Drake posted this on my message board and I am reposting it to various other boards because at a time when we celebrate our Independence and our Democracy, these still valid words are worth contemplation.

If the citizens of this nation become docile and submissive, if they fail to remember why this nation was created, if they justify constitutional abuses because of so called extraordinary times, then these words will become just that, words of a time past.

Be vigilant America and allow NO ADMINISTRATION to deny the UNALIENABLE RIGHTS OF THE CITIZENS, RIGHTS THAT SO MANY HAVE DIED FOR, REGARDLESS OF EXCUSE. There can be no justification for any man, in any office to abridge the rights guaranteed to us under the Constitution. Any citizen, group or political party who feels this type of behavior is unpatriotic has no idea what patriotism is nor for what purpose so many Americans have given their lifes in order to protect.

Nixon attempted to do just that, illegal activities with his unlawful use of the CIA and other government agencies and utilizing individuals not in the employ of the government he put himself and his administration above the Constitution.

Millions protested not just Vietnam but these blatantly illegal activities. Forget not America those Citizens who were murdered by the government at KENT STATE and elsewhere simply because they exercised their right to gather as a group and protest. As It states below it is only the power of the people that can stop their enslavement at the hands of Despots.

Greetings All:

I offer these words in celebration of our nation; the opening words of the second paragraph of The Declaration of Independence:

"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."

US History Tidbit about Declaration -- Drake, 16:13:03 07/03/02 Wed

It was against the law during the First World War to recite The Declaration of Independence. Several people were sent to prison for sedition because they were reading it in public! President Wilson actually endorsed this policy.

The Bush-Cheney gang might have similar ideas. Don't forget that the VP said it was "unAmerican" to question the government at this time just about a month ago. Hmmm, does anyone remember Joseph McCarthy?

Happy 4th all. SPEAK LOUD! SPEAK OFTEN!