The Fourth of July 1776 and 2013

 

The Fourth of July in 1776 marked the day that representatives from the 13 British Colonies declared their independence from England and the rule of King George. This was not an action taken lightly or quickly. The colonists had for years asked their government to address their grievances but were ignored leaving the colonists no choice but to separate themselves from England. The colonists did not do this to become free, for they were British citizens and as such were considered free men. They did not take this action to establish a democracy; they did so for a higher purpose.  They did so to establish the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness with equality for all men as endowed by their Creator. The signers of the Declaration of Independence pledged their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor to this cause with firm reliance on Divine Providence.

 

Two hundred and 37 years later we celebrated the birth of our nation by this founding document which culminated in the drafting of our Constitution on September 17, 1787. Those same 13 former colonies, now independent States came together and seeking Divine guidance gave us the Constitution and later added the first ten amendments which enumerated our inalienable rights that the government was created to protect. The Constitution established our Republican form of government, guaranteed our individual liberties and sovereignty.  We have democratic principles in place but a system of separation of powers to ensure that we do not allow a majority to take away the rights of the minority. It is the shortest written Constitution in the world but has the distinction of being the longest continuously in place in the world today. However our Constitutional Republic has never been in greater danger since we were bold enough to declare our independence. The saddest part of that statement besides it being true is that Americans have no idea how far we are from our founding ideals and how our current government has trampled on our Constitution.

 

The Obama administration with the tacit approval of both the legislative and judicial branch has taken away and diminished our individual rights. The Constitution was literally the various free and independent States and the individual citizens entering into a contract with the government. As an individual we gave to the federal government limited powers through our consent. The congress was divided into the House of Representatives which was intended to give the citizens a voice and the Senate which was to represent the various States. Together they would pass the laws which fell within the limited scope of the Constitution. The Executive Branch was to faithfully execute the law and the Judicial Branch was to ensure that the laws were within the boundaries of the Constitution as written and intended. The States were ensured their sovereignty as well as the individual citizen according to Natural Law.

 

Fast forward to today and look at it through the eyes of the Founding Fathers and the citizens of the day. The Stamp Act passed by the British Parliament and enforced by the King through the use of the British Army, gave them the right to enter into our homes to ensure that we had all our documents stamped. This abuse of power was a rallying cry for the colonists and led directly to the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution protecting our rights to be secure in our persons, homes, papers and effects unless there is a warrant for a specific area and or thing to be searched. Now for the opportunity to travel by air we and our belongings are searched without a warrant as if we were all criminals under investigation with an established probable cause.

 

 Another example of government abuse of power today would be the Boston Marathon bombing case and the government’s response. What would be mind boggling to our ancestors would be the City of Boston and its citizens’ response to the actions taken. Substitute the Redcoats as they were called at the time for the Boston Police Department. Imagine the armored vehicles of today being cavalry and artillery with armed soldiers instead of the body armored police officers deployed with automatic machine guns going house to house. They then at gun point force the citizens to leave their homes to be searched looking for two fugitives. How do you think our forefathers would have reacted to such an invasion of an American city? They certainly would not have happily complied and applauded the government’s actions. There would have been outrage and all able bodied men would have been called to arms.

 

Throw in the scandals of the NSA monitoring our phone calls and internet communications without probable cause and a warrant. Then ask yourself if it was truly being done in the name of national security looking for terrorist activity, how they inexplicably missed Major Hassan at Fort Hood and the Boston bombers. They both had jihadist propaganda on their Facebook pages. The Russians warned us about the bombers and one even travelled to Chechnya, a known Muslim extremist hotbed and no attention was paid to them. So who are they really watching and why?

 

Then add the IRS scandal where political opponents of the current administration were targeted and persecuted and the violation of our First and Fourth amendment rights were being abused leading up to an election and where is the public outcry and outrage? Add to this the AP and Fox News wiretapping and where is our Freedom of the Press?  All while the top law enforcement official in the nation perjured himself in testimony before Congress about his knowledge and involvement in these actions. On the heels of his obstruction of justice and perjury in the Fast and Furious gun scandal isn’t this enough to warrant his dismissal and prosecution? Yet the President protects him using executive privilege which on the face of it implies the President was complicit in the Fast and Furious Operation. He then allows the Department of Justice to investigate the matter with the press and again the Attorney General is not held accountable. All while the FBI chief can’t even tell us if the IRS scandal is being investigated.

President Obama and Attorney General Holder get to pick and choose not only which laws they will uphold but even which parts of laws they will uphold. The voter intimidation case in Philadelphia by the New Black Panthers is dismissed as they were about to be found guilty of an egregious crime against the citizens of this country and our right to vote. They chose to not enforce the Defense of Marriage Act, they chose to not enforce our immigration laws and cease deporting illegal aliens. They use the excuse of sequestration to free illegal aliens from prisons across the country by decree. The President suspends the Affordable Patient Care Act employer mandate until after the mid-term elections. The UN Ambassador and Secretary of State lie and obstruct justice after four Americans including an Ambassador and two former Navy SEALs are killed on the anniversary of 9-11 and the truth of what happened, who knew and why nothing was done, remains unanswered and the survivors who owe their lives to the brave actions of the two former Navy SEALs have still not been heard from. The list goes on and on. The Congress which has the power to call for an Independent Counsel with subpoena powers to investigate and follow this pattern of deception and unconstitutional and illegal activities does not pursue it to its logical conclusion which is to write up Articles of Impeachment and put an end to this pattern of behavior. Seems that King George has nothing on President Obama and our federal government, and the American people who so cherished liberty that they would take on their own government, the mightiest nation on Earth sit idly by as our liberties are being usurped and our Constitution is trampled.  Our forefathers would be saddened and ashamed.

Carlos Cardoso