NEW DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

I started wondering several weeks ago about our Declaration of Independence. I thought about it for a long while, and wondered what it would look like if it were rewritten today and addressed our own federal government. The feds have become abusive under Presidents and Congresses of both parties. Of course I am absolutely not calling for the violent overthrow of the government, but rather a new constitutional convention to address the abuses of our current government. I now present my updated version:

When in the Course of national events, it becomes necessary for people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with one another, 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 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 only 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 shows, 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 citizens of the United States; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems of government. The history of the present American government is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over the citizens. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.


They have entered into entangling alliances with foreign powers;

They have joined international organizations that are not equitably financed and repeatedly attempt to usurp our national sovereignty;

They have placed an unbearable tax burden on the people, largely without consent;

They have allocated for themselves exorbitant salaries and benefits far and above the means of the populace;

They have entered into trade pacts that have decimated American manufacturing;

They have accumulated debts that cannot be paid for many generations;

They have interfered in commerce and distorted the free markets;

They have ignored our federal Constitution and our state Constitutions;

They have usurped the power of the States to govern their own people;

Governors have called together state legislative bodies at places unusual and uncomfortable for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with their dictates;

They have made illegal the right of the people to call for change of government;

They have refused to secure our borders and prevent illegal migration;

They have continually erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass the people, and eat out their substance;

They have compiled large quantities of information on the populace for unknown purposes;

They have refused to address our energy needs and forced the people to pay exorbitant sums as a result;

They have refused to impose term limits on themselves and have thus attempted to form an elite aristocracy;

They have either completely refused to prosecute or lightly punished those among them accused or convicted of malfeasance;

They have failed to properly compensate or provide care for our soldiers wounded in combat;

They have refused to constrain commercial monopolies, forcing the people to conduct business at unreasonable rates and in unusual ways;

They have limited our right to petition the government for redress of grievances;

They have hidden appropriation of large sums of money from the people;

They have limited the right of the people to keep and bear arms and have compiled lists of private armaments;

They have repeatedly violated the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses,

papers, and effects, against unreasonable searched and seizures;

They have abused the concept of eminent domain;

They have violated the people’s freedom of religion by threatening to tax religious leaders who speak of political matters;

They have disparaged the right of the people to retain rights not enumerated in the Constitution;

They have sought to reinforce and support despotic foreign powers;

They have abdicated their responsibility to protect American citizens abroad.

In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for redress in the most humble terms: our repeated petitions have been answered only with repeated injury. A government, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define tyranny, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have we been wanting in attentions to our government. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by them to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our founding. We have appealed to their justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common history. They have been deaf to the voices of justice. 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 people of the United States, by authority of the good people of this nation, solemnly publish and declare, that these states are, and of right ought to be, free and independent; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the federal government, and that all political connection between them is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as free and independent states, they have the full power to call for a new Constitutional Convention to correct the abuses and usurpations heretofore enumerated. And for the support of this declaration, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.

THE DEATH OF ENGAGEMENT

I’m done attempting to engage the left. It’s a complete waste of time and effort. No matter which forum you choose, the effort is pointless. There is a great mass of the American people who are not interested in legitimate political debate of any kind. They are so convinced of the wisdom of their thinking that they refuse to allow anything close to adult conversation about it. There are some on the right, but the vast majority are on the left. Take a look any place where people can freely post their political opinions. You will repeatedly see the same thing: liberals who cannot spell or use proper grammar boldly claiming complete intellectual superiority, name-calling, and using profanity to express their juvenile and underdeveloped thoughts. They cannot justify or offer a rational explanation of their opinions for good reason: they are based on emotion rather than logic.


Most of the left wallows in a sense of entitlement. They believe they should be taken care of, preferably by a government bureaucracy. They think the world owes them something. Many of them are very young and have grown up in an America where they are not permitted to fail, where their every effort is bolstered and supported by doting parents or the government. They have no sense of history or of America’s special role in the world. They are only vaguely aware of what freedom means and the sacrifices that have been made to achieve and maintain it. They have been programmed to instantly give a knee-jerk reaction to anything that might upset their comfortable lifestyle or require some sacrifice or effort on their part.


My grandfather was a wise man, a lifelong Republican, and a man of very few words. He passed away in 1988. When he found out I had voted in my first presidential election in 1984, he said, “Huh. You ain’t a Democrat, are you?” I was proud to inform him that I had voted for Ronald Reagan. He told me that when it comes to debate, always remain calm, polite, and civil. He knew that the left would rarely do so and would attempt to drag others down into the mud with them, and thus would make the correct points all on their own. I never knew exactly what he meant until after he died, but I wish I had been able to tell him how correct he was. The left in America regularly touts how smart they are, yet can’t understand how debate should properly function in America.


Recent events demonstrate this more than ever. The Democrat response to significant opposition to the health care reform bill is a perfect example. Those who dare question the Obamessiah are called Nazis, plants, paid agents, or mobs. There is no retort on the relevant issues, just name-calling. Union thugs are called in to apply force. This will backfire in the long run. Conservatives are the wrong crowd to attempt to force into anything, especially something that relates to basic American freedoms. The liberals are overreaching as usual and do not understand why people refuse to go along and drink their vile Koolaid. Those who won’t kowtow immediately have a label applied to them in an effort to diminish and dismiss their opinions. Imagine the response from the left had the Bush administration called for citizens to report those who opposed the Iraq War to the White House. It would have been overwhelming, yet the very same individuals see nothing wrong in the Obama administration doing the same in the health care debate. American liberals have become what they so often in the past decried: an oppressive force that squashes debate and stands for the diminishment of basic rights under the Constitution.


I believe we are reaching a tipping point in American history. The forces of intolerance and suppression are largely on the left. Americans will soon have to make a choice between maintaining a government by and for the people and socialist domination. During the Cold War, we heard a lot about the “convergence theory” first proposed by Dutch economist Jan Tinbergen in the 1960s. Tinbergen’s theory hypothesized that capitalist and communist systems would gradually move toward one another until they became indistinguishable. It seemed rather unlikely at the time, but it now looks possible. The socialist or communist nations are allowing more and more capitalist reform, while America attempts to emulate the already statist European nations. Most Americans no longer bother to vote or participate in political functions. Tired of scandals and the heat of the rhetoric, they retire languidly to their televisions and other material possessions, blissfully unaware that they can lose it all in an instant.


I hope the Obama administration and the Democrats in Congress continue on their current path and continue to use Chicago-style methods in an attempt to force their agenda on the public. The reaction in 2010 and 2012 will be overwhelming. Next summer will be the crucial time. Americans who still believe in the freedoms we used to enjoy as given should descend on Washington in great numbers in a peaceful demonstration of public disdain. It will be the only way to avoid significant violence in our future. The voices on both sides are becoming louder. That is a bad omen when the argument is between the forces of freedom and the minions of oppression.


The Democrats have made their bed, and I for one expect them to lie in it. I will no longer attempt to convince any of them of anything. They are unreachable. They have been so brainwashed that they are beyond discussion or debate. Only the public can make the changes necessary to insure that our Constitution is not shredded in an effort to impose socialist systems on all of us. The duty of all conservatives has to be to reach out to those in the middle and attempt to explain the threat to essential freedoms posed by the radical left. That threat was dismissed by the center in the last election. Perhaps now it has become more substantive and clear.


ADDITIONAL NOTE: Nancy Pelosi and Stenny Hoyer have today posted an op-ed in the USA Today, and it is the most outrageous, steaming piece of political crap I have ever seen. You can read it for yourself here. Pelosi and Hoyer refer to the recent opposition to their attempt to socialize medicine as "un-American". Well, sir and madam, allow me to point out what is REALLY un-American.

It's un-American for a well-heeled group of elitists to take over Congress and refuse to even read the bills they are voting on, all the while looking down their nose at the citizenry. It is un-American for members of Congress to be paid outrageous salaries and take repeated and unnecessary political junkets at taxpayer expense. It is un-American for either of you to dismiss legitimate attempts to engage members of Congress on an issue that will effect every single citizen. It is un-American for Congress to sit upon their high horse and refuse to be placed in the same health care pool they are mandating for everyone else. It is un-American for Congress to impose statist conditions on a nation founded on the idea of personal freedom. It is un-American for Congress to place themselves over and above the American people. It is un-American for Congress to recklessly spend money and accumulate deficits that cannot be paid immediately. It is un-American for Congress to trample roughshod over the rights of the citizens without listening to and hearing their concerns.

I have never been more angry at Congress or the Democrat Party. These are the same people who cried long and hard whenever they felt their patriotism was being questioned, yet they are doing exactly that to their opponents now. What I feel like doing I cannot put in print. What should be done to these charlatans cannot be put in print. The time has come for the American people to take action. My tolerance for them is over and done. They are snobbish boors who have lost all touch with reality and think they can mandate to us poor peasants. Tarring and feathering would be too good for them. There isn't a rail long enough on which to ride them out of town. Representatives Pelosi and Hoyer, you have made the biggest mistake of your political career, and if your constituents can't see you for the complete asses you are, they deserve you.