04 March, 2009

March 4, 2009 – The Declaration of Independence II

Read these words written 233 years ago and think about what’s happened since January of this year. Rarely do I quote something so long in full, but I really want this to be read. Pay particular attention to the inalienable rights and the list of injuries inflicted by King George (emphasis mine).

 

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. 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. 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. 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.

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.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
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.
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.
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.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
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.
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.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
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.
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:
For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences
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:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
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.
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.
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.
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.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. 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.

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.

Our government has now committed many of these same transgressions against us. They no longer represent the will of the people, only their own power-hungry desires. Sure, some of these transgressions seem impossible now, but how many of them would’ve seemed impossible 15 years ago and have now come to pass? How many times has our government ignored the will of the people? How many times have they thrown unfair taxes at us? How many times have they threatened us, threatened to take away our arms? Threatened to take away our civil liberties?

They may not have suspended our state Legislatures, but they’ve made them largely irrelevant, by increasing the power of the federal government.

Yes, it’s always for a good reason. We need the government to take care of us. We need the government to protect us. Only the government can protect our rights. The government is free to take their monies back from us and distribute how they see fit to care for us and nurture us.

The government has forgotten that our rights are inalienable, given to us at birth. They’ve forgotten that we give them power, not the other way around. They can’t give us rights, only take them away, and they’ve taken far too many of them away.

We no longer have a representative democracy. This is not a Republican thing or a Democratic thing. It’s a simple question. Do those in Washington really represent your views? Do the laws they pass truly help America or help Washington?

It’s time for the 50 United States of America to draft a new Declaration of Independence, and declare ourselves independent from Washington D.C.

Obama’s Broken Promises

You know, I can’t remember an elected official ever breaking so many promises so quickly.

  • “No political appointees in an Obama-Biden administration will be permitted to work on regulations or contracts directly and substantially related to their prior employer for two years. And no political appointee will be able to lobby the executive branch after leaving government service during the remainder of the administration.”

    Errr…except for Mark Patterson, and William Lynn, and Tom Daschle, and…

  • “Too often bills are rushed through Congress and to the president before the public has the opportunity to review them. As president, Obama will not sign any non-emergency bill without giving the American public an opportunity to review and comment on the White House website for five days.”

    The ink wasn’t even dry on the stimulus bill, and no one had read the complete thing when he signed it.

  • “The system is broken. We can no longer accept a process that doles out earmarks based on a member of Congress’ seniority, rather than the merit of the project. We can no longer accept an earmarks process that has become so complicated to navigate that a municipality or non-profit group has to hire high-priced D.C. lobbyists to do it. And we can no longer accept an earmarks process in which many of the projects being funded fail to address the real needs of our country.”

    Of course, the “stimulus package” is chock full of earmarks, as is the budget bill.

  • “I’m not going to take away your guns.”

    Errr…except when I am.

  • We’ve already laughed at his promises of “fiscal discipline.”

  • And finally, let’s not forget the theme of his campaign: “Hope and Change”.

    Well, he’s failed on hope. His words of despair are eerily similar to those of President James E. Carter (D-USA). (quite possibly the worst speech ever by a sitting American President—why oh why did they have to include this speech in Miracle?)

    As for change, well the lurch towards socialism certainly counts as change, but I really don’t think that’s what most of his voters had in mind. As for reversing policy decisions made by that “fascist Bush administration”, well, just click here.

Why Does Barack Obama Keep Going after Rush And Santelli?

Attacking the media so directly and harshly is nearly always a losing proposition, so why does the White House keep going there? It’d be better to just ignore Rush as much as possible, and as for Santelli, the White House is only drawing more attention to him.

So, why do it?

Well, as we’ve noted before, President Barack Obama (D-USA) is incredibly thin-skinned. Far too thin skinned to be holding the job he now holds.

The other reason is no better. Obama is quite easily distracted. Another trait you really want in a President, right? Remember how they went after Sarah Palin (R-AK) during the campaign? Once again, the best response to Palin would’ve been to ignore her and stay on message. Obama is incapable of doing that.

UPDATE: And now he’s taking on Jim Cramer. Obviously, this strategy is so brilliant that I’m incapable of understanding it.

So Barack Obama Wants to Make the USA a Socialist State

Who could have seen that coming?

While it gives me no pleasure in being right, I take great pleasure in saying “I told you so.”