Julian Assange has been persecuted by people who imagine that they have infinite power because of the “War on Terror.” Remember the War on Terror. Remember rendition and torture. People prosecuting the War on Terror wanted no limits to what they could do. And still the pursuit of limitless power under the terror watchword continues.

No one seems to be making these power players stay within the bounds of their alotted power as set out by law and no one seems to be making them do their job the way it’s supposed to be done. “Make me.” “Stop me.” And if you can’t make the government do or not do and you can’t stop the government from doing something that is diplomatically and legally wrong then some would think that means the power players have infinite power. That isn’t what it means. Check it out. The United States power gang running the government in Washington has less power now than ever. Less power? How?

When the U.S. federal government decided to use drones to assassinate perceived political threats, that decision undermined the Rules of Diplomacy. The Rules of Diplomacy were developed and modeled on Italian City State policies that enhanced trade. One significant outcome of the application of the Rules of Diplomacy is that during the American Civil War, European powers refused a request by the South to assassinate Northern diplomats visiting Europe. Europe refused to kill those men visiting Europe because of the Rules of Diplomacy. And the Civil War happened which killed a lot of Americans and not any Europeans.

The Rules of Diplomacy evolved after The Peace Treaty of Westphalia that happened in 1648 to stop the Thirty Years War that killed 8 million Europeans. The astonishing amount of death that occurred during the Thirty Years War happened because people fought against a ruling class that wanted to have uniform religious beliefs among its population. If your King adopted a new or old religion, you were supposed to conform to it. Conquered people likewise should adopt the conquerer’s religion. Europeans fought against this notion and after a lot of death and a lot of missed opportunity for better life outcomes, the Peace of Westphalia stopped the fighting and accepted the idea that people can choose for themselves what they want to believe in.

As I watch politicians throwing away the Rules of Diplomacy by shooting down perceived political opponents in far away places with drones, I begin to understand the necessity of those rules. I predict that eventually, if assassination by drone continues, a new technology will come along that will be more portable, accessible and deadly. And without the Rules of Diplomacy, this technology will be used to assassinate many in the political arena. Bang, no more diplomacy. It is a bad and foolish move to throw away the Rules of Diplomacy. How will you conduct peace when all your diplomats are dead or becoming a diplomat is just a death sentence?

Likewise, the use of Social Media to influence and even brain-wash people under the mistaken belief that censorship is a social good and it would be better if people believed the same narratives, however false they may be or become is foolish. Eight million Europeans died to end that the last time it was tried. I am amazed to see anyone try to make everyone think alike now in the twenty first century. If the twentieth century was the Century of War Hubris, the twenty first century may be the Century of the Fool.

As we measure the strength of the United States, I am sorry to say that we have weakened under the War on Terror. We have lost resolve. We aren’t resolved to do anything prosperous. American cities are deteriorating. We aren’t resolved to be a force of good in world affairs. No one trusts the Dog King in Washington. We aren’t resolved to protect children or help them to meet their potential as human beings. And in this way we abandon a brighter future. We aren’t following or listening for what is Sacred in this life. Global Warming fears and protecting Gaia aren’t the Sacred. Fear of death by disease or starvation isn’t the Sacred. There isn’t a single social good that is being protected. Wanton greed has replaced those things that were more powerful and more important. Ego based power and ego based greed can’t help a nation to prosper. It just has no power to do so.

Narratives explaining our Fall from Grace imply that Communists are trying to take over the country. Limitless power is what Communists seek, therefore it must be Communists changing the country in order to take whatever they can and destroy whatever was best. Weaponizing the law in lawfare contests is part of centralization, communism, fascism, totalitarianism and it doesn’t grow power. It just destroys. That’s all it can do.

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So welcome to the Century of the Fool. We can change back to wiser ways and now it’s clear that we should do so. Why wait? Free Julian Assange. Stop the War on Terror.