Oh Freedom!

Happy Independence Day! Happy 233rd birthday for our Republic. I was thinking about that wonderful negro spiritual this morning that gives this piece it's title:

Oh Freedom! Oh freedom! Oh freedom over me

And before I ‘ll be a slave I’ll be buried in my grave

And go home to my Lord and be free.

Will this be our last "Independence Day?" With all the legislation being written in Congress and the quiet acquiescence of the American people we may have to change the name of our national holiday to "Dependence Day." But now, a prayer.

On this Independence Day, I pray the spirit that made America what she is today. This is a spirit embodied in the very document that we celebrate today; a document, which is arguably the most inspirational piece of parchment in the world - the statement of natural, God-endowed law: "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." In the same sentence, self-evident truths and our endowment by a Creator are acknowledged. This is a humility that is sadly missing today - it acknowledges our debt to a superior being and it plainly sets out the belief that there are things which are indisputable, not subject to the whims of interpretation or cultural nuance. We focus on the "men are created equal" part, but ignore the brackets put around that equality. The authors of the Declaration and the men who signed it were putting down a marker for the world - a statement of justice and equality heretofore dispensed by Kings and Emporors but now to be guarded by our fellow, equal man. With this comes the responsibility of guardianship that has been passed down to us.

"Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness," are also well known pieces of this noble document. But later in the same paragraph come these words - the words that gave the document it's name:

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.

On this July 4th, we have to ask ourselves very carefully whether the present-day government, "instituted among men," has become destructive of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." In the Executive Branch, we have a chief executive who has surrounded himself with 18 (Eighteen!!) "Czars," responsible for everything from energy to drugs. These "czars" are completely unaccountable. There is no method of Congressional approval (remember "checks and balances?"), no oversite...bupkus. Yet, these "czars" have enormous authority through Presidential decree to tell us everything from our credit card interest rate to what kind of light bulbs we should use. Where is the American spirit of independence that bridles at such excesses and autocracy? "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness" do not stem from teleprompted orations such that we are entitled to them at the approval of the White House - they come from the "Creator." We can therefore argue that this government HAS become "destructive of these ends," and needs to be changed. Read the list of grievances that our Founding Fathers laid out in the Declaration against King George III and with a little change of syntax and slight adjustment of verbage - a hell of a lot of them apply to this King, err, President:

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

Well, he hasn't tried to dissolve state houses yet, but see how Rick Wagoner got treated at General Motors and you might get a hint of how he will deal with California.

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.

This is going the other way, but immigration "reform," is on his To Do List with the aim of naturalizing hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens and creating a Democrat voter bloc for the next 15 years.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

Take a look at how Eric Holder handled the Black Panther voter abuse case in Philadelphia or how they want to unload Gitmo terrorists into our legal system and you get the flavor of a modern "Assent to Laws."

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.

Do you spell the word "Czar" or "Tsar?"

The list could go on, but it would take up too many gigabytes. What's sad is the lack of total outrage. There is some...to be sure, we see it at the "Tea Parties" which are growing in number and in attendance. But blatant usurpation of power and a total flaunting of the Constitution should get our revolutionary spirit really riled up!

And now, with looming "cap and trade" taxation increases and socialized medicine, we stand on the threshold of losing free choice in total surrender to a care-taker state that manages our lives from cradle to grave. Come revolutionary spirit, come - awaken the masses of patriots who are simply too busy to pay attention.

We are in the eye of the storm folks, but it is never too late to let freedom ring!

Rumble on!

Cross posted at Red State Rumblings