Independence Day

Declaration of Independence Text


When I think of the Declaration of Independence, the following invariably comes to mind: “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.”  This opening section goes on to state: “... whenever any Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government...”

What is less often remembered, however, is the heart of the Declaration, the list of grievances: 30 affronts which the colonies suffered from King George.  Here are a few of that score-and-a-half.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

Executives from both sides of the aisle have ignored the war powers act, the executive order banning assassination, innumerable environmental laws, and whistle blower protection in the past 15 years.  How many UN conventions have these same political parties failed to recognize both in the executive and legislative? (Kyoto climate protocol, International Criminal Court, Convention on the Rights of the Child, Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, etc.)?  Are members of the judiciary appointed for their juridical imminence and their career of seeing all as created equal or for their party affiliation?

He has endeavored 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.

Immigration reform can never pass under this system; there is money backing the status quo in both parties and no one with money wants to change it.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

While technically at war with Korea, the United States’ political structure has not declared a war in over 50 years.  Yet we maintain more than half a million uniformed soldiers in the Army alone and nearly 1.5 million in all services.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.

There are currently classified federal laws, particularly within the Patriot Act, which trump the civil liberties outlined by the Bill of Rights.  Were Yasser Hamdi, John Walker Lindh and Jose Padilla permitted any of their rights?  Let us speak not of non-citizens whom the government, controlled by Democrats and Republicans, has not treated as created equal.

For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

Granted, this one is a stretch from the original grievance, but no less appalling.  In August 2007, a USAF B-52 flew from North Dakota to Louisiana carrying 6 armed nuclear cruise missiles.  What has our government done to ensure that we do not flynuclear armageddon inadvertently over our country?

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent: 

Has any of you ever supported oil company subsidies, pharmaceutical company subsidies, ethanol subsidies, or any of the other big-money handouts to big-money which our tax dollars currently cover?  How about the triangle nuclear arsenal we maintain?  Yet the parties in Washington refuse to enact widely popular change because it’s not profitable to them personally.

I hold to be self-evident that our current government is immoral.  The Democrats and Republicans in Washington have been running around making a proper mess of things for far too long.  I ask them to graciously seek the closest exit and to extend us their gratitude on the way out for our decades of generosity in not demanding their departure sooner.

Each human is created equal and endowed with the unalienable right to struggle for his/her survival.  This means both that no one is entitled to not have to struggle and that no one is not entitled to survive.  It means that no one has the right to oppress another and that no one has the right to see him/herself as a victim.  

Money is a relatively recent phenomenon and not endowed with any rights.  The Declaration does not hold all money to be created equal.  The colonies were far less wealthy than was the Crown at its passage.  The Declaration and was written AGAINST moneyed interests.  The modern incarnation of these moneyed interests currently controls the United States government.  

Our nation exists because patriots, idealists, rebels and guerillas valued their equality and that of their fellow man more than their lives or their comfort.  Why do we, their progeny, acquiesce to the money which has co-opted their legacy?  Can we be true to the Founding Fathers without throwing off the Democrat/Republican yolk 235 years later?