Althouse: "When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands..."

July 4, 2013

"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."

Washington Monument

94 comments:

pm317 said...: Happy 4th everyone. This is an amazing country in most aspects. Watch out for usurpers.; 7/4/13, 7:51 AM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Un-Happy 4th of July.

I think that's more accurate.; 7/4/13, 7:52 AM
traditionalguy said...: After 7 years of literally begging the arrogant Germanic runt King on the English throne and the Parliament gang in London to treat them as self governing Englishmen and not as a conquered serfs in the dominion owned by the King, Jefferson and Madison decided to speak directly to the English voters in that Declaration.

Their answer was clear orders from the King to the Standing Army here to disarm the colonists and kill their leaders.

Thank God, that Army occupying the colonies was not large enough to do that. The runt King arrogantly believed the disorganized rabble in the colonies would not fight him. He overlooked the Scots Presbyterians from northern Ireland.; 7/4/13, 8:02 AM
rhhardin said...: It worked okay until they let women vote.; 7/4/13, 8:05 AM
F said...: Lem:

I have to take the longer view pm317 expresses in his post. This +is+ an amazing country that has survived worse trials than Obama, Jarrett and Holder. Happy 4th.; 7/4/13, 8:06 AM
traditionalguy said...: Oh, I get it. The Egyptian Obelisk stands now as a monument to the rabble's military leader named Washington.

Military men in Egypt seem also to do good work.; 7/4/13, 8:07 AM
I Have Misplaced My Pants said...: My family gathers 'round and I read it to them from my old AP US History textbook every Fourth. I have most of it memorized anyway, because I thought it was so badass when I was a teenager that I wanted it to be a permanent part of my brain. We usually skip the long list of 'abuses and usurpations' in the interest of keeping the little ones' attention, however.

By the way, we recently visited the San Jacinto Battlefield Monument. It's taller than the Washington monument by ten feet or so. Very imposing and a bit scary, sitting in a swamp southeast of Houston.; 7/4/13, 8:07 AM
I Have Misplaced My Pants said...: F-but at least people recognized that the worse trials were, in fact, trials. Half the country things things are just ducky under Obama, Holder & Jarrett and that is what worries me.

Everyone with access to impressionable younglings needs to read them the Declaration and as much of the Constitution as they can-the Federalist Papers would be good too-and discuss their meaning. Making the kids understand these concepts and why they are important and to recognize threats to them are truly our only hope.; 7/4/13, 8:12 AM
Saint Croix said...: I like this part...

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.

Absolutely right! Thanks, Tom.; 7/4/13, 8:15 AM
Anonymous said...: 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.
______________________________________

Still sends a chill down my spine.

Time to get out my fireworks.; 7/4/13, 8:20 AM
Anonymous said...: rhhardin said...
It worked okay until they let women vote.

wasn't till 1970 or so that Swiss women got the right to vote. They used to vote in your local election by family. (YEARS EARLIER THAT IS)

The question would be called and the head of the household would hold up his designated Militia weapo, e.g. Pike. musket, sword.

sort of pleasant concept that invests the powers of society in those willing to die for society ;)

Heinleinian...; 7/4/13, 8:23 AM
Chip Ahoy said...: When in the course of human events... How civil. Well when you put it like that it sounds more like a simple separation and not a revolution at all, in the end it is business as usual if not improved, a matter of getting standing sorted. Whereas a true revolution would be an upturning of the way of doing business, a reversal in how things are done, a change from one system to another, say from representational capitalism, to another, say, one more autocratic and feckless consisting of crony redistribution, where laws governing vast stretches of the economy of a nation are simply started and stopped by dictate. That would be a revolution worth noting.

I want a divorce, and I want it now.; 7/4/13, 8:23 AM
pm317 said...: I am amazed at the turn of events in Egypt. The liberals here are tweeting that the people overthrew a democratically elected government and they don't want democracy. Wrong conclusion as usual. People in Egypt wanted more, more than just a democratically elected government if it was MB. MB was a throwback in ages for a country that wants to modernize itself. They want much much better than MB. I applaud them for their awareness. Think also about MB being Obama's best pals, Palin would say palling with religious dictators and this is a pic from the protests. They see in Obama what we don't see.; 7/4/13, 8:26 AM
Bob Ellison said...: I am so lucky to be American. My wife chose to become an American (from German) because she prefers America. Wir haben es besser.; 7/4/13, 8:27 AM
Eric the Fruit Bat said...: Treason is so totally awesome!; 7/4/13, 8:30 AM
policraticus said...: Wouldn't the Jefferson Memorial be more apropos?; 7/4/13, 8:34 AM
SGT Ted said...: The liberals here are tweeting that the people overthrew a democratically elected government and they don't want democracy.

Thats the claim to hide the fact that the "democratically elected" Egyptian government then moved to violate its promises and govern against the will of the people and shut down opposition.

What it also shows is their contempt for dissent and that their version of "democracy" is really about achieving power so they can tell everybody else what to do, regardless of any rights they may have had.; 7/4/13, 8:36 AM
Ignorance is Bliss said...: God bless America!; 7/4/13, 8:37 AM
Ignorance is Bliss said...: God bless America!; 7/4/13, 8:37 AM
Hammond X. Gritzkofe said...: Wouldn't the Jefferson Memorial be more apropos?

Are you thinking "The Tree of Liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of Tyrants and Patriots."?; 7/4/13, 8:40 AM
lemondog said...: 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.

THANK YOU; 7/4/13, 8:45 AM
JAL said...: @ SGT TEd What it also shows is their contempt for dissent and that their version of "democracy" is really about achieving power so they can tell everybody else what to do, regardless of any rights they may have had.

Unnerving what a familiar ring that has.; 7/4/13, 8:48 AM
JAL said...: That being said, what a completely remarkable document the Declaration of Independence is, as well as the US Constitution.

We must be wary of any in our upcoming removals of them through the ballot box, who do not breathe these truths which they want us to forget. Or rewrite.; 7/4/13, 8:51 AM
Nomennovum said...: All of us should take this day to read the Declaration. It is disheartening to see how we are not living up to our promise. We have allowed ourselves to be ruled by petty tyrants. I speak not only of our political class, but also of our electorate. Too many voters are motivated by emotion, and too few have any skin in the game. Indeed, most have a stake in voting themselves more goodies from the productive class – a class that is defined not only based on wealth and income, but also on sex and perceived privilege. People often lament that too few of us vote, especially the young, but the ugly truth is that too many vote who shouldn’t. This is a problem with no clear solution, and in the last few years I have come to believe that this country has many faults that cannot be easily or quickly corrected. So, I have become quite disenchanted with it. I’m not sure there are any better than this one, but surely there are more pleasant ones now. We have the best founding documents in the history of the world, but, overall, we suck.; 7/4/13, 8:52 AM
JAL said...: pm317 -- didn't you immigrate? Or did your parents?

Can you tell us more?; 7/4/13, 8:52 AM
Sydney said...: We went to the Independence Day concert at Blossom Music Center last night. I was feeling a little dour during the Star Spangled Banner. I have trouble answering the last phrase of the song in the affirmative "Oh say does that star spangled banner yet wave, over the land of the free, and the home of the brave?" because it seems to me that it is no longer the land of the free when we have a President and Congress who uses parliamentary rules to jam through massive legislation that no one has read, when we have a President who uses executive orders with impunity, who decides he will just ignore laws he doesn't like, and when we have bureaucrats who persecute political enemies of the Administration with impunity. I especially have trouble thinking of this as the land of the free when I just bought an insurance policy to protect me from roving regulatory bands of my own government.

BUT, after the song, the conductor turned around and told us what he loved most about our national anthem. What he loves most is that it ends in a question, and that question reminds us that each generation has a responsibility to make sure this remains the land of the free.

I hope it isn't too late for us to keep ourselves free.; 7/4/13, 8:53 AM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: This +is+ an amazing country that has survived worse trials than Obama, Jarrett and Holder. Happy 4th.

Corruption doesn't wither on the vine, if anything, with time it only gets stronger.

I was listening to Noory Coat to Coat last night and he had a guest that quoted from a letter that one of the founders wrote after he had left political life in Washington.

Something about the leaches there.

I'm looking it up but I'm not finding it.; 7/4/13, 8:54 AM
Ann Althouse said...: "Wouldn't the Jefferson Memorial be more apropos?"

I've never visited the Jefferson Memorial. I do have photos of Monticello that I could scan.

This is a scanned photo of mine that I've used many times on this blog. Just my favorite flag photo.; 7/4/13, 8:55 AM
Ann Althouse said...: As noted above, the obelisk is good as a reference to Egypt.; 7/4/13, 8:56 AM
Ann Althouse said...: But I wasn't thinking about that.; 7/4/13, 8:56 AM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Just my favorite flag photo.

Its perfect.; 7/4/13, 8:57 AM
Fritz said...: The Washington Monument as of two days ago...

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TOHlilT51RI/UdV-TSu9B0I/AAAAAAAAYn8/RzqBOjGlKn4/s1280/Washington_Monument_060213.JPG; 7/4/13, 8:57 AM
Rusty said...: I hope it isn't too late for us to keep ourselves free.

I want so very much to share that hope.; 7/4/13, 9:03 AM
Rusty said...: Their answer was clear orders from the King to the Standing Army here to disarm the colonists and kill their leaders.

Which makes the events at Lexington and Concord even more amazing. It wasn't a" shot heard round the world". It is a shot that has reverberated through history. The events in Egypt today stand testimony to that.; 7/4/13, 9:08 AM
JAL said...: From the grievance list of the Declaration of Independence:

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.

Eerie.; 7/4/13, 9:09 AM
edutcher said...: Ann should have added the last sentence of 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.

Some lost the first, many the second, a few both.

None lost the third.

rhhardin said...

It worked okay until they let women vote.

I would tend to agree.

I Have Misplaced My Pants said...

By the way, we recently visited the San Jacinto Battlefield Monument. It's taller than the Washington monument by ten feet or so. Very imposing and a bit scary, sitting in a swamp southeast of Houston.

The Texicans had scores to settle after Goliad and the Alamo and were in no mood for mercy. That swamp prevented the Mexicans' escape and they were trapped and slaughtered like the Persians at Marathon.; 7/4/13, 9:12 AM
JAL said...: And when Congress won't hold Clapper and Holder and Clinton and Obama et. al. responsible, it is time for them to resign.

Or for us to fire them.

How do we do that when the race baiters and enforcers are gearing up to keep the tyrants in power?

America. Come back.; 7/4/13, 9:14 AM
tim said...: Are we more free or less free today than on July 3 1776?; 7/4/13, 9:16 AM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: I want so very much to share that hope.

Me too.

I shouldn't have spent time last night reading snippets of a new book called This Town.

For those of you that don't know about it... wait until tomorrow to find out about it.

I mean I know that game of money and influence is being that way for a long time but now it seems like its not you know hush hush... its in the open.

Its got to be connected to things in other areas where we may not think its connected but it is because its a culture.

People lying under oath and then apologizing and expecting no consequences, if anything, receiving promotions and bonuses?

I know this is probably no way to spend a 4th but Althouse hasn't a café in like a month ;); 7/4/13, 9:18 AM
edutcher said...: JAL said...

From the grievance list of the Declaration of Independence:

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.

Eerie.

I went back and looked at the list of grievances and quite a few qualified under our current King, but a couple caught my eye:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:

A guy named Nakoula ring a bell?

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries

Russkies?; 7/4/13, 9:19 AM
pm317 said...: I've never visited the Jefferson Memorial.

If you ever fly out of Reagan north-east, east, be sure to snap an aerial view of Jefferson memorial -- it looks amazing. I did that once, actually took a video as the plane took off and it was still the beginning of our trip and I panicked and deleted it thinking I may run out of space. Kicking myself for it because it was a beautiful video and Jefferson looked amazing.; 7/4/13, 9:21 AM
Henry said...: We read that preamble to the kids in the car last night on the way back from the fireworks (makes sense for a small town to have fireworks on the 3rd). "After this," we said, "the rest of it is about how King George is a stinker."

Of all times and all places we could live, we live here and now. We are immensely lucky.; 7/4/13, 9:22 AM
Brian Brown said...: Independence day takes on a new meaning with Obama in the White House.; 7/4/13, 9:24 AM
pm317 said...: @JAL, I have been fortunate enough to study and observe world's two biggest democracies. One of them still has a responsible media worthy of a democracy.; 7/4/13, 9:25 AM
Anonymous said...: The other day I was listening to an In Our Time podcast (an excellent BBC series BTW) about Edmund Burke. He spoke out in favor of the American colonists.

From what I understand, many English were similarly sympathetic to the colonists. For them it was a replay of the English Civil War the century before.; 7/4/13, 9:29 AM
lemondog said...: re: Morisi

Yes, the very epitome of democracy

Egypt was wracked by protests today, the day after President Mohamed Morsi purged key judicial officials and issued a decree that granted himself sweeping new powers. In Cairo, protesters gathered in Tahrir Square, the epicenter of Egypt’s stalled revolution, to denounce Morsi’s power grab and chant: “Morsi is Mubarak.” There were reports of heavy rioting in three Suez Canal cities, Suez, Port Said, and Ismaila, with angry crowds burning the offices of Morsi’s political party, the Freedom and Justice Party.

Opposition political leaders accused Morsi of “monopolizing all three branches of government.” Mohamed El Baradei tweeted that Morsi had “appointed himself Egypt’s new pharaoh.”

Morsi made his lunge for power shortly after helping to broker a fragile ceasefire in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, the extremist offshoot of his own Muslim Brotherhood. Morsi may calculate that his help in administering Band-Aids to the festering Israeli-Palestinian conflict will make the United States and others who give aid to Egypt think twice before trying to reverse his power grab.

Morsi appears to be acting in accord with George Orwell’s dictum: “One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes a revolution in order to establish a dictatorship.”; 7/4/13, 9:32 AM
edutcher said...: creeley23 said...

The other day I was listening to an In Our Time podcast (an excellent BBC series BTW) about Edmund Burke. He spoke out in favor of the American colonists.

From what I understand, many English were similarly sympathetic to the colonists. For them it was a replay of the English Civil War the century before.

William Pitt (Elder, for whom Pittsburgh is named) was another.; 7/4/13, 9:34 AM
Phil 314 said...: Excerpt from King George's official response;
My Lords, and Gentlemen, in this arduous Contest I can have no other Object but to promote the true Interests of all My Subjects. No people ever enjoyed more Happiness, or lived under a milder Government, than those now revolted Provinces: the Improvements in every Art, of which they boast, declare it: their Numbers, their Wealth, their Strength by Sea and Land, which they think sufficient to enable them to make Head against the whole Power of the Mother Country, are irrefragable Proofs of it. My Desire is to restore to them the Blessings of Law and Liberty, equally enjoyed by every British Subject, which they have fatally and desperately exchanged for all the Calamities of War, and the arbitrary Tyranny of their Chiefs.; 7/4/13, 9:39 AM
Phil 314 said...: Shorter version:

Ingrates!!; 7/4/13, 9:40 AM
Titus said...: I am a gay American!

Group Hug!; 7/4/13, 9:44 AM
edutcher said...: George went a little loony after the war. He was lucky he was monarch during most of the Napoleonic Wars, allowing his popularity in Britain, if not in America or Ireland, to recover.

OTOH, Mexico, although initially outraged, forgave Santa Anna twice for losing vast tracts of land to the Americans. When he was prepared to sell the northern tier of Mexico's states as part of the Gadsden Purchase, only then had they finally had enough of him.; 7/4/13, 9:50 AM
Anonymous said...: SGT Ted said...
Thats the claim to hide the fact that the "democratically elected" Egyptian government then moved to violate its promises and govern against the will of the people and shut down opposition.

hat the MB really wanted, like lots of radicals is "One Last Election"; 7/4/13, 9:53 AM
edutcher said...: Otherwise known as One man, One vote, One time.; 7/4/13, 9:55 AM
AllenS said...: When thinking about the 4th of July, one wonders what the Founding Fathers would have said about an amendmend guaranteeing same sex marriage.; 7/4/13, 9:55 AM
RiverRat said...: The American Revolution...

We should all remember that even the signers were British. Thus it was not so much a war of national independence as a British Civil War setting Whigs and against totalitarian fascist Tories.

I think it’ about time for another against liberal fascist Democrats and RINOs. It’s the same war…only the names have changed to confuse the plebeians.; 7/4/13, 9:57 AM
Cedarford said...: edutcher - "For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury".

,A guy named Nakoula ring a bell?

=======================
I never cease to be amazed at the depth of ignorance on how the legal system works.

No, Ed, the probation system is an administrative release on an existing jail sentence, to serve the trial sentence outside jail.

If a scumbag in jail for ID theft and felony bank fraud is released and promptly does more ID theft and violates terms of probation, he DOESN'T get a trial by jury in order to justify him going back and serving out the rest of his jail term!!!

1/3rd of the annual arrivals in California prisons are fuckups that violated probation.

Stupid!
Stupid!
Stupid!

(If it was up to me, I'd also have him deported back to Egypt once his jail sentence is done - as a career criminal and undesirable alien.); 7/4/13, 9:57 AM
Anonymous said...: I hark back to the oath of office I took nearly 40 years ago...

I, GCS, having been appointed an officer in the Army of the United States, as indicated above in the grade of Second Lieutenant do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservations or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office upon which I am about to enter; So help me God!; 7/4/13, 10:03 AM
Nomennovum said...: "... those now revolted Provinces ..."

Ha ha. I dig that King's sense of humour.; 7/4/13, 10:04 AM
Real American said...: It has overcome a lot of bad shit, but America used to have a different type of character - one of resilience and self reliance as well as a basic morality. That character has been fundamentally corrupted by our dependence on big government. we no longer celebrate what has made our country great - we punish it. we're not permitted to even govern ourselves anymore. the Elites have usurped that authority. we're no longer free. we're indentured servants and its too late to do anything about it. America, the idea, is over.; 7/4/13, 10:09 AM
lemondog said...: Titus said...
I am a gay American!

Group Hug!

Group Hug

When you get down to the essentials, we are pretty much all alike.; 7/4/13, 10:10 AM
Anonymous said...: There was a 1994 British film about King George III played by the wonderful Nigel Hawthorne (later knighted in 1999). It was based on a play titled in "The Madness of King George III"; however it was released in the US as "The Madness of King George."

There's a longstanding rumor that the producers did not want to take the chance the American audience would misunderstand the title and assume the film was the third in a series, i.e. like "Rocky III."

This has been disavowed by the film makers and even Nigel Hawthorne, but I'm sticking with the rumor.; 7/4/13, 10:12 AM
edutcher said...: RiverRat said...

The American Revolution...

We should all remember that even the signers were British. Thus it was not so much a war of national independence as a British Civil War setting Whigs and against totalitarian fascist Tories.

Excellent point. I remember in First Form history being told this was about their rights as Englishmen.

However, after a few years' independence, they decided they'd like their rights as Americans better.

PS Cedar, Insta disagrees.; 7/4/13, 10:23 AM
traditionalguy said...: A interesting point is that the list of grievances in the Declaration is exactly what the other 12 nervous colonies had been watching the British Army and Navy do to Boston for three years.

Boston was the test case for tyranny, and a Continental Congress quickly assembled in Philadelphia decided not to wait any longer after a tall Virginia dude in full uniform volunteered to lead the volunteer militias of the colonies and go relieve the Boston blockade and occupation.

That same list of grievances found its way into the Bill of Rights. No wonder King Obama is so frustrated by our silly Constitution.; 7/4/13, 10:35 AM
exhelodrvr1 said...: We've come a long way, baby ...; 7/4/13, 10:44 AM
exhelodrvr1 said...: Drill Sgt,
I have had very similar thoughts.; 7/4/13, 10:51 AM
jacksonjay said...: I hope it isn't too late for us to keep ourselves free!

PC seems to trump free now!

Egypt? I thought Ms. Althouse was going for Phallus Pfun on the PFourth!; 7/4/13, 11:03 AM
Big Mike said...: Happy Fourth to you and Meade, Professor.; 7/4/13, 11:06 AM
edutcher said...: By all means, a very happy 4th to all the Althousians.; 7/4/13, 11:17 AM
Anonymous said...: Blogger lemondog said...

Titus said...
I am a gay American!

Group Hug!

Group Hug

When you get down to the essentials, we are pretty much all alike.

7/4/13, 10:10 AM
__________________________________

There are gay Americans and Americans who happen to be gay.; 7/4/13, 11:50 AM
Gahrie said...: I had a very strong urge to fly my flag upside down today, but I resisted.; 7/4/13, 12:00 PM
Gahrie said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 7/4/13, 12:04 PM
Gahrie said...: We should all remember that even the signers were British.

Yes, most of them considered themselves to be British. However, the British Crown and Parliament did not consider the colonists to be true Britains. (The same thing happened, but much more complicated with the Spanish in their colonies); 7/4/13, 12:05 PM
Gahrie said...: The liberals here are tweeting that the people overthrew a democratically elected government and they don't want democracy.

As would anyone with half a brain. Democracies don't work....never have, never will.

Our own republic has become endangered precisely because we have become more democratic over the years.

Repeal the 16th, and 18th Amendments immediately. (Frankly I am becoming more and more convinced that it's time for the 19th to go also. These "presents" from the first go around of the progressives have been a cancer to our republic.; 7/4/13, 12:12 PM
Kirk Parker said...: Saint Croix,

Those are the best words ever written on the subject of politics and governance.; 7/4/13, 12:29 PM
Kirk Parker said...: Gahrie,

I think you mean 16 and 17, don't you? (18 is Prohibition...); 7/4/13, 12:38 PM
Kirk Parker said...: "it is time for [Congress] to resign. Or for us to fire them."

And this time use real fire. </JerryPournelle>

C4,

And when was the last time the President (!) involved himself in a parole-violation case?

(You really are a scumbag, aren't you?); 7/4/13, 12:38 PM
Rusty said...: Gahrie said...
We should all remember that even the signers were British.

Yes, most of them considered themselves to be British. However, the British Crown and Parliament did not consider the colonists to be true Britains. (The same thing happened, but much more complicated with the Spanish in their colonies)

Another interesting point is that the colonist who had no interaction with the colonial government actually already thought of themselves as Americans. this was especially true of the colonists on the frontier.; 7/4/13, 12:44 PM
Palladian said...: When thinking about the 4th of July, one wonders what the Founding Fathers would have said about an amendmend guaranteeing same sex marriage.

Probably the same sorts of things they would have said about an amendment guaranteeing those negroes freedom from slavery and the right to vote.; 7/4/13, 1:02 PM
Palladian said...: ...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.; 7/4/13, 1:06 PM
Titus said...: The 4th is the gayest holiday.

Parades
Spangles
Bangles
Sparklers
Fire Works
The Boston Pops
Marching bands
Costumes
Flags

Easter is second. I mean really a bunny hopping around filling up baskets with colored "grass".; 7/4/13, 1:13 PM
Titus said...: I love a parade.

The oldest 4th of July parade is in fab Bristol, Rhode Island. Quintessential New England, lots of old money, liberal, history, Atlantic ocean, scooners and lobster rolls.

tits.; 7/4/13, 1:29 PM
Anonymous said...: Probably the same sorts of things [the Founding Fathers] would have said about an amendment guaranteeing those negroes freedom from slavery and the right to vote.

Palladian: SSM marriage advocates might like to think so, but there is no evidence that SSM marriage even occurred to the Founding Father as a possibility. However, some of the Founding Fathers were already on record with regard to blacks and slavery.

From the Encylopedia Britannica:

Although many of the Founding Fathers acknowledged that slavery violated the core American Revolutionary ideal of liberty, their simultaneous commitment to private property rights, principles of limited government, and intersectional harmony prevented them from making a bold move against slavery. The considerable investment of Southern Founders in slave-based staple agriculture, combined with their deep-seated racial prejudice, posed additional obstacles to emancipation.; 7/4/13, 1:40 PM
newton said...: "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 [...]"

"It would have been quite impossible to render this into Newspeak while keeping to the sense of the original. The nearest one could come to doing so would be to swallow the whole passage up in the single word crimethink." George Orwell, Appendix, 1984

(Orwell knew that tyranny is always lurking, and warned us about it.)

What we celebrate today is not that we still read, hear and ponder these words of our Founders after 237 years, but that we ever got to read or hear these words at all.; 7/4/13, 1:44 PM
Palladian said...: SSM marriage advocates might like to think so, but there is no evidence that SSM marriage even occurred to the Founding Father as a possibility.

A lot of things didn't occur to the Founding Fathers as a possibility.; 7/4/13, 1:45 PM
kentuckyliz said...: Five years ago today, my dad died of advanced complications of Parkinson's. Finally lost motor control of swallowing, speech, and other automatic functions that survival requires. Rest in peace, papa. See ya at the Homegoing.; 7/4/13, 1:52 PM
Hammond X. Gritzkofe said...: "Our lives, our fortunes, our sacred honor"

Yes, those folks did have some real skin in the game. Thank you.; 7/4/13, 2:01 PM
Unknown said...: May the beacon of American exceptionalism never dim.; 7/4/13, 2:25 PM
Anonymous said...: A lot of things didn't occur to the Founding Fathers as a possibility.

Palladian: That's my point and that's why I said it.

It rather leaves your notion that the Founding Fathers would respond to SSM as they would to slavery in the lurch as wishful thinking.; 7/4/13, 2:31 PM
Methadras said...: Happy 4th while the Urkle administration watches you celebrate and thinks you are a criminal for it.; 7/4/13, 2:47 PM
Lydia said...: In his initial draft of the Declaration, Jefferson condemned the injustice of the slave trade.

he [the King] has waged cruel war against human nature itself, violating it's most sacred rights of life & liberty in the persons of a distant people who never offended him, captivating & carrying them to slavery in another hemisphere, or to incur miserable death in their transportations thither. this piratical warfare, the opprobrium of infidel powers, is the warfare of the Christian king of Great Britain. determined to keep open a market where MEN should be bought & sold,; 7/4/13, 3:15 PM
Gary Rosen said...: "You [C-fudd] really are a scumbag, aren't you?"

Rhetorical question of the year.; 7/4/13, 6:42 PM
Gary Rosen said...: "You [C-fudd] really are a scumbag, aren't you?"

Rhetorical question of the year.; 7/4/13, 6:42 PM
JAL said...: Watching th D.C fireworks after getting off the phone with our adopted once Ethiopian, now American by choice and eternally grateful son.

He gets America.

Too bad so many Americans -- in leadersip -- do not.

Thank you God, that I am an American woman.

We live in an exceptional country.; 7/4/13, 8:18 PM
Known Unknown said...: The Boston Pops

Hey, the Pops weren't on tonight. Usually CBS carries their show. Only Macy's or Capitol Fourth on PBS.; 7/4/13, 11:09 PM

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