The last days!

Thursday-June30, 2011

The last days!

During the last week in June of 1776, our Declaration of Independence was going through its final stages of approval. The words were chosen, but they were not set in stone yet. Thomas Jefferson spent long hours consulting, debating and drafting the document that we are supposed to honor and enjoy today.

Simply put, the Declaration is a formal explanation of why Congress had voted on July 2 to declare independence from Great Britain, more than a year after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War. The birthday of the United States of America—Independence Day—is celebrated on July 4, the day the wording of the Declaration was approved by Congress.
After finalizing the text on July 4, Congress issued the Declaration of Independence in several forms. It was initially published as a printed broadside that was widely distributed and read to the public. The most famous version of the Declaration, a signed copy that is usually regarded as the Declaration of Independence, is on display at the National Archives in Washington, D.C.
This week, I have been stressing the importance of the vote and how important it is to be aware of just what your vote means and who you are voting for.

Today, I want to remind you of what your independence means and what your independence gives you.

The first sentence of the Declaration asserts, as a matter of Natural law, the ability of a people to assume political independence, and acknowledges that the grounds for such independence must be reasonable, and therefore explicable, and ought to be explained.

“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.”

The next section, the famous preamble, includes the ideas and ideals that were principles of the Declaration. It is also an assertion of what is known as the "right of revolution": that is, people have certain rights, and when a government violates these rights, the people have the right to "alter or abolish" that government.

“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.”
Our duty, as citizens, is spelled out in these words. Our duty, as citizens, is to save our independence and to address our government and or change our government. Today, our vote ensures that.

The forefathers used words like dissolve, political bands, Laws of Nature and of Nature's God, Safety and happiness, abuses and usurpations the question today is do these words still mean the same things?

We need to consider these words and know these words are not words that should be lightly used. These words are the words of histories story. These words were written by Jefferson to tell the story of the day. I believe these words can also tell the story of today’s America.
Our current leadership must be defeated at the ballot box. Our independence gives us that right and our independence makes it possible for us to do that.

The same questions that were being asked by Jefferson can be asked today. The same questions about what guarantees freedom and liberty and what things will provide happiness and security can be asked today. The same questions about political bands can be asked today. The same laws of nature and Natures God are still applicable today.

You see the struggle never changes, the times may but in the end Americans are hardwired to ask questions and demand that they be listened to and answered even though it might mean that a president gets defeated.

Gregory C. Dildilian
Founder and Executive Director
Pinecone Conservatives

A footnote: The last thing Jefferson wanted - was to get defeated. His words only supported his desire to make history take note of our struggle in the last days of June 1776!