A Sobering Look at the 4th of July

Here are some of the most powerful words ever written:

“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.” (The Continental Congress, July 4, 1776)

If our founding fathers were here this July 4, they would surely shudder at the state of our nation. Sadly, all men are not created equal. In spite of the fact that our country is embroiled in an illegal war that is causing unnecessary death and destruction, our president has committed impeachable offenses and our economic woes continue to mount on a daily basis, our elected officials would rather spend their time writing discrimination into the Constitution by passing legislation that defines marriage as a union between one man and one woman.

Our government certainly doesn’t derive its powers from us. If it did, the war in Iraq would be part of American history by now. Osama bin Laden would have been caught and brought to justice and our soldiers would be back from Afghanistan. Instead, Osama bin Laden has become Osama bin Forgotten. Instead of coming home, we’re being told we need to send more soldiers to Afghanistan to combat the increased violence of the Taliban. I’m not sure any of us remember why we originally invaded Afghanistan. The damage done by bin Laden has somehow become a distant memory in Washington. The damage that has been done to this country by the Bush administration and his accomplices in Congress since 9-11 is far worse than what bin Laden could ever have inflicted. Because George Bush is the decider, we citizens have fewer liberties to celebrate this fine day.

We certainly haven’t done anything to remove our imperial leader from office, in spite of the fact that Bush’s form of government most certainly has become quite destructive of the American ideal. Articles of Impeachment against Vice President Cheney have been held up in the Judiciary Committee for over a year now, and the 35 Articles of Impeachment against President Bush filed by Representative Dennis Kucinich are in danger of suffering the same fate. I think our founding fathers would be very disappointed that we think so little of the Constitution that we will not even conduct an inquiry into the actions of our out-of-control president. Even when we use our voting power to remove undesirable legislators from office and replace them with new, we simply get the same old wine in a brand new bottle.

“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the person or things to be seized.” (The Fourth Amendment)

In celebration of the Fourth Amendment, the House passed the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), granting George Bush and the Telecoms retroactive immunity for their illegal wiretapping program. The bill is a serious breach of the fourth amendment allowing for the mass, targeted and unwarranted surveillance of all communications coming into or going out of the United States. It is an unconstitutional piece of legislation and it is beyond me how anyone on either side of the aisle could have voted in favor of it, taking it upon themselves to throw way our right to privacy guaranteed in the Constitution. It was Benjamin Franklin who said, “Those who can give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” The FISA bill does nothing to ensure our safety, but it does plenty to erode our civil liberties.

Those who’ve hijacked our country in the name of ‘freedom’ and ’safety’ are the false patriots who wear their American flag lapel pins. They are the patriots who led this country into a war with Iraq. They are the political windbags who spent the day justifying the erosion of our civil rights as what is necessary to guarantee our safety from those who disdain freedom. They are wrong. Giving up our freedoms doesn’t make us stronger. It makes us weaker. Our democracy has not been protected. It has been compromised.