Live Free or Die Date Saturday, April 20, 2024 - 03:06 AM PST Topic News On Saturday, May 3, 2003, the rock formation known as The Old Man Of The Mountain slipped from its perch on Profile Mountain in Fraconia Notch, New Hampshire. This may be just a freak happening, but it seems to bear some strange sort of importance beyond the loss of a state icon. New Hampshire, the Granite State, Mother of Rivers, Switzerland of America, the White Mountain State, had relied upon the anthropomorphic gaze of Conway red granite as a sort of spiritual leader, guiding them through the difficult times leading to their acceptance as the 9th state in the union and on through the difficult times that lay ahead. New Hampshire's motto, "Live Free or Die", symbolised the principles of liberty in which she was steeped, and in later years she came to symbolise the election process itself by adopting legislation which ensures the state primary elections are the first in the nation by at least seven days. In the most recent election which began with such a primary, the nation saw its third election which was decided by contested electoral votes that ran contrary to the popular vote. In other words, the election was given to the runner-up. Aside from a bit more fanfare than the previous times, this electoral victory was no different than the previous win-losses. This contested election, however, has resulted indirectly (and in the name of patriotism, no less) in a historically radical departure from the norm in the nation's foreign and domestic policy, a departure which has seen the Freedom Of Information Act disabled along with many civil liberties in hushed lawmaking sessions. The morality of these changes are a subject of debate, since ostensibly they are for national security reasons, but the impact is still the same. It has become increasingly difficult to "Live Free" as the Old Man commanded, and increasingly easy to "Die" at the hands of angered foreign nationals or even overzealous domestic law enforcement groups. The flag which has flown from the Old Man's brow and which he has seen evolve from a revolutionary's rag into the banner of the wealthiest republic on the planet seems to have become confused in its meaning. It once stood for the people of the republic and their freedom and safety as well as the government assigned to assure these things, but lately it has been misused as a reason to remove the power which belongs to the people. It has been misused as a symbol only of the government which is taking the power, and not of the people for whom the power is to be wielded. It has become a badge that states "I surrender my power to the government and I will accept any decision of its officers" instead of the healthy questioning of authority that it once did. I have no doubt that this simple rock formation which has been inbued with emotional energy and pride and freedom had come to have a life force of its own. I have no doubt that the Old Man had held out hope for his country from before the colonists had arrived and through all of her trials and tribulations. I have no doubt that the Old Man wept on the preceding Thursday and Friday when he had hidden his face behind clouds. I have no doubt that the Old Man, man of principle and action that he always was, heeded his own resounding words and did the one thing that he could do that might warn his beloved people about the path they were taking. Unable to Live Free, he Died. This article comes from Shmeng http://www.shmeng.com/ The URL for this story is: http://www.shmeng.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=521