On The Front Lines
New to OldSpeak: Responding to Economic & Constitutional Crisis, John W. Whitehead Urges Americans to Reject Politics as the Answer
"In times of crisis, people will give over freedoms. They will even give over their money. Most of that stems from the fact that they don't know their history. They don't know their rights. Therefore, if anybody is to blame, it's the American people because they are the foundation of the country. That is what the founders who drafted the Constitution emphasized. It's the people who will keep their freedoms and it is the people who will lose their freedoms." --John W. Whitehead
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - In an exclusive interview with OldSpeak, John W. Whitehead, author of The Change Manifesto: Join the Block by Block Movement to Remake America (Sourcebooks, 2008), talks about the nation's current economic and constitutional crisis, as well as the dangers posed when Americans give into the politics of fear, and the role Americans must play if there is to be any real hope of turning things around. The interview, "Let's Turn This Country Around," is available here.
"The Constitution starts with those three really important words 'We the people.' This means that the American people are the government," remarked Whitehead. "We are the government and there is a lot of power in that phrase. But we must access the power. The only way that people are going to access the power is to study the problems, study their revolutionary history and act on it."
Expanding on topics he covers in his new book, The Change Manifesto, Whitehead sheds light on the government's all-out assault on the Constitution in recent years and makes the case that Americans have abdicated their responsibilities as the guardians of freedom. Whitehead also sounds off about corruption in Congress, his disdain for pork-barrel legislation, and his abiding belief that true change is still possible as long as there are people willing to "act locally and think nationally"--standing up, banding together, and letting their voices be heard.
Whitehead's new book has been getting quite a bit of buzz from individuals across the political spectrum, coming as it does in the midst of a presidential election season. As Nadine Strossen, president of the ACLU, remarked: "This book provides a devastating portrait of the state of our freedoms, which are under attack as never before, and makes a compelling case for resistance and revolution. It is my hope that Americans of all political persuasions will heed what Whitehead has to say in The Change Manifesto before it is too late." Nat Hentoff was moved to remark that "John Whitehead is the Tom Paine of our time."
Indeed, in his 30-plus years as a constitutional attorney and author, Whitehead has gained a reputation for being a legal, political and cultural watchdog--sounding the call for integrity, accountability and an adherence to the democratic principles on which this country was founded. Whitehead's motto, which he proclaims in media interviews, newspaper commentaries--even on bumper stickers--is "Speak truth to power," and he has been doing that very thing since long before he started The Rutherford Institute in 1982.
OldSpeak, the online journal of The Rutherford Institute, is dedicated to publishing interviews, articles and commentary on subjects often overlooked by the mainstream media in the areas of politics, art, culture, law and religion. The Rutherford Institute is an international, nonprofit civil liberties organization committed to defending constitutional and human rights.
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