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MOST AMERICANS SHOULD BE ASHAMED TO CELEBRATE THE FOURTH
The Libertarian ^ | 4 Jul '03 | Vin Suprynowicz

Posted on 07/03/2003 11:13:41 PM PDT by missileboy

JULY 4, 2003

Most Americans should be ashamed to celebrate the Fourth

By Vin Suprynowicz

What an inconvenient holiday the Fourth of July has become.

So long as we stick to grilling hot dogs and hamburgers, hauling the kids to the lake or the mountains, and winding up the day watching the fireworks as the Boston Pops plays the "1812" - written by a subject of the czar to celebrate the defeat of our vital ally the French - we can usually manage to convince ourselves we still cling to the same values that made July 4, 1776, a date that continues to ring in history.

Great Britain taxed the colonists at far lower rates than Americans tolerate today - historians estimate a cumulative total of about 5 percent, as opposed to today's 30 percent (http//www.taxfoundation.org/taxfreedomday.html) - and never dreamed of granting government agents the power to search our private bank records to locate "unreported income," nor to haul away our children to some mandatory, government-run propaganda camp, doping up the most spirited youths on Luvox or Ritalin.

Nor did the king's ministers ever attempt to stack our juries by disqualifying any juror who refused to swear in advance to leave their conscience outside and enforce the law as the judge explained it to them. (How else could all 12 jurors have defied the judge's explicit instructions and acquitted colonial printer John Peter Zenger of seditious libel against the king in 1735, giving birth to our American freedom of the press? Remember, that was under King George. It's only SINCE the revolution that our judges now remove jurors who refuse to swear in advance to "take the law as I give it to you.")

The king's ministers insisted the colonists were represented by Members of Parliament who had never set foot on these shores. Today, of course, our interests are "represented" by one of two millionaire lawyers - both members of the incumbent Republicrat Party - between whom we were privileged to "choose" last election day, men (and a few women) who for the most part have lived in mansions and sent their kids to private schools in the wealthy suburbs of the imperial capital for decades.

Yet the colonists did rebel. It's hard to imagine, today, the faith and courage of a few hundred frozen musketmen, setting off across the darkened Delaware, gambling their lives and farms on the chance they could engage and defeat the greatest land army in the history of the known world, armed with only two palpable assets: one irreplaceable man to lead them, and some flimsy newspaper reprints of a parchment declaring "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 to these Ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it. ..."

Do we believe that, still?

Recently, President Clinton's then-Drug Czar, Lee Brown, told me the role of government is to protect people from dangers, such as drugs. I corrected him, saying, "No, the role of government is to protect our liberties."

"We'll just have to disagree on that," the president's appointee said.

The War for American Independence began over unregistered, untaxed guns, when British forces attempted to seize arsenals of rifles, powder, and ball from the hands of ill-organized Patriot militias in Lexington and Concord. American civilians shot and killed scores of those government agents as they marched back to Boston. Are those Minutemen still our heroes? Or do we now consider them "dangerous terrorists" and "depraved government-haters"?

(Editor's note: The Washington Times reported on May 9, 2003 "Officials at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst hope to replace their Colonial mascot with a gray wolf this fall. Apparently, a white guy in homespun, with tricorn hat and shootin' iron is making people nervous. ... 'Well, the Minuteman is a male. There is the gender issue, and the ethnicity. Some have brought up the appropriateness of firearms,' Ian McCaw, athletic director for the university, said yesterday.")

In Phoenix last week, an air-conditioner repairman and former military policeman named Chuck Knight was convicted by jurors - some tearful - who said they had no choice under the judge's instructions, on a single federal conspiracy count of associating with others who owned automatic rifles on which they had failed to pay the $200 transfer tax. This was after a trial in which defense attorney Ivan Abrams says he was forbidden to bring up the Second Amendment as a defense.

In The Federalist No. 29, James Madison sought to assuage the fears of anti-federalists who worried the proposed new government might someday take away our freedoms:

"If circumstances should at any time oblige the government to form an army of any magnitude," he wrote, "that army can never be formidable to the liberties of the people while there is a large body of citizens, little if at all inferior to them in discipline and the use of arms, who stand ready to defend their rights and those of their fellow citizens."

Any such encroachments by government would "provoke plans of resistance," Mr. Madison continued in The Federalist No. 46, and "an appeal to a trial of force," made possible by "the advantage of being armed, which the Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation."

Were Arizona's Viper Militia readying plans of resistance, as recommended by Mr. Madison? Would the Constitution ever have been ratified at all had Mr. Madison and his fellow federalists warned the citizens that such non-violent preparations would get their weapons seized and land them in jail for decades?

Happy Fourth of July.


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To: glocksman
No, you are missing my point. No matter how fallen you think we are, we are still the best country in the world.

I would rather light a candle than curse the darkness.

Keep on shouting that the sky is falling.... without rest, without ever changing tempo, year after year... You aren't new, there have always been naysayers who said the good ole days were over and the country was on the path to distruction.... I could have become ashamed and worried and miserable long ago if I thought it would help.

My life is too dang short.
21 posted on 07/04/2003 2:36:57 PM PDT by HairOfTheDog (Not all those who wander are lost)
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To: PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain
Unfortunately this attitude has wormed its way into some chuches as well.

Wouldn't want to hear a "divisive" or even "hateful and intolerant" sermon about moral absolutes, repentance and the requirements for salvation. Let's just sing, dance, and fellowship together. It feels so much better.
22 posted on 07/04/2003 2:38:24 PM PDT by missileboy (Principio Obstate - Resist from the Beginning)
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To: missileboy
Heh...

Might explain why They Livc is one of my favorite movies.

Off topic, I found out about this thread in a post at the Democratic Underground forums.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/duforum/DCForumID70/3584.html

Interesting...
23 posted on 07/04/2003 2:39:45 PM PDT by glocksman
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To: HairOfTheDog
"No matter how fallen you think we are, we are still the best country in the world."

This relativistic view is no way to measure freedom, and absolute concepts such as truth.

Political battered wife syndrome - "My other husband used to beat and rape me 4 nights a week. This one only does it monthly. He is still the most loving man in this world."
24 posted on 07/04/2003 2:42:38 PM PDT by missileboy (Principio Obstate - Resist from the Beginning)
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To: missileboy
You are 100% correct. This attitude has wormed it's way into every aspect of our lives.

Becky
25 posted on 07/04/2003 2:42:43 PM PDT by PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain
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To: HairOfTheDog
Ever hear the saying that the price of liberty is eternal vigilance?

This is the best country in the world. However,we do have faults and there is room for improvement, and the trend right now is towards greater restrictions on freedoms, not less.

Lighting a candle means being aware of the faults and working to improve them.

You aren't lighting a candle by accepting things such as the PATRIOT act, you're welcoming the darkness.
26 posted on 07/04/2003 2:45:39 PM PDT by glocksman
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Good day too all.
27 posted on 07/04/2003 2:45:59 PM PDT by HairOfTheDog (Not all those who wander are lost)
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To: glocksman
Interesting indeed! I am not familiar with that site.

Good to know that freerepublic is not the end all be all for political thought on the net - wouldn't that be scary!

I did not understand that second post until now.....
28 posted on 07/04/2003 2:51:04 PM PDT by missileboy (Principio Obstate - Resist from the Beginning)
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To: HairOfTheDog

29 posted on 07/04/2003 3:00:47 PM PDT by PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain
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To: PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain
Hello Becky! I was hoping you would say Hello. I hope you are having a nice day.
30 posted on 07/04/2003 3:08:28 PM PDT by HairOfTheDog (Not all those who wander are lost)
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To: HairOfTheDog
:)

Becky
31 posted on 07/04/2003 3:09:48 PM PDT by PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain
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To: missileboy
It is an interesting site.

As a union member and gun owner, I'm 'liberal' on some issues and 'conservative' on others. That's why I read sites such as DU and FR and try to participate.

However,

I apparently wasn't 'progressive' enough on the gun issue as I was banned after making 62 posts. The site admin won't tell me why, but I suspect it was because of a thread in the Justice/Public Safety forum (I was in the middle of posting a reply to a post in the thread when I was banned) I started about a gun distributor that was sued wanting the plaintiff to pay their defense costs.

Story about the suit:

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/auto/epaper/editions/tuesday/local_news_e3ee4826949212a90012.html


I would refer you to the thread, but they've deleted it.

In the thread, I enthusiastically supported Valor's attempt to make her pay their expenses in defending themselves from a suit that is baseless.

I didn't violate any of the forum rules against personal attacks on other members, so I can only conclude that an admin or a moderator didn't like what I said about the Widow Grunow being greedy and money grubbing in filing the suit.


The ironic thing about the whole episode is that a lot of posters in that forum complain about FR censoring posts and deleting topics.

Pot, Kettle, Black?


But I still like to go their and read. Some of the posters are pretty well versed and make good arguments that I can learn from.

Others (such as the Che worshipping crowd) are good for a few laughs.
32 posted on 07/04/2003 7:50:04 PM PDT by glocksman
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To: gitmo
oh, i don't think any of us will mind.
33 posted on 07/04/2003 11:41:55 PM PDT by SuperVillain (all racists who are prepared to die for their country, please do so now)
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