Local Government TV

Wednesday, July 04, 2018

Are You Still Proud to be an American?

When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bonds which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

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 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. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. --

Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems of government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his assent to laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of representation in the legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

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

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the legislative powers, incapable of annihilation, have returned to the people at large for their exercise; the state remaining in the meantime exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavored to prevent the population of these states; for that purpose obstructing the laws for naturalization of foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migration hither, and raising the conditions of new appropriations of lands.

He has obstructed the administration of justice, by refusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers.

He has made judges dependent on his will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies without the consent of our legislature.

He has affected to render the military independent of and superior to civil power.

He 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:
He has abdicated government here, by declaring us out of his protection and waging war against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burned our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow citizens taken captive on the high seas to bear arms against their country, to become the executioners of their friends and brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare, is undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for redress in the most humble terms: our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have we been wanting in attention to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, enemies in war, in peace friends.

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, is 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.

(Blogger's Note: Originally published 1776)

93 comments:

  1. The Original Declaration of Independence was amended over 85 times before it passed. That meant a great deal of individual compromise of policy and ego all for the sake of the greater good.

    That is how we have strayed. We now think out petty partisan likes and dislike are all crises level. Our won greed and intolerance blind us to the greater good of the Nation and the People.

    Shame on us!

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  2. Ughh, all that god stuff. Glad we strayed.

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  3. ...the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare, is undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
    The worst sentence of the greatest document written.
    Unlike the Confederate battle flag, this bigoted portion can never be removed from museums and set the tone for acceptance of our own "undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions" upon Native Americans that got in our way of gold and land.
    Not to mention a policy of unrestricted warfare against enemy civilian populations during and since WWII.

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  4. America today at the young-old age of 240 is not quite the grown-up place it was at its birth. Back in 1776 the citizens were standing up to and attempting to defeat the most powerful military on the planet. And through much suffering and sacrifice in the years following their bold Declaration, they joined together as a nation and got the job done.

    Since World War II, America has itself become the most powerful military force on the planet. Yet, with seemingly lackadaisical attention to our porous southern border, and the very real threat of radical Islam, one might wonder how "grown up" America has become in almost two and a half centuries.

    Vicious troubles haunt this country and the world, but what is it that occupies the time and energy of a 240-year-old America?

    Sadly, it's who gets to use which bathroom.

    This country may be older, but it certainly seems to lack the maturity, or wisdom that comes with age.

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  5. Our $20 Billion debt combined with our lack of will to enforce immigration policy will be the downfall of this country--The Roman Empire fell from a similar lack of self discipline.

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  6. Bernie,
    Nice piece of latriture, the facts remain that the courts and amenities therof only create more discorse by useing subcourts as tools to devert ones attention to those that commit the henious crimes behind the cloak of law useing there authority to entise criminal actors to act and inflict more crimes that go unpunished because officials claim they are simply immaginary acts?!)$
    RE:publican redd no party affiliation nor arena agenda circus partaker therof, over on the other side of the coin the pic of huptydumty and its glutonouss illbehaviors partaken therof depicts my depiction of the triboro arena area as a whole yet seperated expoTENTuly

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  7. To understand the present one must know the past. Far too few do these days. Students who do study history are being presented with a modern and I would say narrow view of the past by professors who judge those who lived over two centuries ago by modern standards of political correctness.Clearly this approach is less critical than is is advocacy.
    I recommend an excellent book that peels away the separation of time and puts the American Revolution squarely back into its time and place. It is a remarkable book. Readers may gain a real wonder and appreciation for the Founders and the "Exceptionalism" America as I did.

    THE RADICALISM OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION Gordon Wood

    http://www.enotes.com/topics/radicalism-american-revolution

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  8. Operation Thunderbolt was the name of the Entebbe rescue. They are the same thing.

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  9. Glad you posted, Bernie. For the first time I can remember, it was not reprinted in the newspaper today (at least not in the Express!). Instead the Express editorial calls for a new Constitutional Convention.

    The first two, and last, paragraphs lay out the philosophical DNA for our country: enlightenment, natural rights, popular sovereignty, consent of the governed. It can read as a pretty radical document, as your pop-out quote notes. Even Ho Chi Minh opens with a quote from it in his Declaration of Independence for Vietnam. That's why they had to pledge their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor; they could have been hung for treason had we lost to Britain.

    As we all learned in government class, the Constitution they wrote a decade-plus later tried to systemically guard against the inevitable temptation for a faction to abuse governmental power. Yet, they were also distrustful of the prospect of mobocracy; the tyranny of the majority. The Constitution, established an indirect democracy to stymie it: only the House was directly elected by popular vote (and in most places voting was restricted to property owning white males); 2 senators, regardless of population were appointed by the States to represent them as states in the national government; no popular election of the president; judges insulated from popular passions by appointment, not election, for life.

    Why do I point all that out? Per our philosophical DNA in the Declaration, we have rightfully become more and more democratic over history: universal sufferage for those over 18 regardless of age, race, gender, property; direct election of senators; an electoral college system that typically exaggerates, rarely thwarting, the popular vote; and even the political parties (not in the Const) have become so democratized through primaries and party rules that "populist" insurgents like Sanders and Trump helped drive the dialog the past year. Then, I read this morning's Express-Times editorial calling for a Constitutional convention. What happened at our last convention, called for just to tweak the Articles of Confederation? That concern the Founders had for "spectacles of turbulence and contention" keeps echoing, and I cannot help but wonder if Plato's late-stage democracy--that concerned our own Founders--has been accelerating.

    Enjoy the rest of your day.

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  10. Washington D.C. has replaced King George and is much more onerous. The 10th amendment was the safety valve to allow different points of view to co-exist in one nation. This all started with the courts interfering with the rights of the states. We now have irreconcilable differences that will be hard to correct. As for history, I don't believe it is hardly taught anymore, and to the powers that be our history started in the 1960's, everything before is viewed as medieval or ancient history. There is a coordinated effort to erase white, Christian culture and replace with a yet to be determined new culture.

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  11. Ovem, Excellent observations! Under the original constitution, someone like me was unable to vote. They got that part right.

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  12. I have deleted several comments, including one from me, about the most successful hostage rescue mission ever. This post is about the Declaration of Independence. if you want to discuss hostage rescues, start another blog.

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  13. The signers of the Declaration of Independence must make the PC crowd's skin crawl.

    Who does this bunch of white guys think they are?

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  14. It should be remembered that on July 5, 1776 the previous 13 British colonies awoke to realize they were 13 sovereign states, beholden to no one and independent of one another in their own right. At the time of the Revolutionary War, there was no United States, and there was actually much discord between the Militiamen of Massachusetts being commanded by a Militia officer from New Jersey, or the Pennsylvania Militia serving under a Virginian. There never was a United Colonial Army, which was one of George Washington's greatest achievements; to unify the Continental Militias into a unified Army which defeated the British Army in North America.

    However, the unified army did not find its way into the governments of the thirteen colonies, as throughout the revolution, the Continental Congress remained divided in terms of loyalty to the various committees of public safety from the colonies the representatives came from. This is what led to our first national government in 1783, under the Articles of Confederation, which was based largely as a voluntary confederation of the thirteen sovereign states. It took several years of unworkable government to develop the national government we have today, in the compromises reached in 1787 in which the Constitution of the United States was written.

    Even after the Constitution of the United States was completed, the distrust of a central government was so strong that the 10 Amendments (Bill of Rights) had to be agreed to before the Constitution could take effect. And the 10th Amendment capped this distrust declaring that the Federal government could exercise only those powers enumerated to it. All other powers remained with the states.

    How far we've fallen from that ideal.

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  15. The Old cry o9f ,"Unite or Die", has been replaced by divide and destroy. Sad that this is the legacy of the fringe group whackos.

    The Declaration spoke of common purpose, yet today we have apostles of hate draping themselves in the flag. Do some of these people even read the damn thing?

    The Trump phenomena was the very mobocracy the Founding Fathers feared.

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  16. What did all the Muslims, who 0bama claimed were part of the fabric of America at the time, think about Independence from Great Britain?

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  17. If our Founding Fathers were around today they would 100% be behind Trump.

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  18. If an unrestricted constitutional convention were opened today, it would be 50 years at least before it would conclude.

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  19. 1:20 - If the Founding Fathers were around today, Trump would be a Tory (as were the majority of people).

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  20. Oh man.

    Someone typed "There is a coordinated effort to erase white, Christian culture and replace with a yet to be determined new culture. "

    Even Jesus never talked about a "white, Christian culture."

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  21. deport all muslims and latins

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  22. Marco Polo was derided in China ss a "Latin," bur Kublai Khan was a tad more enlightened than the Dolden Horde and you.

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  23. You have got to be out of your ever loving mind to call for a Constitutional Convention to alter the present Constitution. With these assholes we have representing us in Washington it would be a Partisan issue. All votes would be along party lines. Tell anyone who even talks about about a Constitutional Convention to go to hell and vote them out of office. Can you imagine having a Republican agenda or a democratic agenda for a so called Constitutional Convention. That is what would happen. As Americans we are smarter than that.

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  24. Allahu AKBAR!

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  25. The Declaration was written as a major pushback against the colonial empires of the period. It was a statement of what government should be, a contract, and if the majority of the governed felt the contract was truly, irreparably broken, then it should be dissolved. The men who signed the document were committed to this idea as evidenced by them publicly acknowledging what would be a treasonous act against the king. Have we strayed? Do you think our current congress and president who care most about power and party would risk their freedom to do whats best for the country as a whole....pulleeaase!

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  26. "Gordon Wood"??

    Even Gordon Wood himself has remarked that his book, being adopted by right wing nuts like Newt Gingrich was the kiss of death amongst real historians. The right wing has seized on many modern books, some written by authors of dubious backgrounds giving a naturally alt-right and alt-reality spin to American History.

    I had a Republican friend recently tell me if I realized that Woodrow Wilson was a major league racist and a progressive communist. He was surprised when I agreed on the racism part, noting Wilson was raised in civil war era-reconstruction South Carolina. Of course he was a racist as was just about every politician in the early 1900's. As to a communist, I stated he was about as communist as Teddy Roosevelt, in that they both believed in a sense of common purpose and responsibility.

    The Declaration of Independence is a fabulous document in that much like the eventual Constitution showed that nothing can be accomplished without compromise. Unlike todays political thinking.

    Our history is one of continual intolerance of each punctuated by some form of reconciliation through compromise. The very thing the alt-right does not believe eve happened as they have a juvenile and monolithic view of American History.

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  27. " as a nation of free men, we will live forever or die by suicide"

    Abraham Lincoln 1837

    We almost did.

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  28. 41 of its 56 signers held human beings against their will and thought nothing of it. Those human beings were forced to work in fields and in homes, and sexually satisfy their masters. 41 of those guys were OK with souls having fewer rights than livestock. The Declaration is almost comical when considered in this context. I believe the Constitution, however, was inspired to deliver the promises of the Declaration by including the process by which evil things like slavery could be, and were outlawed. But it's important to know that in any age of our country's short lifespan, we've fucked up a lot. We're far from perfect and have been downright shitty sometimes. Churchill said something like, "Americans will always do the right thing, after they've done everything else." We're the best country. We're the worst country. We're free to be our personal best or worse. I thank God I live here.

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  29. Thank you, Bernie for posting the reason we celebrate today, Independence Day! We the People...

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  30. So glad crooked Hillary Rodham Clinton is not the President of the United States.

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  31. Took the dog for a walk and saw some goof driving his pickup with a big old confederate flag waving in the back. Did not think today was a day to honor American traitors.

    So sad that the Trumpeters want to hijack this great day. We are now saddled with a President that is emotionally, mentally and temperamentally unfit to hold that office.

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  32. I'm a Republican who voted for the imbecile Trump because Hillary was the alternative. My party tried everything to head off his momination. I've never flown a confederate flag and cringe when I see one. Democrats have traditionally been the party of institutional racism. Trump enjoys the support of legions of disaffected Democrats who voted Republican because their party cleansed everyone with a sniff of a moderate view. As long as the left continues to think me and those like me racists, they simply haven't learned the lesson of last November - or the last three congressional cycles. It's hard to believe that Trump could win again. But posters like this last one are making it too easy.

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  33. Hear, Hear Jeff Fox.

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  34. True independence is independence itself as the word states. There is not one of us that is truly independent as we all stand hand in hand.
    Please all just take a stand against tyrant and its ugly head.

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  35. Tea Party Foot SoldierJuly 4, 2017 at 3:24 PM

    Can't wait for #DJT's next SCOTUS pick which will decisively place our great nation back onto a conservative path simultaneously enraging special snowflake libtards who are likely spending this holiday grilling tofu dogs and sipping fair trade organic iced mocha lattes.

    Happy 4th silent majority!

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  36. I was so fortunate that my mother was courageous enough to defect to the United States and secondly was strong enough to let me go for adoption to an amazing family. My life as a Turkish citizen would have been so very different.

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  37. I was so fortunate that my mother was courageous enough to defect to the United States and secondly was strong enough to let me go for adoption to an amazing family. My life as a Turkish citizen would have been so very different.

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  38. It is actually amusing to read the alt-right comments here. They think they are clever using semantics to cover their hatred of anyone who does not think like them
    The passive aggressive nature of their comments is so obvious they should really consider changing their tactics.
    They go on about how terrible the left acts and treats people, all the while doing exactly that in their writings yet thinking they are so clever that no one picks up on it.

    Their are no legions of disenfranchised Democrats that voted for Trump. The ones that did either did so because of Hillary(who will no longer be a problem) or the hope Trump will bring jobs, which he won't. They fear the alt-right rigidity and purity tests more than any Bernie voters.

    So you will maintain your solid 38% of Fox-Hanity lemming vote but I wouldn't hold my breath for the rest in 20220. Especially after the middle class or what's left of it is screwed when the Republicans hand health care back to big Insurance and big Pharma.

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  39. Was the American Revolution a Liberal Revolution or a Conservative Revolution? What is the Consensus view of the American Revolution? What is the Liberal View of the American Revolution?

    Which side would say that in winning our independence we threw out the old English Oligarchy and replaced it with a localized oligarchy?

    What was the role of the bill of the Bill of Rights in creating a liberal Revolution? When was the 2nd War of Independence? Did it occur with the creation of the Bill of Rights or the War of 1812? What does the phrase Blessed with victory and Peace may the heaven rescued land praise the power whom both created and preserved a nation? What does the phrase Conquer we must when our cause it be just mean? And lastly the phrase Let this be our Motto In God do we Trust?

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  40. Where is the part where "he" calls the media fake?

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  41. Purity tests? There are no purity tests. Stop spreading fake news.

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  42. If a constitutional Convention were convened today, our Country would really go down the shitter. these elected persons are control freaks that don't care about any of us. All they care about is there own pockets and their own self. All of them should be thrown out of office. Both Dems and R's must go in order to cleanup Washington.

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  43. Canary_In_CoalmineJuly 5, 2017 at 3:44 PM

    What does it mean that NPR tweeted the entire Declaration, line by line, and Trump supporters got mad because they thought the "He" mentioned in the declaration was Trump?

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  44. That is funny. Had not heard it. Well, NPR is fake news.

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  45. Canary_In_CoalmineJuly 5, 2017 at 4:33 PM

    So is the Washington Post, but here's their story on it:

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/07/05/some-trump-supporters-thought-npr-tweeted-propaganda-it-was-the-declaration-of-independence/?utm_term=.a959448af650

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  46. "Our new government is founded on the great truth, that the negro is not equal to the white man.
    Alexander Stevens,
    Vice -President, CSA."

    Worth repeating for those who do not know American history. We have one flag for one nation. The other rag is a traitors curse! The Civil War was a sad necessity to fix our original sin. Let us pray all the loose talk today about "civil war" is just that loose talk by morons.

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  47. This should not be conservative or liberal. Democrat or Republican. That is a means to division. We are all HUMANS. Regardless of skin color or language. Wee need to unite behind a president that is taking care of all the corruption in DC. Love him or hate him, Trump is finally draining the swamp JFK and Reagan tried to eradicate, but failed.

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  48. If sommsom is not happy here move to a country where you are.

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  49. "Trump is finally draining the swamp JFK and Reagan tried to eradicate, but failed."

    Please don't mention Trump in the same sentence as JFK and Reagan. They had a clue and believed in something, Trump only believes in what is good for him and his family. He is a frickin reality TV guy.

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  50. Trumps apology tour with Putin will soon be reality. Selling out America for his own personal advancement.

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  51. Our rights were endowed by our Creator and they precede government. That this concept is contained in our founding documents makes me proud to be an American. We have the best of the best and the worst of the worst, and the freedom to be either or anything in between. We’ve slaughtered Indians and unborn babies. We sent tens of thousands to die in a horrible cause we knew was lost long before we decided to quit. We also mobilized millions after starting with a military the size of Belgium’s, to free another continent in WWI. We only asked for acreage to bury our dead before leaving. And then we did it again 30 years later, after being directly attacked from the other side of the world. We accept millions of immigrants while our citizens struggle and we sink farther into debt. There doesn’t seem to be a line to leave. There’s always a line to get in. Yeah, despite lots of warts and because of lots of contributions to the betterment and freedom of human souls, on balance I’m still very proud to be an American.

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  52. There most definitely is a renewal in pride in America and our Constitution. This brilliant document has endured, even with many attempts to twist and expand its meaning. While Trump has been sometimes inarticulate, the results of his 1 1/2 years have been amazing. We do see less regulation, which is more freedom, less taxes, which is more freedom, more hope and confidence that we are moving in the right direction. We will also see a more sound interpretation of the constitution with more supreme court picks.

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    1. You do realize that this is the Declaration of Independence?

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  53. Absolutely proud! This is the greatest nation on Earth. Thousands are trying to sneak in and enjoy its benefits every day. If any American reading this is NOT proud of their good fortune to live here . . . you are welcome to sneak OUT to some other place.

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  54. "If sommsom is not happy here move to a country where you are."

    Thanks to Authoritarian Donald Trump and his Ugly Americans, I am now ashamed to be an American. But just as our founding fathers did, I will stay and work to restore this nation to what it was before Trump's electoral college victory.

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  55. Absolutely, restore Americ an values in 2018 and 2020. Show the World Trump the Terrible does not represent the values of the Founding Fathers.

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  56. Did you serve in the military O'Hare? If you didn't, that explains a lot.

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  57. I did serve in the military, and really have no interest in the assessment of some anonymous coward.

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  58. ”Only liberal assholes ask these kind of questions. There are over 200 other nations to live in if you don't.”

    Or, like the Founding Fathers, people who really want to make America great again can stay and ensure that there is no place for the Trump cult in American government. Then you can leave.

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  59. Trump, Reagan, JFK. Same sentence.
    A Happy American!
    Happy 4th of July!!!!

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  60. Fascism comes to America when it is cloaked in the Flag, carrying the Cross.

    It has happened, so I am no longer proud.

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  61. I became embarrassingly ashamed during the Obama years, as we descended into the banana republic of his father's dreams. Trump has done nothing to improve my civic pride. Those who are only ashamed now make me sick. Obama was a walking, talking piece of shit. So is Trump. You are too if you defend either creep.

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  62. When my toddler screams and throws things and has tantrums in public, I just turn to those watching and say he’s just just in his Democrat phase :)

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  63. Unlike upset Democrats, I’m so proud to be an American where we can make our lives whatever we want & where the hamburgers and hotdogs are always thick and juicy

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  64. 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.

    Of all the words I feel these are the most significant. The majority today would object to them being included calling them a socialist ideology. I feel until at long last this is achieved I withhold my proudness to be an American. The Declaration at the time was written in anger. Hopefully there will come a time when all manners of government will no longer be viewed as a obstacle but rather a pathway for all as intended. This pertains to not only human equality but also to the health and financial security of each as well.

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  65. Jamie Kelton said... Unlike upset Democrats..
    OMG give it up already!

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  66. The Dour Democrats of 2018. Clearly, they are very depressed and have a feeling of hopelessness. They've seen their side throw absolutely everything at the conservative resurgence and President Trump in particular and watched as one event after another went against them. Even the media, with their fake news stories and skewed polls, can't snap liberals out of their funk.

    Their only option seems to be doubling down on the losing hand they have been playing.

    They criticize anything Trump does, even when it is obviously good for America. The result is that, like their lapdogs in the media, Democrats have less and less credibility with each passing day. They come across more like annoying dogs barking at the moon than adults engaging in serious debate.

    I can sympathise... spent 8 years during Obama’s time in office depressed and feeling a profound sense of hopelessness. So I’m glad to see America turn around and regain some of the greatness we had of my youth. I participated in Tea Party rallies which were about issues. They were peaceful gatherings and the areas were left clean. Dems on the other hand are filled with hateful “resistance” against Trump and all Republicans. Their rallies are filled with violence and the places they gather at are left totally trashed.

    Although I wasn’t happy with a lot of the Republican congressmen and women they at least didn’t go off the deep end like so many Dems are doing now. Bernie is here musing a "revolution".. I suppose one such as the Russian revolution of 1917 and Castro's takeover of Cuba in 1959.

    I can see where the average Dem voter would be horrified and turned off by what they’re seeing happening today. Good for them that they’re walking away. Good for America that they’re walking away!

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  67. Louie, Maybe you should cage and deport him. After all, his name ends in a vowel. People like you are really not pure enough for Amerika.

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    1. Lol, I like your style and love your blog.

      If these folks came legally as our grandparents and great grandparents did, there would be no issues. However, they try to cross the boarder illegally. Always amazes me that liberals condone this nonsense, but then again in the world of safe spaces, anti police supporting, etc, it really doesn’t surprise me. Also, if you commit a crime and get sent to jail, your children do not come with you to jail, do they? Do not put your children in these situations and they will not be separated from you. Common sense, but then again...liberalism.

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  68. " Bernie is here musing a "revolution".. I suppose one such as the Russian revolution of 1917 and Castro's takeover of Cuba in 1959."

    First, when it comes to Russia, I'll defer to you and Donald Trump. Second, I at no time discussed a revolution. Your claim that I did is just a blatant lie. You've learned to lie from the reality TV show host enriching himself and his family in office. I prefer leaders who set positive examples.

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  69. Trump voters are not a cult but a movement of Americans tired of the Saul Alinsky influence that has plagued us for decades. Children have been systematically brainwashed to the point that they actually elected an avowed socialist not even closely qualified to lead our country in 2012 & 2016. That group is the cult in this country & they would have prevailed again with Bernie Sanders in 2016 if it weren’t for collusion between the DNC & Hillary.

    Trump will prevail again in 2020 as the liberal left continues to expose their unhinged agenda lead by Pelossi & Maxine & Pocahontas. Pocahontas will be defeated for Senate in Mass this year by Trump delegate Diehl—A Lehigh Univ grad incidentally!!

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  70. Meant to say 2008 & 2012 elections not 2016 in typo.

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  71. 4:42,you are on the money !

    Trump 2020👍

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  72. The voters are watching as high-ranking Democrats show more concern for illegal aliens than they do for American citizens.

    Democratic radicals have breached the borders of decency by harassing Trump staffers in their everyday lives.

    Overreaction and hysterics from the Democrats over tragic school shootings and media adulation of poster boy David Hogg, there has been no dent in support for the 2nd Amendment. And don't think for a moment that Americans are turned off by Trump's assertive trade policies and his taking freeloading allies to task for their miserable defense spending. They are not. The president's actions make sense to them.

    Even average Democrat voters who are not foaming-at-the-mouth leftists, of which there are millions, are disgusted by what they see.

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  73. Bernie, your ex wife climbing the Statue of Liberty tonight ?.😎

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  74. N either Trump nor Obama will be remembered a "great" Presidents. Sadly both have helped create deep divisions in the nation and fostered a cult of personality worship that is always dangerous to democracy. Obama as the first president of "proven" African descent. He will also be remembered a s a Democrat that tried as a long line of Democratic Presidents to make healthcare truly available to all our citizens regardless of circumstances. Trump is writing his legacy, so far he has roiled back protections of our air, water and national preserves. He has instituted tariffs and threatened war. Hopefully in the long term they will help as of now process on goods are increasing. He is following republican precedent of rolling back protection of social justice.

    The term "common good" is important, yet today it has become besmirched. The right of the people to protest and seek a redress of their grievances is American as Apple Pie. Those that disagree do not understand the promise of America.

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  75. Bernie asked "Are You Still Proud to be an American?" Fair question.

    Absolutely. I am truly proud to be an American, as I always have been.

    I'm 63 years old, and over the years since I graduated from William Allen, I have lived or worked in 27 nations. I am extremely thankful and proud that we had Founding Fathers who knew that the power needed to reside in the hands of the people instead of the central government. It is a wonderful time to be American and celebrate the 4th of July in America.

    Today is not just the 4th of July. That is simply, a date on a calendar. Today is Independence Day. That is the holiday we are celebrating, being an American and a Citizen of the United States of America.

    Happy Independence Day!!



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  76. as evidenced by 337.

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  77. Damm Bernie, when i had redd all the ugly American assklownz commentz this morning i hadn't check the dates! Seemz to me that most not only are becoming spinkterz some are even beginning to write and resemble one too!
    republican redd
    humanist by design
    not a party favor

    BOOM BOOM NO ROOM FOR UGLY¿

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  78. Louie, i consider myself a “liberal” in some respects, and do not support illegal immigration. I know many people who consider themselves liberals and they do not support illegal immigration. So it’s a bit of a canard to lump us all together as you just did. Just as you read this blog, I listen to right wing talk radio and that is where you are getting these generalizations.

    As for separating children from their parents, Trump has recognized he was wrong and did an about face. So why try to justify it?

    As it happens, the analogy is a bad one. Some of these people were not illegal aliens, but refugees seeking asylum. As for the parents who did commit the midemeanor offense of illegal entry, I know very few people who are jailed for a misdemeanor. Those who do get jailed usually are given time to have family members care for the children. But in the case of an illegal,there are no family members and tipping a child away from a parent with no one around to care for the child is quite traumatic. That is why trump stopped doing it, or is that just another game by this reality show talk host who is abusing his public office to enrich himself and his own family?

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  79. Louie, your grandparents and great grandparents were able to immigrate to the US legally because until 1917, there were almost no restrictions on immigration (except for the Chinese, who were mostly shut out by the Chinese Exclusion Acts until 1943). Current immigration law allows the following groups to come to the US to become citizens: those with immediate family who are citizens, those who are highly skilled and have already arranged employment using that skill, those who get a visa through the Diversity Immigrant Visa Lottery program, and those who are given asylum. And even if you fall into one of those groups, the process takes a really long time. Most of the immigrants in the first half of the 20th century more or less just had to show up and prove they were healthy to be admitted to the US.

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  80. Donald Trump is no better than a banana re3public El Presidente.

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  81. I always enjoy the laughs Trumpster lemmimngs provide when they repeat FOX News reports and Hannity opinion, as if they are true.

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  82. Proud? Shouldn't pride be reserved for accomplishments or goals one achieves?

    I was born here and had nothing to do with any of it, so "pride" or being "proud" doesn't apply.

    Lucky is how I feel about being born American...

    It has been said, that being born is like getting a ticket to the freak show, and when you're born in America, you get a front row seat.

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    Replies
    1. Many find enjoyment in being a freekshow!

      Delete
  83. Well the fans of Comrade Trump are at it again.
    https://www.alternet.org/trump-fans-accuse-npr-taxpayer-funded-partisan-advocacy-after-it-tweets-out-declaration-independence

    "Across the nation, citizens will gather to celebrate the birth of the nation with fireworks and apple pie; and they will watch, once again, as Donald Trump supporters accuse National Public Radio of inciting a treasonous uprising against the president by tweeting out the Declaration of Independence."

    Those maga snowflakes really need a safe space.

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  84. Lot of truly weird, and profoundly ignorant, people posting on this thread.

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  85. qanon.pub
    Scroll from bottom to top.
    https://www.reddit.com/r/greatawakening/

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  86. Not only has El Presedente screwed up with children even those under five years old now without parents, her has also attacked the #metoomovement. The guy is consistent you have to give him that.

    Problem is he is a consistent ass.

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You own views are appreciated, especially if they differ from mine. But remember, commenting is a privilege, not a right. I will delete personal attacks or off-topic remarks at my discretion. Comments that play into the tribalism that has consumed this nation will be declined. So will comments alleging voter fraud unless backed up by concrete evidence. If you attack someone personally, I expect you to identify yourself. I will delete criticisms of my comment policy, vulgarities, cut-and-paste jobs from other sources and any suggestion of violence towards anyone. I will also delete sweeping generalizations about mainstream parties or ideologies, i.e. identity politics. My decisions on these matters are made on a case by case basis, and may be affected by my mood that day, my access to the blog at the time the comment was made or other information that isn’t readily apparent.