On this Fourth of July Weekend, Let us Celebrate

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AMERICA!

238 Years Ago Today we declared our Freedom from the Tyrannical Government of GEORGE III.
We submitted our Facts to a Candid World:
(It is worth the few minutes it would take to Re-Read that DECLARATION)
The Declaration of Independence
Hmmm… They sure sound like familiar issues.
What exactly do we Celebrate on this Fourth of July?
Amidst the Barbeques and the Corn on the Cob and the Department Store Sales and the FireWorks…
Do we Celebrate the Freedoms we stood for then?
Are we standing for those Freedoms Now?
Consider the words of THOMAS JEFFERSON:
“…That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends [Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness], 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….”

Does the Supreme Court and JUSTICE ALITO’s Majority Opinion
earlier this week
allowing the Corporation HOBBY LOBBY to impose its Religious Beliefs
onto the women in its employ
not sound like it might be time to exercise this right
to alter our Government to effect our Safety and Happiness?

Samuel Alito, Jr., Supreme Court Justice

And how does a Corporation have Religious Beliefs?
Regarding the Beliefs in Question — those of the Christian set,
So often summoned to put forth Agendas
Very far from the teachings of Jesus Christ —
Reverend MARK WINTER’s response to the Ruling was,
“JESUS had a lot of issue with powerful people
using power over the powerless.”
…Not even to speak of the Court’s little decision about WHEATON COLLEGE yesterday, taking all this a few steps further,
and angering Every Woman on the Supreme Court Bench,
even those appointed by Conservative Presidents.
Oh, Wait! There are No Women on the Supreme Court Bench appointed by Conservative Presidents!

…or the extraordinarily callous, bodacious, and un-American Supreme Court Gutting of the Voting Rights Act just one year ago,
the effects of which we have not yet begun to witness…
“Government of the People,” were MR. JEFFERSON’s well-chosen words.
NY TIMES: Supreme Court Invalidates Key Part of Voting Rights Act

…or Citizens United in 2010
the seminal decision which undid Campaign Finance Limits
giving control of our hard-won free elections
over to Whomever has the most Money…
“Government By the People,” were MR. JEFFERSON’s well-chosen words.

And so, 238 years later,
This INDEPENDENCE we Declared that we Celebrate today
This Government we set up with such Hopes and Good Intentions
is flying in the face of the Separation of Church and State
which was the Very Foundation of what it was instituted to uphold
And recent Supreme Court decisions empower the Very Corporations
From which the Court was set up to Protect the People
“Government For the People,” were MR. JEFFERSON’s well-chosen words.

The Presidential Appointment of Supreme Court Justices is for Life.
They cannot be removed from Office.
Conservative Presidents tend to appoint Mostly Conservative Judges.
Liberal Presidents tend to appoint Mostly Liberal Judges.
And Tyrannical Presidents tend to appoint Mostly Tyrannical Judges.
The Make Up of our present Supreme Court is as follows:

ANTONIN SCALIA appointed by RONALD REAGAN
ANTHONY KENNEDY appointed by RONALD REAGAN
CLARENCE THOMAS appointed by GEORGE H.W. BUSH
SAMUEL ALITO appointed by GEORGE W. BUSH

RUTH BADER GINSBERG appointed by BILL CLINTON
STEPHEN BREYER appointed by BILL CLINTON
SONIA SOTOMAYOR appointed by BARACK OBAMA
ELENA KAGAN appointed by BARACK OBAMA

The Supreme Court Justices of the United States of America, 2014

Pretty Balanced, eh?

Not Quite!

Now add in the Chief Justice:
JOHN ROBERTS appointed by GEORGE W. BUSH

OOPS!
And then there were the unique circumstances under which GEORGE W. BUSH got JOHN ROBERTS in there.
Remember?
Congress was in the midst of a rather hot debate
and unlikely to approve his appointment, for the seat vacated by JUSTICE SANDRA DAY O’CONNOR’s retirement,
when suddenly CHIEF JUSTICE WILLIAM REHNQUIST passed away
and BUSH pushed ROBERTS through as the Chief Justice
where his Presidential Authority had a bit more pull
and he did not require the same approval from CONGRESS.

ROBERTS is one of the Youngest Chief Justices in the History
of the Supreme Court,
insuring a long Conservative Influence put upon the Nation by
GEORGE W. BUSH,
extending his legacy of repeated injuries and usurpations;
his long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evincing a design to reduce us under absolute Despotism;
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries…
DAVID G. SAVAGE in THE LOS ANGELES TIMES puts the current state of the Judicial Branch of our Government this way:
Supreme Court Conservatives are Playing a Long Game

And does the current system of Super PACs which allows politicians to raise campaign funds from the tiniest fraction of the wealthiest 1% in this country not sound an awful lot like our Representatives with their Corporate bedfellows are
declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

And it does appear that the current issues around Fracking
and other environmental issues involve
plundering our seas, ravaging our Coasts, burning our towns, and destroying the lives of our people.

What about the PATRIOT ACT,
still in effect since the BUSH Administration put it in place in 2001?
Doesn’t it allow for everything from
refusing Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
To
obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither…?
And isn’t it a coincidence that
“GEORGE III” and GEORGE W”
look so Similar in print?

Only two-and-a-half years before this DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE was written,
a bunch of Rich White Republican Men threw a bunch of tea into
Boston Harbor
because they didn’t want to pay their taxes.
This also sounds alarmingly familiar.
As told in my 4^th Grade History Book
(“History” was a School Subject back then.),
The Battle Cry of the Boston Tea Party was,
“No Taxation Without Representation!”
Perhaps we need to Rally the People once again to this Call,
And peacefully transition our Elected Representatives
to represent a bit more of who we are.

“A Democracy…if you can keep it.” — Benjamin Franklin

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN When asked what kind of Government they’d set up, famously replied, “A Democracy… if you can keep it.”
Amidst the Barbeques and the Corn on the Cob and the Department Store Sales and the FireWorks…
How are we keeping it?
Patriotism is Love of One’s Country.
I am Wildly Patriotic!
As is this Post!
It is written out of LOVE for what was started 238 years ago today.
And a desire to return to it’s original intent.
No doubt, those who twist the words of the Bible into Hate Speech which it was never intended to be, will have no trouble twisting my words into something other than what they mean.
And to those corrupt political creatures in this age of Orwellian NewSpeak, I say:
Be more Patriotic!
Let us have more Love of this Country
And Less Power to Corporations
Give More Voice to the 99% of Americans who as GEORGE BAILEY says in IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE,
“do most of the working and paying and living and dying in this community.”
And Let’s Keep our Democracy Healthy…
Let us Keep it!
HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJmNnEPZHW8
This Finale Number from the Musical 1776 gives a slight glimpse into what it cost us

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