A Declaration

I have an advance copy of the Pennsylvania Packet, which reports:

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...

Wow. Extremely powerful stuff. Recent Supreme Court decisions appear to uphold the "all men are created equal" self-evident truth. However, I think our current Government has become destructive to many of our rights, and I think maybe it's time to institute new Government next November.

This amazing declaration continues:

The history of the present King...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.

King George is certainly a usurper, and his actions fill me with an ever-growing dread that he is establishing a Tyranny. He has repeatedly caused injuries to this nation, to wit:

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...
...
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our People, and eat out their substance.
...
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
...
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 and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
...
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.

Yes, we have a Tyrant on our hands, who is unfit to be ruler of a free people. Time to take the government back and take this country forward. You have the power. Happy Independence Day.

ntodd  ¶ 9:04 AM