Texas Family Loses Both Sons to War By BETSY BLANEY Associated Press Writer Carmen and Roy Velez of Lubbock, Texas, hold a frame, Wednesday, July 26, 2006, with photos of each of their sons who have been killed in military action in the Middle East. The couple was notified this week of the death of their son, 22-year-old Army Spc. Andrew Velez, right photo, in Afghanistan. His brother, Army Spc. Jose 'Freddy' Velez, 23, was killed in Iraq in 2004. (AP Photo/Joe Don Buckner)
Executive Mansion, Washington, November 21, 1864Do not doubt for one second that our servicemen and women are fighting to save our nation from destruction. ¶ posted by Hobie 7:35 PM Links to this post
Mrs. Bixby, Boston, Massachusetts
DEAR MADAM:
I have been shown in the files of the War Department a statement of the Adjutant-General of Massachusetts that you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle. I feel how weak and fruitless must be any words of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming.
But I cannot refrain from tendering to you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save. I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom.
Yours very sincerely and respectfully,
Abraham Lincoln
Marion Michael Morrison aka John Wayne, the Duke is just such a person. Actually, he epitomizes the screen or action hero. Hard to believe that he died 27 years ago... I'm sure there are many biographies many of which disagree in certain details either because of ignorance or prejudice. Later in his life, during the Vietnam War, he was controversial for his strong pro-war stance. Some folks think him less a 'hero' because he was married 3 times and drank liquor. I didn't care about those things when I was young and I certainly don't now.
¶ posted by Hobie 3:14 PM
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This is just stupid. The magazine BABYTALK has a cover with a baby nursing. Of course, for those of you without children or living incredibly sheltered lives, babies nurse at BREASTS, human BREASTS. Apparently some folks are offended by this. They aren't offended by people, adults and children, shoving large quantities of food in their mouths in TV and print ads. They are offended by babies doing the same. This is just silly. How is it that people are so silly?
First millennium manuscript, open to Psalm 83, found in Irish mud, well that is just amazing. 1 A song; a psalm of Asaph.The community lament complains to God of the nations' attempts to wipe out the name of Israel. How appropriate to the times... ¶ posted by Hobie 12:12 PM Links to this post
2 God, do not be silent; God, be not still and unmoved!
3 See how your enemies rage; your foes proudly raise their heads.
4 They conspire against your people, plot against those you protect.
5 They say, "Come, let us wipe out their nation; let Israel's name be mentioned no more!"
6 They scheme with one mind, in league against you:
7 The tents of Ishmael and Edom, the people of Moab and Hagar,
8 Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek, Philistia and the inhabitants of Tyre.
9 Assyria, too, in league with them gives aid to the descendants of Lot. Selah
10 Deal with them as with Midian; as with Sisera and Jabin at the torrent Kishon,
11 Those destroyed at Endor, who became dung for the ground.
12 Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb, all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna,
13 Who made a plan together, "Let us seize the pastures of God."
14 My God, turn them into withered grass, into chaff flying before the wind.
15 As a fire raging through a forest, a flame setting mountains ablaze,
16 Pursue them with your tempest; terrify them with your storm.
17 Cover their faces with shame, till they pay you homage, LORD.
18 Let them be dismayed and shamed forever; let them perish in disgrace.
19 Show them you alone are the LORD, the Most High over all the earth.
Barry Taylor, the family's attorney, said the case had major ramifications not only in Virginia, but also across the nation when it comes to parents' rights to determine what is best for their children.
"I don't think any family in the commonwealth would be comfortable with the fact that a social worker with no medical training could make a medical decision for their child," Taylor said. "It's an assault on the American family."
OKLAHOMA CITY - A woman whose Marine son died while serving in Iraq is fighting to keep his name off anti-war T-shirts. Judy Vincent learned last year that Cpl. Scott Vincent's name is among about 1,700 included on a T-shirt being sold by an Arizona man over the Internet. The front of the shirt reads "Bush Lied" and the back reads "They Died."I never cease to be amazed that their are folks who will use anyone else to promote themselves. To use another's pain to make money not to mention to lie (Bush didn't lie) is abominable. ¶ posted by Hobie 8:52 PM Links to this post
The woman, whose son was killed in April 2004, pushed for Oklahoma legislators to pass a law that makes it a misdemeanor to use a soldier's name or likeness for advertising purposes without consent. The law goes into effect this November.
The shirt vendor, Dan Frazier of Flagstaff, Ariz., issued an open letter to family members praising the soldiers' bravery and sacrifice, but said he would not stop selling the merchandise.
U.S. Sen. John Kerry, D- Mass., who was in town Sunday to help Gov. Jennifer Granholm campaign for her re-election bid, took time to take a jab at the Bush administration for its lack of leadership in the Israeli-Lebanon conflict.Oh yeah, he didn't want to do anything to anyone... Just what was he going to do? Has he ever heard of strategy as opposed to tactics? Jeez, my head just wants to explode! ¶ posted by Hobie 8:48 PM Links to this post
"If I was president, this wouldn't have happened," said Kerry during a noon stop at Honest John's bar and grill in Detroit's Cass Corridor.
Bush has been so concentrated on the war in Iraq that other Middle East tension arose as a result, he said.
"The president has been so absent on diplomacy when it comes to issues affecting the Middle East," Kerry said. "We're going to have a lot of ground to make up (in 2008) because of it."
Kerry lost by a narrow margin to Bush in 2004 and plans to seek the Democratic nomination for the presidency in 2008.
Today marks the 12th day of fighting between Israel and Lebanon. Israel launched air strikes after Hezbollah militants, whom operate within Lebanon, kidnapped two Israeli soldiers in an attempt to swap them for prisoners.
Israel began a ground invasion, sending tanks and troops across the border as thousands of Lebanese have fled to escape the fighting.
Hezbollah guerillas should have been targeted with other terrorist organizations, such as al-Qaida and the Taliban, which operate in Afghanistan and Pakistan, Kerry said. However, Bush, has focused military strength on Iraq.
"This is about American security and Bush has failed. He has made it so much worse because of his lack of reality in going into Iraq.…We have to destroy Hezbollah," he said.
by Robert D. DavisNot every government program undertaken for the public welfare is the harbringer of totalitarian government but this one gives me the willies. So far as I can see, it doesn't allow for appeals, allows enforcement at the point of a gun (as do all government laws), ensures that costs of animal ownership of all kinds will rise and does nothing to ensure any improvement in safety. Maybe I'm missing something. Take a look and decide for yourself. AND write your representative. This thing is at LEAST twice as important as flag-burning or stem-cell research. ¶ posted by Hobie 3:07 PM Links to this post
In an effort to increase sales of meat products to foreign countries, and to supposedly pinpoint sources of contagious and infectious animal diseases, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is attempting to implement a program, found questionable by many, named the National Animal Identification System (NAIS).
The USDA claims that the NAIS will protect livestock from diseases and increase food safety by allowing the sources of diseases in livestock to be traced to the source of origin within 48-hours. That claim has been disputed by many people, including attorney Mary-Louise Zanoni, JD, PhD, who writes in her article "The National Animal Identification System: A New Threat to Rural Freedom," that the the NAIS will be far more expensive and less effective for protecting the food supply than testing every cow slaughtered for diseases such as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).
While the USDA's claims a desire to prevent diseases such as BSE from ending up in food, it's banned meat producers from voluntarily testing cattle for BSE. In March, Creekstone Farms Premium Beef, LLC, filed a lawsuit against the USDA in an attempt to challenge the USDA's ban on the voluntary testing.
Dr. Zanoni also writes that "Perhaps the most troubling aspect of the NAIS is its proponents' lack of concern for individual privacy and religious freedom. Consider that the NAIS plan is a compulsory registration with the government of all people who want to raise their own animal foods" and has warned mentions that the NAIS appears to violate several constitutional amendments, and has also written, with detailed explanations in a letter to the USDA, that the NAIS violates the first, fourth, fifth and fourteenth amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
The NAIS, if implemented, will violate privacy and the U.S. Constitution for such purposes as increasing international trade and complying with international treaties, despite a 1956 Supreme Court decision ruling that treaties can't supersede the the U.S. Constitution.
The forces behind the implementation of the USDA's National Animal Identification System (NAIS) have been discovered to include not only corporate interests ranging from Monsanto, Cargill and the horse-slaughter industry, to Digital Angel and segments of the horse racing industry, but various U.S. government and international agencies ranging from the Department of Homeland Security to the United Nations' FAO. Critics of the NAIS have voiced concerns about political corruption being behind the implementation of the NAIS.
It's been learned that the USDA and other government agencies are proceeding with the NAIS as a result of orders from President G.W. Bush, as outlined in Homeland Security Presidential Directive 9 (HSPD-9), entitled "Defense of United States Agriculture and Food." That directive brings together the work of various government agencies including the EPA, USDA, HHS, DHS and FBI, which are all now responsible in one way or another for expanding their surveillance of farms. The NAIS has also been quietly implemented through state laws and state departments of agriculture, in cooperation with the USDA.
What some find to be the most discomforting aspect of the NAIS is its apparent purpose: to let the government know where all animals considered livestock are located so that it could carry out "depopulation" or "stamping out" procedures, which would begin with the quarantining of animals followed by the wide-scall killing of all livestock and other animals---possibly including wildlife, dogs and cats, according to the United Nations' FAO document entitled "Manual on Procedures for Disease Eradication by Stamping Out."
The USDA and state departments of agriculture have been found to be cooperating with international organizations such as the UN's FAO in connection with the NAIS. Such wide-scale killing would take place within a ten kilometer "zone" around the animal found to be afflicted with a contagious or infectious disease. During "depopulation," healthy animals would also be destroyed; owners of animals with certain diseases, who could be treated and returned to good health, would be given no treatment choices other than having their animals killed.
If the NAIS goes into effect as planned, the government will force livestock owners to have their animals identified in some way with RFID chips, such as ear tags or injectible chips. Horse owners, for example, would be required to have their horses injected with RFID chips, which would put some horses at an increased risk for developing cancerous skin growths called sarcoids. In addition, such injections could possibly result in skin infections, hematomas and abscesses.Other possible health-risks could result from chip migration within the horse's body.
Furthermore, due to the Animal Health Protection Act, Title 7, Chapter 109, of the U.S. code, which took over twenty years to be passed into law, the U.S. government will be able to seize, occupy and destroy private property and buildings in connection with the "depopulation" efforts.
Related state laws exist in state governments as well, such as Title 3, Section 105, of the Annotated Code of Maryland. Title 3, Section 105, of the Annotated Code of MD, even without the NAIS being in effect, allows Maryland officials to violate the U.S. Constitution and conduct possibly unnecessary searches and seizures. That law allows government officials to enter anyone's property at any time, carry out any kind of testing on any livestock---whether necessary or not, or whether or not it will harm or kill the animals. The law's vagueness also allows government officials to kill, or in its words, "destroy," any animal with any contagious or infectious disease---that could include illnesses which are fairly minor and treatable.
Many owners of horses and small farms have been perplexed and angered by the government's attempts to foist the NAIS upon them. Questions sent in letters to politicians have resulted in vague answers and misleading information supplied to politicians by the FDA and state departments of agriculture.
Due to people having become aware of the NAIS, and not wanting that harmful burden placed upon them, a grassroots movement has sprung up across the nation to oppose the NAIS and related government policies.
The USDA, apparently displeased that a grassroots movement to oppose the NAIS has surfaced---and has been alerting people dangers and information pertaining to the NAIS which have been kept quiet, plans to spend $10 million dollars on pro-NAIS publicity to counter objections to the NAIS.
Some of the misleading information that's already been spread by the USDA, with the help of pro-NAIS interests, has included convincing many people that the NAIS is voluntary---that's a half truth; the NAIS is only voluntary until it goes into full effect, which is planned to happen in 2008. At the present time, people are being asked to voluntarily tell the government where their animals are located so that they can be assigned "premise IDs."
Horse owners have been astounded that some national associations, claiming to represent them, such as the the American Horse Council (AHC), have been working against them in support of the NAIS, when there appear to be no legitimate reasons for the inclusion of horses in the NAIS, since horses aren't raised for food, or eaten as food, in the U.S. The USDA claims that horses can possibly spread some diseases to other livestock, or carry and spread certain zoonitic diseases to people. However, horses are no more more of a danger for spreading such diseases than wildlife or people who may carry diseases to other locations on their clothing, shoes and car tires, etc. Many of the claims made by proponents of the NAIS with regards to zoonotic diseases have been shown to be misleading.
Another reason for horses being included in the NAIS has been given by Colonel John Hoffman, Program Manager, Food and Agriculture, for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security---which has taken over some of the USDA's functions. He believes that horses need to be tracked and identified because, he says, "Until the 1980's, the Soviet Union continued to produce in its bio-weapons program a disease agent taken from horses but lethal to humans too." He's concerned that many horses are transported throughout the U.S. without being tracked. It's important to note that disease agents can come from a vast number of sources found throughout nature, not just from horses.
Some statistics pertaining to the American Horse Council have been researched by Karen Nowak, which inform us that that 57% of the AHC's 2005 board of trustees was directly involved in racing interests, which appear to support the NAIS, and there were more than twice as many involved in showing interests (15%) than recreational interests (8%). A study conducted by the AHC shows that only 9% of horses are used in racing and 29% are used in showing while 43% are used for recreational uses. Therefore the AHC is not representative the interests of most horse owners and is misleading politicians and others by claiming to represent most horse owners.
As to the Equine Species Working Group that's working with the USDA to determine what form of ID is to be used with horses, Ms. Nowak has reported that 50% of its members are connected with racing interests and 38% have direct ties to racing interests; 21% are involved in show organizations and 4% are involved in recreational uses of horses.
If the NAIS into effect as planned, every time that a horse leaves wherever it resides---whether that merely involves a ride down the road, or even just into the road or onto an adjoining property, going for a trial ride nearby, or a horse is trailered somewhere, the movements of the horse, and whomever the horse has been in contact with, will need to be reported to the government within 24 hours.
A goal of the NAIS is to track all movements of all livestock from birth to death. Companies such as Microsoft Corporation and Computer Sciences Corporation have been involved in the computer-related aspect of the NAIS for the tracking of animals.
According to the National Organic Farming Organization of Massachusetts, "The most immediate impact of mandating NAIS would be to put some small farmers out of business."
At this time, some small farms and horse owners have been putting plans on hold to expand their businesses and to breed their animals. Some are even questioning whether or not they will continue on with their farming and equestrian activities if the NAIS goes into effect. The effect of the NAIS on small farms and a large part of the equestrian community could be catastrophic and result in large fines, loss of property and seizures, or death, of animals which are regarded as long-time friends rather than just livestock to many. Please refer to the following links for additional information and links to government documents about the NAIS:
http://www.libertyark.org
http://www.stopanimalid.org
http://nonais.org
http://www.rddavis.org/equitation/freedom-vs-id.html
Do you even have an idea of what a depression would do to our country? Think maybe that your 401K and investments will keep you fed even if you lose your job? Think the government will be able to ensure that your children are unaffected?
Ok, so perhaps you'd prefer that this was YOUR only job. How would you react to the requirement that you sell all the things you've accumulated for years of hard work for pennies on the dollar just so that you can eat. Just eat. Maybe you'd prefer that you had no options, no where to go, nobody to fall back on. Perhaps you think your parents could take care of you.
We accept that Osama Bin Laden says things that the islamofacists believe and has expressed their goals (much as Hitler set forth his plans in Mein Kampf). He has said, Hostility toward America is a religious duty, and we hope to be rewarded for it by God . . . I am confident that Muslims will be able to end the legend of the so-called superpower that is America. Time Magazine
"The pieces of the bodies of infidels were flying like dust particles. If you would have seen it with your own eyes, you would have been very pleased, and your heart would have been filled with joy." -- At the wedding of his son in southern Kandahar about the 17 sailors who died suicide bombing of the USS Cole off the coast of YemenAl Queda's biggest, and last, attack in the US was on the World Trade Center. The hope then and in 1993 was to destroy the center of US and world financial markets. To some extent it worked. There was disruption of the stock markets, it took time to reconstitute the backed up records of the various finance firms with offices in the twin towers. This was exacerbated by the loss of key personnel in those firms. The attack and subsequent military actions in Afghanistan and Iraq also caused investor doubts and drove down the stock market. The recent escalation of conflict between Israel and the islamofacist organizations Hamas and Hezbulloh have done the same, driving up the cost of crude oil and making the investors nervous. But now, if it wasn't already so, it is a goal...
If their economy is destroyed, they will be busy with their own affairs rather than enslaving the weak peoples. It is very important to concentrate on hitting the US economy through all possible means. Osama bin Laden, 27 Dec 01
We will also aim to continue, by the permission of Allah, the destruction of the American economy. Ayman al-Zawahiri, Sept 02An economic depression of the scale that destruction of our financial centers, that $300 a barrel oil, that the closing of major ports would cause would make the Great Depression of 1929-1940 seem to be a cake-walk. Look at your family, look at your friends, look at your self, what do you want for these people? ¶ posted by Hobie 9:55 AM Links to this post
These folks are the base of the Democrat party. Do you think these folks are mainstream? Not in my neck of the woods.
¶ posted by Hobie 1:20 PM Links to this post
"He's a Republican mole in the Democratic party," says Pravil Banker, director of a financial company and a man who in other circumstances might be a natural Lieberman supporter.Now this tells us the whole story in a very concise way. When a Democrat from his home state says that Joe is a "Republican mole", you know that something has changed. Lieberman has consistently voted as a liberal votes. Then to call him a "tame Democrat" and to belittle him because he appears on FNC simply reinforces the viewpoint.
"He's the guy who goes on [Republican-supporting] Fox News. He's the tame Democrat that even conservatives can stomach.
"He's too much a part of the Washington establishment. We must have someone who's in touch with us."
...has switched from friend into foe - but in sorrow rather than anger. "I kept thinking Joe was going to change on Iraq, that he'd stand up and say it isn't right," he says. "But he did the opposite, and that inspired me to get into the race."Disregarding the fact that Lamont is wrong and self-destructive (how is an insecure US going to make him some money, any money?) he's POed because Lieberman hasn't waffled on Iraq and still supports the war. Lamont says also
On Iraq, he says: "We've distanced ourselves from our traditions, we've ignored our values and are the weaker for it."
Among them are jobs, energy policy, and the country's failure to provide 47 million Americans - one in six of the population - with health coverage. " We have to insist on universal health care, and not go on spending $250m a day in Iraq."When your own party has so demonized the other side that they really believe that there is massive unemployment during a time when the unemployment rates are about as low as they've ever been, and you are a part of the "establishment" that caused that you're bound to have problems I suppose.
Daily Kos, and organisations like Moveon.org, have thrown all their energies into toppling Mr Lieberman.Why would they do that unless they hate moderates? Don't they think that Lieberman as a senior Senator could be more help to the cause than Lamont as a junior senator? Why would they? These are all national organizations who care nothing at all for Connecticut issues. In other words it is about national socialism. ¶ posted by Hobie 8:22 PM Links to this post
Neo-Nazis infiltrating the US military
Neo-Nazi and white supremacist hate groups are taking advantage of relaxed recruiting standards to infiltrate the US military to get combat training, a civil rights group reported.
The Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks domestic extremists groups, called on US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to adopt a zero-tolerance policy toward white supremacist groups in the military.
"Neo-Nazi groups and other extremists are joining the military in large numbers so they can get the best training in the world on weapons, combat tactics and explosives," said Mark Potok, director of the center's Intelligence Project.
"We should consider this a major security threat, because these people are motivated by an ideology that calls for race war and revolution. Any one of them could turn out to be the next Timothy McVeigh," he said.
McVeigh was the decorated Gulf War veteran and white supremacist who detonated a truck bomb outside a federal office building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, in April 1995, killing 168 people.
After the Oklahoma City bombing and incidents involving active duty troops, the Pentagon took steps to keep racist extremists from the ranks.
But the center said standards have been relaxed because of wartime recruiting pressures, allowing large numbers of people with links to neo-Nazi and white supremacist groups to join the military.
It cited neo-Nazi and white supremacist publications that encourage their followers to join the military to get combat training.
The report quoted a Defense Department gang investigator, Scott Barfield, as saying neo-Nazis "stretch across all branches of service, they are linking up across the branches once they're inside, and they are hard-core."
"We've got Aryan Nations graffiti in Baghdad," he was quoted as saying. "That's a problem."
"Recruiters are knowingly allowing neo-Nazis and white supremacists to join the armed forces, and commanders don't remove them from the military even after we positively identify them as extremists or gang members," Barfield said.
A Pentagon spokesman acknowledged there have been incidents involving gang-related graffiti, but said dealing with it was the responsibility of military commanders.
"Good order and discipline is the responsibility of commanders and to the extent there are any activities that are inconsistent with good order and discipline it is incumbent upon the commanders to address those," said spokesman Bryan Whitman.
Neo-Nazi and white supremacist hate groups are taking advantage of relaxed recruiting standards to infiltrate the US military to get combat training, a civil rights group reported.First, I don't believe the "civil rights groups" much any more. Too much crying wolf. See just about any news release from the Rainbow Coalition. Lying makes them money. It is ALL about the money. Old Jesse is all about blackmailing corporations into donating to his organization, in part to pay for his mistresses. Well one, at least... However, let's address the first part of the paragraph, relaxed recruiting standards. Folks, they haven't relaxed the part about no felons and such, they have lowered requirements for test scores on the ASVAB, increased the allowable age, and might not require a high school diploma. That stuff (other than the age thing, now 42 formerly 35) has changed every so often as long as I served, i.e. since June 1973. Perhaps they are meaning that neo-nazis (undeserving of capitalization) aren't as smart as the rest of us. With that I'd agree.
The Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks domestic extremists groups, called on US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to adopt a zero-tolerance policy toward white supremacist groups in the military.As I remember it, there already is a zero tolerance policy. You answer a question as to whether or not you are a member of any group advocating overthrowing the government. No go.
"Neo-Nazi groups and other extremists are joining the military in large numbers so they can get the best training in the world on weapons, combat tactics and explosives," said Mark Potok, director of the center's Intelligence Project.
The report quoted a Defense Department gang investigator, Scott Barfield, as saying neo-Nazis "stretch across all branches of service, they are linking up across the branches once they're inside, and they are hard-core."And a lot of those folks are radicalized AFTER enlistment. I saw it several times in my service. Leadership is the key to countering this cancer. AND it isn't all Caucasians, there are blacks, Hispanics and others including the aforementioned gangs.
"We've got Aryan Nations graffiti in Baghdad," he was quoted as saying. "That's a problem."
"Recruiters are knowingly allowing neo-Nazis and white supremacists to join the armed forces, and commanders don't remove them from the military even after we positively identify them as extremists or gang members," Barfield said.I'd like to know how this is happening. Half the recruiters I know and worked with were BLACK or HISPANIC. Are you telling me that they are sitting across the desk from these skinhead punks and processing them to meet mission (quota in the rest of the sales world) and save their careers. If so, what does that say about the institution? This really bothers me as all these recruiters with the exception of some supervisors are Sergeants, non-commissioned officers, who are the military's backbone. It galls me that anyone of these brothers in arms would be forced to do this.
"Good order and discipline is the responsibility of commanders and to the extent there are any activities that are inconsistent with good order and discipline it is incumbent upon the commanders to address those," said spokesman Bryan WhitmanDarn straight! Unfortunately, we've seen a decline in the quality of officers over the past 10-15 years. I think that many are intimidated by their soldiers as the education gap and age difference is not all that great any longer. MANY, many NCOs and junior enlisted have at least some college and many officers ability to spell and reason would lead one to think that they barely graduated.
From US stars align in anti-Iraq war hunger strike, I suppose this proves that Hollywood liberals can't be bothered with any sacrifice. ¶ posted by Hobie 10:11 PM Links to this postOther supporters, including Penn, Sarandon, novelist Alice Walker and actor Danny Glover will join a 'rolling" fast, a relay in which 2,700 activists pledge to refuse food for at least 24 hours, and then hand over to a comrade.
¶ posted by Hobie 4:29 PM Links to this postWhen in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands 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 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. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn 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 mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations 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 legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the 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:
For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
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, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & 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 endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an 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 attentions 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. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. 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 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.
— John Hancock
New Hampshire:Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton
Massachusetts:John Hancock, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry
Rhode Island:Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery
Connecticut:Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott
New York:William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris
New Jersey:Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark
Pennsylvania:Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross
Delaware:Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean
Maryland:Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton
Virginia:George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton
North Carolina:William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn
South Carolina:Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton
Georgia:Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton
