Wishing all you US Americans a happy Independence Day! http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/magazine/2009/0704/1224250033260.html
Francis On 3 Jul., 11:53, Don Johnson <[email protected]> wrote: > Ya know, this is really just one big, fat, apology... > > IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776 > The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America > > 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 harass 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 benefit 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. > > — John Hancock > > New Hampshire: > Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton > > Massachusetts: > John Hancock, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry > > Rhode Island: > Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery > > Connecticut: > Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott > > New York: > William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris > > New Jersey: > Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham > Clark > > Pennsylvania: > Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George > Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross > > Delaware: > Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean > > Maryland: > Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton > > Virginia: > George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, > Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton > > North Carolina: > William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn > > South Carolina: > Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton > > Georgia: > Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton > > > > On Fri, Jul 3, 2009 at 4:44 AM, Don Johnson<[email protected]> wrote: > > While us Americans prepare to celebrate the 4th of July people are > > still being slaughtered in Iran. We continue to receive news mostly > > from hidden video and twitter. Our media response is limp and our > > political response is practically non-existent. It saddens me more > > then angers me. > > >http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124657699261689193.html > > > This is what I was taught in school. Back when it was cool to love > > your country. P.J. O'Rourke sums it up nicely in a typically arrogant > > hyperbolic fashion: > > > “We’re the baddest-assed sons of bitches that ever jogged in Reeboks. > > We’re three-quarters > > ... > > Erfahren Sie mehr » --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups ""Minds Eye"" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/Minds-Eye?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
