Two hundred thirty nine years ago, a group of thinking men got together and decided to actually consider rebelling against the Mother Country they loved as English colonists because the despot King treated them as third class citizens, not as equal English men who lived 3,000 miles from the throne. They formed a committee and designated Thomas Jefferson to write a Declaration of Independence from the country they loved and the King who they hated.
They felt their rights as Englishmen were violated time and again by the despotic George III, first over taxes, then over lack of representation in Parliament. They beseeched, pleaded and begged the King and Members of Parliament to at least consider their grievances, but their words fell on deaf ears.
Fast forward to today. Can anyone say our government, which is supposed to work for us, is listening to its EMPLOYERS? I don't think it is, and many of my friends and acquaintances feel the same as I do. Our President violates the Constitution, our Basic Law, at every turn, and our Representatives and Senators in the Congress turn a blind eye to this treasonous activity.
Then, the Supreme Court violates its responsibility by legislating from the Bench rather than defining all the illegality going on as unconstitutional. It uses foreign law as a means to "fix" the bad law, rather than determining the law is illegal to begin with.
I could go on but you get my drift. We are floundering as a nation, becoming more divided each day as we care only for our petty issues, rather than uniting as a people to protect what others died to defend, our Constitution, our Sacred Document, which sets us apart from all other people on this speck of water and dirt we call Earth.
We were once the Moral Conscience for the seven billion people who share the planet with us, but we are no longer. Instead, we are a paper tiger, hiding behind an inept (Un) United Nations, which is dominated by countries which demand much from us but give no freedoms nor liberties to their own people. It has become so much worse over the last six years.
I am attaching my commentaries from last year and 2013 for your review. Please read them with the thoughtfulness which was given to them when they were written. As always, your comments are welcomed.
Thursday, July 3, 2014
American Independence - Revisited
Tomorrow is our 238 anniversary of our glorious independence. Last year, I wrote the following commentary. Since this time, we have witnessed some of the worst examples of a “government gone wild” on its citizens: NSA, IRS, Fast and Furious, Benghazi, “lost” emails, “computer glitches”, and so many other issues.
Now, we are witnessing a President who has total disregard for the oath of office he took, not once, but twice to enter his present office. He claims to be a Constitutional Law professor, but acts like a man hell-bent on the destruction of that very same Sacred Document. And, sadly, we have a Congress prepared to go along to get along.
On this day, this weekend, we should reflect on what I believe to be the most important sentence in the Declaration of Independence, and is the point of the whole idea which made this country:
“But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.”
238 years ago fifty-five honorable men, under the threat of death, stood tall and brave, risked their fortunes, their position in society, and yes, even their lives to say they were mad as hell, and they were not going to take this anymore.
Can any of our Representative, Senators, Us, be so brave? I hope to God we can, or we will die on our knees and those who came before us will have died in vain to preserve and protect the idea which came 238 years ago, July 4, 1776.
Thursday, June 27, 2013
American Independence
Next Thursday is Independence Day, the holiday that we celebrate our independence from an oppressive government. 237 years ago, very backward men looked at their plight as citizens of the British Crown and understood that their King, George III, and Parliament were treating them as serfs, rather than as British free men.
The colonists recognized that something needed to be done to improve their lot. After all, colonists and regular British soldiers fought side by side as comrades in the French and Indian War to help the Crown maintain and expand its presence in North America. And in 1775, the Crown was penalizing the colonists with regressive taxes and penalties for their labors and products.
As time wore on, more colonists began to believe that something dramatic was necessary to send a message to the king. Those who spoke of revolution were in the minority. But, the members of the Continental Congress, in order to quell an open revolt at their chambers, enlisted John Adams and Benjamin Franklin, along with several other members, to draft and ultimately present for review a "list of grievances" to be sent to Parliament and the king for consideration and action.
Thomas Jefferson was charged with the responsibility to write the draft and was given until the first of July, 1776 to complete this task. Jefferson researched many documents, including the works of John Locke, whose works are revealed throughout the Declaration of Independence. Locke spoke of three important values to humankind, life liberty and property, which Jefferson plagiarized as life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Locke also spoke of governing with the consent of the governed, classical republicanism and liberal theory which Jefferson spread all through the Declaration. He submitted it for review on July 2 and after some serious and emotional debate, several minor changes were made. On July 4, the document was published to the world.
There was no going back.
Fast forward two centuries to January 20, 1981. President Ronald Reagan, in his Inaugural Address, said, "In this present crisis, government is not the solution to the problem; government is the problem." Reagan, like Kennedy, had great speechwriters, and like Kennedy, Reagan had an unflappable delivery. Perhaps, it was because as an actor, he had a knack for timing. He had a gift as a Great Communicator, and believed what he said.
I bring these two stories to make this point:
The intent of our founders was not to replace one unbearable, overwhelming, repressive government with one equal or worse than what they revolted against. The goal, ultimately, was to bestow a government that was "of the people, for the people, and by the people." Reagan understood this as much as Lincoln, or Kennedy, did.
It doesn't matter whether it's President Obama, President Bush, President Clinton, or some past/future President that heads the government. The government itself has become too big, too oppressive. This was not the intention of the founders to have this uncontrollable monster mutate from the simple plan laid out by our Forefathers.
So, as we approach this Fourth of July, ask yourself, "Is this government gone wild? Is this what soldiers died for?" A reasonable person will say no.
Give this some thought this holiday. Cherish your liberty and freedom given to you by others' sacrifices, not by the government.
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