro Romero, Cristóbal Ricardo (GP) – cristobal.montoro@diputado.congreso.es
Oramas González-Moro, Ana María (GMx) - ana.oramas@diputada.congreso.es
Sánchez i Llibre, Josep (GC-CiU) – jsanchez@unio.cat
Tomé Muguruza, Baudilio (GP) – baudilio.tome@diputado.congreso.es

let me remind you with this blog post that the state of democracy your fathers envisioned back in the day will be at stake on December 21st 2010 when you cast your vote and decide whether to pass the law … or not. Please do remember who voted for you in the first place; if you took an oath to represent AND to be truthful to your constituents, that would be the perfect time when you could demonstrate it once and for all. To all of us. Not them.

Please try to make an extra effort NOT TO  turn us off and away altogether from the world of politics and, for once, fight the good fight! Not just for you and your own integrity, but that one of all of us. Your voters.

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