231 Years Ago... (Times Record Editorial)

[ticapnews]

Brunswick Times Record

As Americans prepare to celebrate the 231st anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, it seems appropriate to ponder the nation's status.

Is the United States, circa 2007, the logical extension of the free republic envisioned by the 56 men who signed the seminal document on July 4, 1776? Are we fostering — or allowing to erode— their bold vision of a society based on the "self-evident" truth that "all men are created equal" and due "inalienable rights" that include "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness?"

Answers will vary — depending on the respondents' political perspectives, value systems and life experiences. One need only look a few miles down the Maine coast — to Kennebunkport — for a social spectrometer on the health of democracy in the nation whose eloquent birth certificate provides the principal cause for Wednesday's national celebrations.

Americans who traveled with President Bush for his Kennebunkport meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin likely would point to the vast differences in quality of life and personal freedoms experienced by Americans and Russians, still emerging from decades of Communist rule, as proof that "the story of America is the story of expanding liberty," as Bush described U.S. history in 2004.

Protesters who ventured to Kennebunkport to advocate for the impeachment of Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney likely would argue that the Founders' legacy now founders because the current administration has amassed a "long train of abuses and usurpations" that reflect an "absolute despotism" akin to that which spurred the colonists' declaration of independence from King George III of England.

Indeed, the list of "injuries and usurpations" leveled against one George, the British monarch, in the Declaration of Independence — making judges "dependent on his will alone" and rendering the military "independent of and superior to civil power" are two of the more glaring examples — provides a template for articles of impeachment against another George, the U.S. president, whose administration seems to be governing in a way that at least begs the question of whether he's "unfit to be the ruler of a free people."

On its own, Cheney's recent declaration of independence from the system of checks and balances established by the Constitution 220 years ago warrants scrutiny, however unlikely that may be in an era when a jaded electorate seems increasingly willing to cede the tenet that governments derive "their powers from the consent of the governed."

More at link.

[unhappycamper]

1. I thought the last paragraph was interesting.

We may snipe at each other incessantly, but we do it in an open society. Free expression still takes place with little fear of official government retribution. Equality and the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness still represent the core of what it means to be an American For that, we should be grateful and proud. And ever vigilant.


I guess they haven't heard of "Free Speech Zones" and NSA spying on American citizens.....

[luckyleftyme2]

2. once again

this newspaper has some of the best editorials and commentaries in the country!
YES I SAID COUNTRY!
AND I READ THE WALL STREET JOURNAL,THE NEW YORK TIMES AND USA TODAY!

[luckyleftyme2]

3. one thing is for sure

it beats that blow-hards rag!