{"id":9455,"date":"2006-07-04T09:35:51","date_gmt":"2006-07-04T16:35:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/2006\/07\/04\/talkin-about-freedom-4.html"},"modified":"2006-07-04T09:35:51","modified_gmt":"2006-07-04T16:35:51","slug":"talkin_about_fr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2006\/07\/04\/talkin_about_fr.html","title":{"rendered":"Talkin’ about freedom"},"content":{"rendered":"

Over the last year, I’ve been on something of a Revolutionary War era kick, reading (audiobook)-wise.  Having read biographies of Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Franklin, even Jackson, as well as other tales of their era, I have both a greater appreciation for them as men — flawed, brilliant, powerful, wise, foolish — and for what they managed to accomplish in the creation<\/a> of this country. <\/p>\n

\n

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. \u2014That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, \u2014That 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
\non such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. <\/p>\n

[\u2026] We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by the Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain,
\nis and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

So, hearkening back to the very birth of the United States as a nation, Happy Independence Day to all.  May the principles of freedom in the Declaration of Independence, and in the later Constitution, be ever in mind in these times, troubled as they always are. <\/p>\n

UPDATE:  Memories<\/a> from Ginny.  Power and pride<\/a> from David.  The radical solution<\/a> from DOF.  Quotes and jerks<\/a> from De.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Over the last year, I’ve been on something of a Revolutionary War era kick, reading (audiobook)-wise.  Having read biographies of Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Franklin, even Jackson, as well as other…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9455","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics-law"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":26486,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2012\/02\/17\/the-gop-wants-everything-about-the-50s-except-progressive-tax-rates-and-union.html","url_meta":{"origin":9455,"position":0},"title":""The GOP wants everything about the 50s except progressive tax rates and union…","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 17-Feb-12 7:53am","format":false,"excerpt":"\"The GOP wants everything about the 50s except progressive tax rates and union jobs\"(That quote, slightly paraphrased for length, is from the comments.)The time travel here was through three particular Republican kerfuffles yesterday that speak volumes about how the GOP's Right Wing thinks about women (and sex):- Rep. Issa's hearing\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2858,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2002\/09\/12\/todays_obligato.html","url_meta":{"origin":9455,"position":1},"title":"Today’s obligatory Bleat reference","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 12-Sep-02 8:05am","format":false,"excerpt":"Which makes me feel like pledge week, in that if I could simply program your browser omit these posts for those wise among you who already read Lileks on a...","rel":"","context":"In "9-11"","block_context":{"text":"9-11","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/9-11"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":51672,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/07\/04\/we-hold-these-truths-to-be-sacred-undeniable-that-all-men-are-created-equal-independent-that-from-that-equal-creation-they-derive-rights-inherent-inalienable-among-which-are.html","url_meta":{"origin":9455,"position":2},"title":""We hold these truths to be sacred & undeniable; that all men are created equal & independent, that from that equal creation they derive rights inherent & inalienable, among which are the preservation of life, & liberty, & the pursuit of happiness."","author":"***Dave","date":"Sat 4-Jul-15 4:01pm","format":false,"excerpt":"-- Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) American political philosopher, polymath, statesman, US President (1801-09)Declaration of Independence, \u201cOriginal Rough Draught\u201d (Jun 1776) Jefferson, Thomas - Declaration of Independence, \"Original Rough Draught\" (Jun 1776) | WIST We hold these truths to be sacred & undeniable; that all men are created equal & independent, that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":31900,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2012\/12\/24\/ex-felons-and-gun-rights.html","url_meta":{"origin":9455,"position":3},"title":"Ex-felons and gun rights","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 24-Dec-12 2:41pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Ran across this 2011 article linked to in another piece. It's an interesting, complex read.Many states have (through NRA assistance) taken advantage of a change in federal law (sponsored by the NRA) to make it much easier to reinstate run rights to convicted felons, if they have had their other\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13301,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2009\/01\/26\/faboo_scifi_homage_to_the.html","url_meta":{"origin":9455,"position":4},"title":"Faboo SciFi Homage to the 70s","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 26-Jan-09 2:35pm","format":false,"excerpt":"This was the era I grew up in, SciFi-wise on TV. And this image by Dusty Abell\u00a0(full sized here) shows off a whole gob of folks from the era. This\u00a0is...","rel":"","context":"In "DC Media (DCEU, DCU)"","block_context":{"text":"DC Media (DCEU, DCU)","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/media\/franchises\/dc-cinematic-univese"},"img":{"alt_text":"scifi-70s-80s","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/scifi-70s-80s.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/scifi-70s-80s.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/scifi-70s-80s.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/scifi-70s-80s.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":10759,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2007\/07\/04\/independence_day_3.html","url_meta":{"origin":9455,"position":5},"title":"Independence Day","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 4-Jul-07 9:24am","format":false,"excerpt":"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,...","rel":"","context":"In "Politics & Law"","block_context":{"text":"Politics & Law","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/politics-law"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/images\/declaration.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9455","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9455"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9455\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9455"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9455"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}