I’ve been toying with this since the weekend, thinking that the upcoming 2012 campaign season will be a time for those running to make promises they can’t keep, and slander those they disagree with. My thinking is that if we can find a candidate that can find in themselves where we have failed the spirit of the Declaration, and articulate it will be the one I will be drawn to. The Declaration will be in bold black lettering, and my commentary will be in red.
IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
(Truths of course, mean indisputable facts. All men are created equal, with the Right to Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. Not the right to an equal outcome, not the right to take from one Citizen to redistribute to another at the point of a gun. )
–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
(Is there any doubt that the current Federal Government, bastardized by Republicans and Democrats alike, barely resembles the original vision and intent of the Founders?)
Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.
(My opinion is, We the Citizens have been suffering for many decades under a despotic Federal Government gone mad from power, corruption, and outside influence. And I do not hold the Citizenry unaccountable, at every corner turned to the current state of affairs, ignorance and apathy amongst the People have allowed these things to happen.)
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.
(In our current situation, a return to Founding Principals, and Constitutional Limits would be a good start.)
–Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
(Let’s update this a bit, shall we?
Such has been the patient sufferance of these taxpaying Citizens; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their current Systems of Government. The history of the present Federal Government is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.)
(For our purpose, let’s take “He” to represent the current Federal Government, comprised of both Democrats and Republicans.)
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
(Understanding the current financial situation, seeing how they created it. How we don’t have a Balanced Budget Amendment limiting the size and scope of the Federal Government is beyond me.)
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
(Anyone remember the Feds suing Arizona for their Immigration Bill? Or threatening Texas for passing legislation over the TSA? Or denying states the right to have the airlines provide the security the TSA allegedly provides?)
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
(I really don’t know about this one. I will look into this and update it when my understanding becomes more complete.
It seems to me now quite the opposite is true, with the advent of ACORN and other advocacy groups, in some elections people who are not eligible to participate in the Democratic Process are over-represented. The Franken election in Minnesota comes to mind. In the end, after months of legal wrangling, the margin of victory turned out to be about the number of felons who voted illegally.)
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
(Votes in the middle of the night, or up against Holiday Breaks, anyone?)
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
(Jamming Obamacare, not written by elected Representatives, bailing out GM and Chrysler, i.e. choosing winners and losers, and stiffing the investors in Chrysler most notably, along with involvement in the companies to the level that they produced management change at GM.)
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
(While not a Federal doing, the Soros-funded Secretary of State program, comes to mind as invasions from without, causing convulsions from within. The Franken election comes to mind, with Mn, SoS Mark Richie being one of the major players in this particular fraud.)
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
(Again, now the opposite is true, illegals run rampant in our streets, and are being both covertly,(see catch and release of illegals) and overtly,(establishment of Sanctuary Cities in direct defiance of Federal statute) aided and abetted by the Federal Government by not prosecuting current law.)
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
(Another trip to Bizzaro World. Now through Judicial Activism, and Legislation from the Bench, Judiciary powers far exceed their Original Intent.)
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
(Both Parties are guilty of this, and confirmation by party line vote does not serve the Interest of the People.)
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
(This is like shooting fish in a barrel. TSA, DHS, EPA, Dept of Education, Dept of Energy, IRS, HHS, FCC to name a few.)
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
(Maybe not the Military, but they are trying for it with DHS and the TSA.)
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
(Participation in the UN, IMF, and NATO?)
For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
(I will take some flack on this: ATF, TSA)
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
(Ruby Ridge and Waco?)
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
(Using economic means like over-taxation, minimum wages, unionization, over-regulation effectively does this.)
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
(Did we have a voice in Obamacare? Bailouts of Wall Street and GM and Chrysler? Check your Representatives and Senators votes.)
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
(I would say the opposite is true, and the system has been played to the financial gain of Trial Lawyers and others claiming injury falsely.)
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences
(Anyone have an example? Leave it in the comment section.)
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:
(I don’t have a good example of this on the Federal Level, although the intimidation of regulations of business’ and the almost unrestrained acquisition of lands by the Federal Government may qualify as Arbitrary Government and enlarging it’s(the Feds) boundaries.)
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
(Does our current Federal Government resemble what was conceived in our founding documents?)
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
(The usurpation of State’s Rights by the Federal Government by the power of the purse is undeniable.)
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
(See how well Texas did recently in getting a Federal Disaster Declaration? A clear message to those who oppose the Federal Government.)
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
(Offshore drilling ban, flooding thousands of acres of farmland by blowing up levees, knowing that it will increase food prices)
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
(Not sealing the Southern Border, not deporting illegals, suing States involved in protecting themselves, just to name a few.)
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands
(Anyone have an example? Leave it in the comments)
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
(Do the protests in Wisconsin rise to the level of exciting a domestic insurrection? Does the dismissal of the Black Panther case by the DOJ rise to the level of abetting a domestic insurrection? Do the advocacy groups for illegals, and the resulting demonstrations in California and Arizona rise to the level of exciting domestic insurrections enabled by the Feds? What about trying to grant rights exclusive to Citizens to illegals?)
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
(I believe that the passing of the 17th Amendment allowed the Federal Government to usurp the power of the States, by no longer making the Senators directly responsible to the State Government and being subject to recall for acts against the States and their People.)
Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us.
(The Libertarians and Tea Party have been sending the message, along with the massive message sending done on 8-28-2010)
We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.
(The massive phone, fax, and e-mail blitzes over Obamacare, and TARP come to mind as reminding the Government of our opinions in regard to these matters. And the results show the massive indifference they hold in regard to their Constituents, and the contempt.)
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.
(Wow, what can you say about this last paragraph? Not much, really. My takeaway is that the Federal Government has become The Oppressor of Free Men and Women in our Country. We need to be our own Representatives against the Government that has continually over-stepped its boundaries and hold its’ People hostage by over spending, over taxing, and over regulation. It’s time to take it back, and reduce the size and scope of the beast that never sleeps. Do it by voting Beloved Leader out. Do it by reducing the amount of taxes you pay. Cut out the aimless driving, you take a half a buck out of their hands every time you don’t buy a gallon of gas. Grow something yourself, and keep the Feds out of your kitchen. If we don’t fly for fun, the TSA won’t be able to feel you up for no good reason.
Develop a network of neighbors and friends, and exchange services and goods between yourselves. Take away money from the beast whenever and wherever you can. Don’t volunteer information to the Government. Give the minimum to keep you out of jail, and no more.
Keep cash out to a minimum, get into something that maintains value. I buy old silver coinage, it’s 90% pure, and it has pretty uniform weighting. A $1.00 coin weighs about an ounce, a half dollar about a half ounce and so on. If and when hyperinflation hits, it will be good to have some trading material. I’m sure this only scratches the surface of what you can do to lessen the drag of the machine on your life. Spread the word of liberty, help those who need it discover what it means to be truly free. It’s all up to us, Citizens. Let it not be said that We The People rolled over to our destruction.)
Be seeing you!!!!
