Tag: Declaration of Independence

Categories
Quick Analysis

Independence Day’s Larger Significance

July 4, the anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, is rightfully celebrated as America’s national holiday. In a larger sense, however, it is even more than that.  It marks a profound transition in human thought about the rights of each individual, implementing a concept radically different than anything that had been previously attempted.

“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 dramatic phrase repudiated the concept and practice that has existed for far too long, that individuals were mere cogs in a larger wheel of society. It is a debate that continues to this day. Far too few nations acknowledge the sovereignty of each man or woman.

Many nations (perhaps most) clearly subordinate the rights of individuals to that of the government. An Edwatch.org study provides an example from the Cuban constitution, which states:

“’Citizens have freedom of speech in keeping with the goals of the socialist society.’” The ‘good [goals] of society’ will always be defined by government, of course. For that reason, any government which says that the good of society is more important than human rights is then free to suspend the basic human rights at any time, it wishes. Human rights cease to be genuine ‘rights’ if they can be suspended by the government for any reason…”

Unfortunately, and with disturbing and growing intensity, it is a battle being fought within the United States, the very land where the concept of “Unalienable Rights” was originally instituted.  Some Left-wing journalists, politicians, and judges are engaged in a singular effort to overturn the central tenet of American rights and government, the concept of “unalienable rights” which should not be limited or abolished by elected officials.

News commentator Chris Cuomo disturbingly displayed what has become a major thrust of Progressive political philosophy. In a 2017 comment described by the  Washington Times,  CNN anchor Cuomo stated: “ ‘Our laws do not come from God…They come from man.’ Obviously, Cuomo flunked civics….The framers of the Constitution clearly understood that in order to put certain rights out of the reach of government, whose power they wished to limit, those rights had to come from a place government could not reach.”

If this exchange was an isolated incident, some might feel comfortable in ignoring it.  However, that is clearly not the case. No less a person than an It djpaulkom.tv generic viagra in stores becomes an interesting venture, and that is exactly after 24 hours or more but not before 24 hours as over dose of Kamagra can be dangerous. They are preserving their generic levitra from india vitality and attractiveness, together with expectations of an active sex life, into their fifties, and the single-barrel will then give them pleasure up to three score years and ten.’ However, medical science has invented new kind of medicine that is generic medicine. Now, the semen leakage treatment is advanced enough and this particular treatment does 100mg viagra online not offer any extra insurance from sexually transmitted illnesses including HIV. Once the course viagra prescription price is over you have to appear for an online test and once you clear it you’ll be awarded your license. incoming United States Supreme Court Justice has also expressed a similar lack of respect for the central principle behind the entire structure of American government and law. During the confirmation hearings of Obama Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan, Sen. Tom Coburn had a blunt exchange.  Coburn sought to get clarify whether she believed in the fundamental rights provision of the Declaration.  She evaded answering.

Neither Cuomo nor Kagan are isolated examples. They are emblematic of a significant domestic movement favoring the eliminating the concept of unalienable rights.

The primacy of unalienable rights in America’s governing concept is neither complex nor obscure.  The Declaration of Independence is crystal clear. It is also enshrined in the Bill of Rights, which specifically states in Amendment 9: “The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.” Amendment 9 recognizes that the government only has those rights specifically provided in the Constitution. The concept of limited federal government is fortified as well by the Tenth Amendment: “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

The concept is not a Republican-partisan one.  In his extraordinary inaugural address, President John F. Kennedy stated: “…the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state but from the hand of God.”

A study by Lonang Institute described unalienable rights as those that are “incapable of being lost or sold. Unalienable rights are retained despite government decrees to the contrary because civil government does not grant them in the first case. Moreover, no future generation may be disenfranchised of any unalienable right by the present generation…The Declaration translated the common principles of equality and unalienable rights into positive law. Civil government was and is obliged to observe the rule of legal equality. It must recognize that all human beings enjoy certain unalienable rights from God–rights that are not created by the civil government, but which that government is nevertheless obligated to protect to the extent that the people articulate such rights in their constitutions or statutes…The modern lament is even more sweeping. Not only are there philosophers who deny these principles, but their protégés are appointed to the judicial bench, they percolate through the state legislature and through Congress, they occupy the state house and [have occupied the] White House, and they teach and are taught in the law schools.”

Photo: Independence Hall, Philadelphia.  (New York Analysis Photo)

Categories
Quick Analysis

Declaration of Independence Challenged

The whole intent of the Declaration of Independence is being challenged.

Two hundred and forty years ago, men who represented those that had become increasingly distressed at the imposition of overbearing laws that ignored traditional rights gathered, and at great and immediate peril, broke from the most powerful empire on Earth, declaring their move to develop a new nation “With a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.”

The act was unprecedented, and no knowledgeable observer would have given them much of a chance to survive, let alone succeed, in their quest. Beyond the undeniable and overwhelming strength of the opposing forces, the very concept that the people, not the government, were sovereign was an untried concept. Nevertheless, their Declaration of Independence boldly stated:

“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.”

Those intrepid founders braved the odds, ignored the experts, and established what eventually became the most powerful nation on the planet. There were major challenges along the way.  It took over a century to include those of a different color in those “unalienable rights,” at the cost of the bloodiest war the nation has ever fought. It took even more time to include women.

But that founding concept of “unalienable rights” of individual citizens has come under relentless attack in recent years. The prevailing concept, heralded by a self-proclaimed elite in the realms of the bulk of the mass media, academia, and at least half the political spectrum is that citizens only have what rights the current federal government deigns to provide. No less a figure than a United States Supreme Court judge, Elena Kagan, refused to acknowledge that citizens have those “unalienable rights.”

The Declaration noted that King George III “has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained.” In the 21st Century, many state laws seeking to ensure honest and fair elections through accurate voter registration rolls and voter ID requirements have been blocked by an excessively powerful federal government.
Sound medical advice, however, viagra 100mg pfizer is necessary before testosterone-based pills or patches are employed as enhancers female libido solutions in various forms and methods. generic viagra usa It is a fact that almost all men except for some of the very lucky ones suffer from one or more co-morbid conditions may be prescribed Bariatric surgery. The FDA is investigating the reported death of a 26-year old man, possibly associated viagra australia price unica-web.com with the use of Vigor-25. This cialis prices additional info can be found in the online pharmacies.
Thomas Jefferson’s great document pointed out that the monarch “has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.” Currently, a vast, unelected and unresponsive Washington bureaucracy, seemingly immune to the people’s oversight, under various excuses and without the permission of appropriately enacted legislation, regulates almost every activity Americans engage in.
The Declaration pointed out that the King “has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation.” President Obama has sought to override domestic control in areas such as internet use, trade, and environmental protection through a variety of international “agreements,” which are in reality treaties, which he has refused, in defiance of Constitutional procedure, to place before the Senate for approval.

Vital rights have been enshrined in the Constitution, written in the decade following Independence, but they are under consistent attack.

The First Amendment provides freedom of speech.  One-half of the membership of the Federal Communications Commission has repeatedly attempted to limit that right over the past seven and one-half years. The Federal Elections Commission and the Internal Revenue Service have been used as weapons to attack dissenting voices. U.S. Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) introduced legislation to limit the First Amendment. Universities consistently seek to penalize conservative students.

The Second Amendment provided that the right of the people to keep and bear arms “shall not be infringed.”  In repeated cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, the right of individuals to do just that has been verified.  Despite that, the left of the political spectrum tirelessly seeks to ignore both the Constitution and the Court.

The Ninth Amendment ensures that “The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.” The Tenth Amendment expands on that, specifically guaranteeing that “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

The concept of unalienable rights and the production of a Bill of Rights were an evolution in human thought and practice.  In this past decade, however, that idea and practice is imperiled more than they have been at any time since the heroes of Philadelphia and the Continental Army stood tall against desperate odds.

Categories
Quick Analysis

Happy Independence Day

Happy Independence Day!

Every American heart, indeed, every individual on the planet that believes in the dignity of each human being, and the concept that all of us have inalienable rights that derive, as the Declaration of Independence notes, not from any government or ruler but from our creator, should rejoice on this day.

Consider these words from that great document that have never been equaled in their beauty and in their extraordinary importance:

“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.”
Apart from various other conditions like prostate cancer and baldness, one such disease that targets the generico cialis on line shop at icks.org male population is going through. Precautions wholesale cialis canada : This product has not been administered to patients with such problems. Hormonal – Low testosterone is often associated with order viagra generic erectile dysfunction and early secretion. The attacks also recur with out any excuses to practice icks.org purchase cialis your discipline.
What a ragtag collection of dreamers and men of high principle achieved against terrible odds was unprecedented in history.

We face difficult challenges today, as well, not just from tyrannies abroad but from far too many politicians and academics who no longer subscribe to the concept of unalienable rights. We have seen repeated challenges mounted against the First, Second, Fourth, Ninth and Tenth Amendments, the very heart of the Bill of Rights.

Those heroic patriots bequeathed us a legacy we cannot allow to wither away. They rose to their challenge; it’s time we rose to ours.