Monday, July 3, 2006

On the Fourth, Read the Declaration of Impeachment

From AfterDowningStreet

Veterans for Peace has drafted a Declaration of Impeachment using nothing but excerpts from the Declaration of Independence (plus a few words in parentheses). It reads as follows, and should be read at picnics and protests on the Fourth of July:

Excerpts therefrom:

...The history of the present King (George)...is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny...To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has...deprive(ed) us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury...transport(ed) us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences

A (President) whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

We, therefore...do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People...solemnly publish and declare, That these...Free and Independent (People)...are Absolved from all Allegiance to the (Bush Administration), and that all political connection between them and (this Administration), is and ought to be totally dissolved...And for the support of this Declaration...we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor."

Note that the colonists did not just write these words. They also fought and died for them.

Supporting our troops and working to ensure that they not have died in vain are notions that no longer apply to the soldiers who died in the fields around my house in Virginia. The statute of limitations has expired, and the 4,435 who died to rid America of a King George are now in fact required - as a matter of patriotic duty - to have died in vain.

All in vain, all unsupported. Welcome to the world of free speech zones, detention without charge, no access to a court of law, no prohibition on torture. Welcome to the end of the veto and the birth of the signing statement. Welcome to an executive branch that neither obeys Congress nor so much as informs Congress of its actions. Welcome to wars of aggression for a theocratic plutocracy. Welcome back, King George.

Strong stuff, a "must read". Entirely fitting for, and in the spirit of, the anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

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