As we approach this Independence Day, I took the time to once again read the Declaration of Independence.
http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/document/I think it’s good to occassionally reflect on our history and review some of the things that have helped make us all “Americans”.
This year, as I read the Declaration, I was simply stunned at the similarities between the abuses of King George III, and our current King George.
From the Declaration (bold for our new king)
“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.
- He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
(signing statements)- He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.
(refusal to comply with laws passed by the congress, bypassing the judiciary to conduct secret warrantless wiretaps, domestic spying, data mining, and seizure of banking records. Suspension of Habeus Corpus for those HE decides are enemies)- He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
(Roberts, Alito...enough said)- He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.
(Department of Homeland Security, White House Iraq Group, Pentagon Propaganda Office)- He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power. (
torture, indefinite incarceration, targeting of civilians, zero checks on his power to use the military anyway he sees fit, even in our own country, against our own citizens)- He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
(Environmental destruction, Katrina, 9/11, thousands upon thousands of civilians and military dead)--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For these abuses, I declare my Independence from *, from Republicans, and from the fear they require to stay in power. I'm sick of being told that I should be afraid. I'm sick of being told who I should be afraid of. I'm sick of having the worst day this country has experienced in my lifetime shoved in my face as justification for "just one more liberty" being scurried away down the rabbit hole.
I will remember this Independence Day that we
did not elect a king. I will remember what our founding fathers did when confronted by a man who was "the decider".
I want to leave you with one final passage from the Declaration:
“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.”
All we have to pledge is our vote.
Throw the bums out, impeach, try, convict, imprison!