Tuesday, July 03, 2007

July 4th

He came to the beach military style...long pants, dog tags, and a cool watch.
He probably looked at all the sand and thought, "I've seen all the sand I ever want to see for as long as I live."


But this soldier wasn't alone...
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I watched him with his kids- he carried his baby everywhere. His 3 and 4 year olds were always close by, within arms reach- I wondered how many months/years they had learned to live without dad being within "arms reach"- while he kept the rest of us out of "harms way".


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I admire these men, and I admire their families. I whispered a prayer of thankfulness that this soldier was home with his for the 4th of July...for a trip to the beach with his kids.



Somehow- I don't think he minded all the sand today.
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Thank you Sir- for all the ways you serve our country.

I dedicate this post to Sean and his family.
Thank you Sean~
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The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

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.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. 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.


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17 comments:

X. Dell said...

I've never read the Declaration of Independence before this. I'm kinda surprsied it was in specific responses to charges.

sparringK9 said...

....."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.".......


right on. its where we are now.
great post mayden and good to have you home safe.
blessed be the marine, sean and all the ones who put themselves in harms way for the republic.

sparringK9 said...

ps. coe-ruh. stop by chickory's. i want you to see my small town parade pix.

Crashtest Comic said...

god bless america--
although it was the French who invented high heels.

Scary Monster said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Scary Monster said...

Me hasn't read them words in quite some time.
Thanks, Mrs.C. For reminding me that although me be living far from me place of birth and sometimes be uncertain that the present leadership be misguided and unconcerned with anything but their own affairs, the country of me birth were started by great men who understood the value of life and the meaning of earning ones own freedom.

Me also really liked the way you framed the pics to reveal your story. Very touching. Very nice.

A final word- Me be somewhat surprised by x. dell's comment. He be one of the most intelligent personalities Me has seen around bloggyland. They seemed not to be so much a response to charges, but rather a justification or elucidation for the acts of rebellion that preceeded the actual drafting of the document. But me could be wrong.
STOMP.

exskindiver said...

thank you for teaching me.
happy 4th.

boneman said...

GOOD GIRL !

Not many post the "second half" as it were. I suspect it's because, now-a-days, the second half of the Declaration really hits close to our own time.

leelee said...

I think you are right boneman and she too! I'm glad you posted this Mayden, I needed to read it again too.

The pix of the Marine and his family made my heart happy. I'll bet his family had the best time yesterday....how wonderful that he is there with them..

I hope they all can come home soon..it's time.

Little Lamb said...

I do admire our military. My uncle was in the Air Force and had to leave his family to fight in the Viet Nam war. He came back in one piece and is ok. Not all of our military came back ok from that war.

Our military needs to be thanked for what they do and how they put their lives in danger for our freedom. Freedom is not free. People die so we can have freedom.

Little Lamb said...

You're tagged.

The Phosgene Kid said...

Family and country - all worth fighting for, no??

Mayden' s Voyage said...

My dear friend X~
I've read it many times- always trying to "hear" the tone of voice of the writer...Thomas Jefferson-
The event took on a deeper meaning to me when I went to Pa. a few years ago- saw the Liberty bell- sat in Independence Hall...it was quite a moving experience for me.
Many of our founding fathers were deeply opposed to confronting and opposing the King- many were friends with him- but there came a time and point where the US could not tollerate Englands treatment.
You are one of the most intelligent people I know...glad to call you "friend" in this amazing country we live in-
I really am~

She-
Oh...you are so right! And yes- blessed be the Marine, and Sean...and all the men who do- and HAVE (including your father and mine) put themselves in harms way-
Hugs friend :)

Crash-
It's so easy to please you! I should make a whole blog dedicated to you and your love of high heels!
:)

Scary-
It was definitely a justification for their actions. Glad to remind you of the treasures of home...
thanks for your response here- and yes...I agree with you- X.Dell is one of the most intelligent bloggers you or I will ever encounter in our life times- he is a brilliant man- and I have had the great pleasure of meeting him-

Skindiver- Thank you...and I ALWAYS learn something from you- I appreciate you being here. I have done a few takes of the video :) I just need the time to finish it up :)

Boneman-
Ahhh- the 2nd half...
Me and "She" are in the same boat. I'm struggling here- and I'm not sure things will be straightened out until 2012- at which time we'll be past the novelity of our 1st woman president- who will be an ABJECT FAILURE- and we will, as a country, be ready to deal with the issues at hand. Too high taxes, immigration, and islamofacists...
Until then- we might be better off in the Caribbean...
call me if you think you want to hide out with me :)

Leelee- I hope so too...as a country, we need our men home- even though I understand and appreciate all that they are fighting for. I do think this is a war like we have never seen- just read CAIR's home page. This is a scary time for Americans- and if we don't have the fortitude of our forefathers...
we will not survive.

Little Lamb-
My dad was in the Navy-
Both Uncle's in the Army during Vietnam-
My grandfather in WWII-
Yes...it runs deep in my family- to say the least.
Perhaps one day I'll be a teacher
of English in parts unknown...as my civic duty to eradicate socialisim- sigh...we'll see-

Phos-
Family and country-
DEFINIELY worth fighting for!
Thanks for being here Phos- hugs for you and all the sand that surrounds you. Stay cool...
I'm in NC if you decide to move! :)
No sand here at all- just trees, and rivers, and tad poles in buckets if you leave them alone long enough!
:)




ly

Bone said...

Wonderful thoughts, as usual, Mayden. May they all get to come home soon.

Hope you had a good 4th.

*hugs*

Helene said...

Ok I didnt really read the DofI here... Had to do it in school and that was enough (until that time when I am forced or need to again! =])

Great pics and post about the military guy at the beach. It made it very personal! ty

Valerie - Still Riding Forward said...

Thanks, I needed that.

Remembering that men who saw the need didn't shirk and wait for "someone else" to do what was needed.

They acted.

Aunty Belle said...

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