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We agree that Nancy Pelosi was a greatly effective political leader for her Party when she was Speaker.

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An empire is a large collection of nations and peoples ruled by a dominant group, which though economic strength and military power, controls the destinies of subject nations. Empires tend to be politically conservative and heavily militaristic, as well as very competitive.

The first step in creating an empire is ethnocentrism. For a nation to become an empire it must develop a strong sense of national pride. For the United States, this was called Manifest Destiny. For Britain it was called the "White Man's Burden." In any nation there are individuals that desire to rule the world, but the majority of people tend to be less imperialistic. However, when an educated imperialist supports his or her views for conquest with a rhetoric of helping those poor, underdeveloped (insert ethnic group here), then imperialism can begin. Imperialism can also begin when the pepole begin to see other nations as a threat or when the people believe that an empire would make them wealthier. Either way, it is the people who must support any plans for an empire or at least not violently oppose it. However, this is only the first step.
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At any given point there are nations who are experiencing economic and political difficulty, and division makes an area ripe for conquest. Civil disorder does too. Also, there are often leaders in impoverished areas willing to sell their nations for some money and a position, so patience and diplomatic/military/economic pressure will often create an empire.

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I've been looking for a way to cast some light on what is at stake. I think that I've found it in the oldest legal code -- the Code of Hammurabi, from 1772 B.C.

196. If a man has knocked out the eye of a patrician, his eye shall be knocked out...

200. If a patrician has knocked out the tooth of a man that is his equal, his tooth shall be knocked out.

I think that I can hear you say, "Whoa! I never heard that bit about 'patrician' or 'equal' before. What's that all about?"

Well, I'll tell you.

The Code of Hammurabi explicitly set separate laws for patricians, a/k/a the 1 percent, and plebians, a/k/a the 99 percent. Patricians enjoyed the full protection of "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth." Plebians did not. Here is what they got:

198. If [a man] has knocked out the eye of a plebian ... he shall pay one mina of silver.

199. If he has knocked out the eye of a patrician's servant ... he shall pay half [of the servant's] value [to the patrician]...

201. If [a patrician] has knocked out the tooth of a plebian, he shall pay one-third of a mina of silver.

(Today, a mina of silver would be worth about $600.)

Here is another example:

202-204. If a man has smitten the privates [ouch!!] of a man higher in rank than he, he shall be scourged with 60 blows of an ox-hide scourge, in the assembly. If a [patrician] has smitten the privates of a patrician of his own rank, he shall pay one mina of silver. If a plebian has smitten the privates of a plebian, he shall pay ten shekels of silver.

(A shekel of silver today would be worth about $10.)

So here is the point: in the wrong hands, the law itself becomes a means -- a very powerful means -- of discrimination. And in many respects, it already is. Look at the tax code. Look at banking law. Look at abortion laws. Look at the laws on marriage equality. And look at the system itself: most people have the same access to the so-called "justice system" as they do to the Ritz-Carlton.

And whose hands are "the wrong hands"? How about the hands of a gentleman who has never had to dirty his hands at any time during his entire life? A gentleman "to the manor born"? The spiritual heir to Thurston Howell, III?

We already have reached a point where inequality is so extreme that the median wealth of whites is seven times higher than that of African Americans, and African Americans are seven times more likely to be incarcerated.

When we choose our legislators in a few days, let's remember this: the laws that they pass can be a force for equality, or a force against it. That's not only a big difference, it's the biggest difference of all.

Courage,

Alan Grayson http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rep-alan-grayson/an-eye-for-an-eye-unles
s-_b_2035705.html

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