It's very ironic that the United States declared its independence from King George III over 200 years ago and made a list of his abuses of office in the Declaration of Independence. Now, we find ourselves at the mercy of another (King) George, and his list of abuses actually don't fall too far from King George III's. Actually, each one of reasons below can fit our George as well as theirs! Is anyone paying attention? I'm not the first one to notice this.
First of all, here's the complete Declaration of Independence. You know, I don't think I've ever read the whole thing before. At least not in the historical context of George W. Bush. I have highlighted in red the passages that seem to particularly apply to today's administration:
IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776
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. (although Bush actually only vetoed one law, but one that had the potential to benefit all of mankind--stem cell research.)
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. (Does appointing John Bolton to the U.N. while Congress was in recess count?)
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. (Does helping to introduce laws to benefit the wealthy and the oil industry rather than laws to help most of the regular people in the country fit?)
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. (GW would if he could, especially if the Democrats win back both houses of Congress in November. "Reserving the right" to ignore Congress whenever he wishes amounts to nearly the same thing. )
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. (How about just appointing incompetent people to important positions ["Heckuva job, Brownie"])
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. (Immigration "reform")
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers. (Does holding out for extremely conservative judges on the Supreme Court count? Eh, close enough.)
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries. (How many Supreme Court Justices and federal justices did he appoint?)
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance. (The Department of Homeland Security. 'Nuff said.)
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures. (This is a stretch, but I don't believe Congress ever declared war on Iraq, and most of our Army Reserve and National Guard units have been activated to go over there, technicallylly the US is at "peace.")
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power. (His effort to have "military tribunals" to judge the detainees at Guantanamo.)
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: (He has said on numerous occasions that the office of the President can override laws. His "signing statements" and illegal/unconstitutional wiretapping are examples of this.)
For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us: (This is certainly true in Iraq, where we have thousands of troops. And, here in the US, weren't we encouraged to rat on our friends and neighbors of they did anything suspicious?)
For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States: (Abu Ghraib, any one?)
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world: (Sanctions against Cuba, Iran, decreased trading with "leftist" leaning governments in South America, nameVenezuelaela.)
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent: (When does anyone really consent to more taxes? But how else is he gonna pay for his little wars?)
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury: ("Detainees" in Guantanamo, secret CIA prisons)
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences: (The CIA's rendition program. Several recent victims of rendition have come out to tell their stories and prove their innocence.)
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 (This is close enough to "invading a sovereign nation" and replacing its government with your own.)
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments: (Chipping away at the Bill of Rights. Saying that National Security override civil liberties. Saying it is the right and duty of the government to spy on its citizens.)
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever. (This is close enough to his "signing statements" where Bush has basically said he can contradict or override whatever law he is signing just because he is the president.)
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us. (Don't think the "War on Terror" stops at the US border. It extends right into your newspaper, your living room, and your telephone, even declaring U.S. citizens "enemy combatants".)
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people. (Of you think of "our" in global terms. This is especially true of Iraq, and, for now, Iraq is "ours".)
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries completeeat 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. (This speaks for itself and needs no tweaking to completely apply to GW.)
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. (Basically, forcing Iraqis to attack Iraqis, whether they want to or not.)
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. (This is a little politically incorrect ["merciless Indian Savages"?], but basically he has agents among us in the form of the Department of Homeland Security that has "excited domestic insurrections amongst us".)
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. (Amen, brother! By the way, a tyrant in ancient Rome simply meant that he came to power by illegal means, not necessarily that he was a bad or mean ruler. GW certainly qualifies as a "tyrant" using that definition.)
Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British 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.
- John Hancock
New Hampshire:Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton
Massachusetts:John Hancock, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry
Rhode Island:Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery
Connecticut:Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott
New York:William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris
New Jersey:Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark
Pennsylvania:Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross
Delaware:Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean
Maryland:Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton
Virginia:George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton
North Carolina:William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn
South Carolina:Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton
Georgia:Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton
Here is a little more current and detailed list of George Bush's transgressions against the American people.
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