On this 241st anniversary of July 4th, remember the words of 33 year old Tom:
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.
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Trump, Pence, McConnell.........at what point do we deem ourselves to have subjected ourselves to absolute despotism? Not yet, maybe, but we're heading there, and not at a snail's pace, either. Our future security certainly appears in jeopardy, anyway. Agreed, it is our right to throw off such government at some point. At what point does it become our duty? A significant majority of Americans--those who never voted from him in the first place plus those who realize they were duped when they did--realize that we have the wrong leadership. At what point will the right-wing Congress--and remember, the Republican majority in the House of Representatives is due solely to gerrymandering--decide "country over party?" Never? Should that prove the case, the people of this country need to heed Tom's words: "it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government."
Tom (full name Thomas Jefferson) was there, was part of the original group that on this day 241 years ago signed that daring document he wrote. Will our government take up their responsibility once again? To be sure, times have changed drastically since the Continental Congress. Abuses, usurpations and despotism, however, have not.
**I posted this elsewhere and was urged by two members that I respect to make it an OP. At their request, here it is.
Side note: Thom Hartmann and I have in common a great respect for Jefferson as one of the most insightful members of the Continental Congress. As flawed in our eyes as any patrician white man from Virginia in 1787 would be (from today's point of view), he was a man of science, a man of risk taking, and a man who risked all and lost much in the process of trying to invent a new kind of nation out of nothing and without a blueprint. As one of THE historical figures I would like to meet up with if I somehow could, I did the next best thing in the novel "The Time Cellar" when my fictional wine nerd, Robert ("Ro-BAIR"
accidentally blew a hole in the fabric of time and found himself face to face with a 75 year old retired Thomas Jefferson. I promise you, aside from Tom Robbins in "Jitterbug Perfume," few authors have EVER had such fun writing fictional dialogue.