What is progress?

President Calvin Coolidge celebrated the 150th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1926, with a speech providing a magisterial review of the history and thought underlying the Declaration. His speech on the occasion deserves to be read and studied in its entirety. The following paragraph, however, is particularly relevant to the challenge that confronts us in the variants of the progressive dogma that pass themselves off today as the higher wisdom:

About the Declaration there is a finality that is exceedingly restful. It is often asserted that the world has made a great deal of progress since 1776, that we have had new thoughts and new experiences which have given us a great advance over the people of that day, and that we may therefore very well discard their conclusions for something more modern. But that reasoning can not be applied to this great charter. If all men are created equal, that is final. If they are endowed with inalienable rights, that is final. If governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, that is final. No advance, no progress can be made beyond these propositions. If anyone wishes to deny their truth or their soundness, the only direction in which he can proceed historically is not forward, but backward toward the time when there was no equality, no rights of the individual, no rule of the people. Those who wish to proceed in that direction can not lay claim to progress. They are reactionary. Their ideas are not more modern, but more ancient, than those of the Revolutionary fathers.

THE ETERNAL MEANING OF INDEPENDENCE DAY (2)

The current state of affairs and its parallels to the fall of Rome proves that "the essence of freedom is the proper limitation of government"

Many Americans would be surprised to learn that the word "democracy" does not appear in the Declaration of Independence or the U.S. Constitution, nor does it appear in any of the constitutions of the fifty states. The Founders did everything they could to keep us from having a Democracy!

What really happened today

On July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was adopted.

Of those 56 who signed the Declaration of Independence, nine died of wounds or hardships during the war. Five were captured and imprisoned, in each case with brutal treatment. Several lost wives, sons or entire families. One lost his 13 children. Two wives were brutally treated. All were at one time or another the victims of manhunts and driven from their homes. Twelve signers had their homes completely burned. Seventeen lost everything they owned. Yet not one defected or went back on his pledged word. Their honor, and the nation they sacrificed so much to create is still intact.

And, finally, there is the New Jersey signer, Abraham Clark. . .

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The 56 signers of the Declaration Of Independence proved by their every deed that they made no idle boast when they composed the most magnificent curtain line in history. "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."

2013: YEAR OF THE ABSURD

Cross-posted at MareZilla.com

I was driving to do some errands recently and heard a caller on one of my favorite talk radio stations make a statement about the absurdity of the whole country hanging on every word coming from a couple of guys in D.C. who are deciding who gets to keep what and who gets stuff taken away from them to give to someone else.

Is this America?

Apparently, it is.

While half the country (at least) hasn't a clue about who the country's leaders are or even what the major issues are (Benghazi: "Ben who?"), the rest of us have spent our new year holiday with an ear tuned in to discover what the hell our fates will be in 2013 and beyond.

This has got to stop, but I'm not sure where to start.

It began with Karl Marx, the Fabian Socialists, the Frankfurt School, Woodrow Wilson, John Dewey, the Roosevelt boys (Franklin and Teddy), and--sealed in law--the two biggies from 1913: the creature from Jekyll Island (the Fed) and the income tax law.

Some say it happened with the 17th Amendment when Senators became elected instead of appointed.

Salon weighed in on this last August: Why would anyone want to take away people’s rights to elect their senators?

Sen. Mike Lee, the Ivy League-educated Tea Party judicial mastermind from Utah, told CNN in 2010 that “the 17th Amendment was a mistake.” Texas Gov. Rick Perry also called the amendment “mistaken,” as did Rep. Paul Broun, a Republican from Georgia. Even conservative Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia said in 2010,

“I would change it back to what they wrote, in some respects. The 17th Amendment has changed things enormously … [Y]ou can trace the decline of so-called states’ rights throughout the rest of the 20th century.”

Alaska’s 2010 Republican nominee Joe Miller and perennial GOP candidate Alan Keyes have also signed on to the cause.

The enormous weight of all these years filled with missteps, both judicial and political, have made the saving of the United States as founded seem as insurmountable as Frodo's quest to destroy the ring.

I just saw on Facebook that Mark Levin is cutting his vacation short to return to the air on Thursday and Friday of this week.

He's never given up yet, and I doubt he would return just to monitor events (there are plenty of other sources for that). So I'm looking for an idea or two--because I'm out of 'em for now.

The obsession with Jefferson is highly political

If you occasionally run into liberal idiots who claim that Tea Party members want to back to the time when women couldn't vote or back to the time of slavery, you need to check this out.

Legal Insurrection: Jefferson is a proxy target in the modern political war

Two visions

The battle in this country is, very simply, the battle between two visions of where we should go. One vision depends on growing the government and the other vision depends on slowing that growth down and then trying to reduce the size of government.

The part that's not simple is trying to explain this to people who really aren't interested, but who vote anyway.

I've had countless discussions with people who do not want to talk about WHY they want to re-elect Barack Obama, they just do. Some of them literally do not allow you to say anything at all if it's negative about him (two of them literally did the "la-la" routine to prevent it). This is cult behavior plain and simple. Asking one of them why they didn't like Paul Ryan produced: "Because he's an asshole." This is another version of the "la-la" routine.

There's not a lot of hope in resolving anything with serious discussions in this kind of environment and so our future now rests upon the popularity of a cult hero. If Obama wins, we lose the country as founded. If he doesn't, we have a chance in keeping what our forefathers fought and died for.

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, & our sacred Honor.

One problem is that the bigger government types do not like our founding documents and want to somehow change them or make them irrelevant or replace them entirely.

This is completely unacceptable to me and to conservatives everywhere and this is why the Tea Party came into existence in the first place.

This is a battle unto death.

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GETTING STARTED

The three "rights"

Right to Life, the Right to Liberty and the Right to the Pursuit of Happiness

These three Rights, as enumerated in the Declaration of Independence, run through each of our lives and make a tapestry of the lives of the Creator’s children. These Rights are not ours. We do not own them. We merely possess them and are asked to protect them … to cherish them and to base our nation on them, for not only ourselves, but for the generations yet to come. We have an awesome gift from the Creator and we must be faithful stewards of this gift. Generations yet unborn will be affected by what we do (or neglect to do) in regards this gift. Just as we not only labor now for our own sustenance, but also for the generations to come through our estates (small to non-existent though they be). We must be good stewards–to be ever vigilant of our Rights and Obligations. For if we allow the nibbling away of these, there will be nothing to pass to our progeny but enslavement and misery.

Our Endowed Rights Form a Tapestry of Freedom and Mutual Obligation

The Philosophical Meaning and Greatness of the Declaration of Independence

Why the Declaration of Independence is the greatest and most important political document in human history.

Do This for 10 Minutes on the Fourth of July

If you would like to add a very short, symoblic tribute to our wonderful country during your 4th of July celebrations, Dennis Prager has the perfect "ritual" for you (and I think it would be so important for your children to do this every year)!

As for me, I just completed one of my rituals and that is going through the links I've collected (starting the day after Obama won the stupid vote in America) on the right panel of this blog entitled "Join The Second American Revolution!"

There are some amazing people in this country who are doing some amazing things to try and help save our country--please check them out because you are bound to find one or more that are perfect for you to get involved with--and also some especially perfect for our young people.

Happy 4th and God Bless America.

PS: Don't be offended by my reference to the "stupid vote" -- we had friends that literally started waving their arms around and yelling out "La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la" rather than listen to us explain what we found out about Obama through MANY HOURS of tedious research from people like Stanley Kurtz (too many excellent resources to mention at this point, actually--but I blogged about all of them over the years). This was both before and after Obama's election. Most of these people don't have clue about the damage he's been doing these last several years and they still don't want to know.

Now THAT, my friends, is stupid...and dangerous.

Doug McIntyre: Don't take freedom in America for granted

A new Harvard University study claims that the Fourth of July has become a "Right Wing celebration." David Yangizawa-Drott of the Kennedy School of Government and Andreas Madestam of Milan, Italy's Bocconi University claim "The political right has been more successful in appropriating American patriotism and its symbols during the 20th century.

The learned professors have it wrong. The political right didn't "appropriate" American patriotism as much as the political left abandoned it.

A residual tragedy of the 1960s was the taint of ideology on patriotism.

"America, love it or leave it!" bumper stickers alienated the anti-Vietnam War/pro-civil rights left, just as protesters burning our flag disgusted the Greatest Generation who had fought and died for that flag.

We have disrespected our flag in a thousand ways. We removed it from our front porches and town squares only to wear it as a bikini top, jock strap or do-rag, or allow hack politicians to wrap themselves in it to pander for votes.

The Harvard study says, "Republican adults celebrate (the) Fourth of July more intensively."

It wasn't always like this. While we've always fought among ourselves over policy and power, we took for granted our mutual love of country.

Last week our national anthem was booed at the Rose Bowl. . .

FOURTH OF JULY IS INDEPENDENCE DAY!

President Obama removes 'Creator' from the preamble of the Declaration of Independence

ABOMINATION

Via Lucianne.com

UPDATE:...but thanks to HillBuzz for this:

Our Declaration of Independence ends with these words:

'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.'

Start a new July 4th tradition: HEARING the Declaration of Independence is quite different from READING it...

THE DECLARATION

Who Were the 56 Men Who Signed the Declaration of Independence? And have you ever wondered what happened to them?

Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence? Here are a few of their stories.

*Five signers were captured by the British as traitors and tortured before they died.

*Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned.

*Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army, another had two sons captured.

*Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War.

*Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists.

*Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantation owners; men of means, well educated. But they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured.

Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts, and died in rags.

Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his reward.

Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton.

At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson, Jr., noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters. He quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt.

Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months.

John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying. Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste. For more than a year, he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished. A few weeks later, he died from exhaustion and a broken heart.

Norris and Livingston suffered similar fates.

Such were the stories and sacrifices of the American Revolution. These were not wild-eyed, rabble-rousing ruffians. They were soft-spoken men of means and education. They had security, but they valued liberty more. Standing straight and unwavering, they pledged: "For the support of this declaration, with firm reliance on the protection of the divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other, our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor."

Remember: Freedom is never free!

FAITH AND THE FOUNDERS: David Barton on Glenn Beck

Glenn Beck-04-08-10-A
www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeN6gzzsD7Y

Glenn Beck-04-08-10-B
www.youtube.com/watch?v=0f1bqHstRiw

Glenn Beck-04-08-10-C
www.youtube.com/watch?v=btVXsduaf-w

Glenn Beck-04-08-10-D
www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJwHObtwMZg

The Texas Declaration of Independence: 3/2/1836

The Alamo mission at San Antonio was in its 7th day of being assaulted by thousands of Santa Anna's troops. By the 13th day, Santa Anna's "take-no-prisoner" policy had all 189 defenders killed, including Jim Bowie and former U.S Congressman Davy Crockett. The only Texas army left in the field was Col. James Fannin's. It departed Goliad to rescue the Alamo but was surrounded in open ground and captured. Santa Anna ordered all 350 prisoners executed. When the Mexican officer hesitated, Santa Anna sent another officer who carried out the order. Had Fannin's troops been left in prison, Texas would have been disheartened, but instead Santa Anna's cruelty aroused world outrage.

The Texas Declaration of Independence, signed MARCH 2, 1836, stated: "General Antonio Lopez Santa Anna...demanded us to deliver up our arms, which are essential to our defense-the rightful property of freemen-and formidable only to tyrannical governments...has, through its emissaries, incited the merciless savage, with the tomahawk and scalping knife, to massacre the inhabitants of our defenseless frontiers...We fearlessly...commit the issue to the...Supreme Arbiter of the destinies of nations."

American Minute with Bill Federer

Richard Stockton: 2/28/1781

His grandson, Robert, was the U.S. Navy Commodore who helped freed slaves found Liberia, West Africa, and in 1846 captured California-the city of Stockton named for him. His brother-in-law, Elias Boudinot, was a Continental Congress President and founder of the American Bible Society. His daughter married Declaration Signer Benjamin Rush. His name was Richard Stockton.

After he signed the Declaration of Independence, the British invaded New Jersey forcing him to move his family for safety. Richard Stockton was betrayed, drug from his bed at night and imprisoned in New York. His farm was pillaged and his library, one of the best in the country, was burned.

His health broken from over a year in the British prison, Richard Stockton died bankrupt at age 51, FEBRUARY 28, 1781. New Jersey placed his statue in the U.S. Capitol's Statuary Hall.

Richard Stockton wrote in his Will: "As my children...may be peculiarly impressed with the last words of their father, I think proper here, not only to subscribe to the entire belief of the great leading doctrine of the Christian religion...but also in the heart of a father's affection, to exhort them to remember 'that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.'"

American Minute with Bill Federer

Democracy? Hell no!

The word "Democracy" does NOT appear in The Declaration of Independence or the U.S. Constitution, nor does it appear in any of the constitutions of the 50 states! The Founders did everything they could to keep us from having a Democracy.

James Madison (known as "The Father of the Constitution"):

Democracy is the most vile form of government... democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention: have ever been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property: and have in general been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths. Source

WATCH: 08:30 - what happened to Rome is now happening to us!

Obama cited US Constitution last night during his State of the Union Address. Unfortunately, the quote he cited was from the Declaration of Independence… not the Constitution!

Gosh...he was touted as a Constitutional Laywer/Senior Lecturer to get us to vote for him...hmmmm:

The former Constitutional lawyer, or senior lecturer, cited the US Constitution last night during his State of the Union Address. Unfortunately, the quote he cited was from the Declaration of Independence… not the Constitution. Modern Conservative reported, via Free Republic:

In last night’s State of the Union Address, President Obama said:

We find unity in our incredible diversity, drawing on the promise enshrined in our Constitution: the notion that we are all created equal….

Um, wrong founding document, Mr. President. It is in our Declaration of Independence that we read:

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.

Oops

Beverly Hills psychiatrist calls Obama administration "High School Student Government from Hell"

Dr. Jory F. Goodman, M.D.

The Constitution, Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights; our history and traditions, protocol and respect, even common courtesy are out. It's as if Hunter Thompson and Timothy Leary munched on a peyote pie as they read Marx, Engels and Alinsky to one another in pig Latin; Gracie Slick wailed White Rabbit and a montage of all of the worst direct to video horror and teen movies played backwards and someone transcribed it word for word.

Movie Madness