Brazil - Rio de Janeiro State Legalizes Gay Marriage

Despite the violence of the Christofascists in France - which is fueled by hate groups like the National Organization for Marriage and its likely financier, the Catholic Church - gay marriage advances continue around the world, particularly in South America.   Last week Uruguay approved full gay marriage and in Columbia, if the legislature fails to act by June 20, 2013, the Supreme Court will usher in gay marriage.  Now, Rio de Janeiro state in Brazil became the 11th state in that nation to grant full gay marriage.  And, unlike in the USA thanks to the bigotry enshrined in DOMA, in Brazil gay marriages performed in any state that allows them are recognized nationwide.  Gay Star News looks at this development.  Here are highlights:

The General Magistrate of Justice of Rio de Janeiro state, Judge Valmir de Oliveira Silva, published a legal ruling authorizing gay marriage in the state

Rio de Janeiro has become today (April 19) the 11th state of Brazil to institute marriage equality.  The other states being: São Paulo, Paraná, Mato Grosso do Sul, Espírito Santo, Bahia, Alagoas, Sergipe, Piauí, Ceará and the Federal District of Brazilia.

The ruling, published in the state’s official notification a few hours ago today, stated that it found the existing legal provisions [i.e. no marriage equality] unconstitutional and in breach of the Federal Supreme Court’s previous ruling on gay marriage.

The ruling recognizes ‘the stable union between persons the same sex as a family unit, assigning to homosexual cohabitants the same rights and duties arising … as … heterosexual, with immediate … [and] binding effect’.

Will the U. S. Supreme Court have the courage and honesty to rule that bans on gay marriage are unconstitutional or will America lag further and further behind in terms of nations that recognize and support equality and liberty.

New Zealand Lawmakers Approve Gay Marriage Bill

In follow up to a prior post, the New Zealand Legislature has approved gay marriage making that nation the 13th nation to afford gays and lesbians full equality under the civil laws.  Here in the falsely claimed "land of liberty" most of us continue to wait not only for marriage rights but even for basic employment non-discrimination protections.  The image that the USA likes to project of itself is sadly largely a farce and a lie.  The New York Times looks at events in New Zealand.  Here are excerpts:

Hundreds of jubilant gay-rights advocates celebrated at New Zealand's Parliament Wednesday night as the country become the 13th in the world and the first in the Asia-Pacific region to legalize same-sex marriage. 

Lawmakers voted 77 to 44 in favor of the gay-marriage bill on its third and final reading.

People watching from the public gallery and some lawmakers immediately broke into song after the result was announced, singing the New Zealand love song "Pokarekare Ana" in the indigenous Maori language. 

"For us, we can now feel equal to everyone else," said Tania Penafiel Bermudez, a bank teller who said she already considers herself married to partner Sonja Fry but now can get a certificate to prove it. "This means we can feel safe and fair and right in calling each other wife and wife." 

In one of several speeches that ended in a standing ovation, bill sponsor Louisa Wall told lawmakers the change was "our road toward healing." 

"In our society, the meaning of marriage is universal — it's a declaration of love and commitment to a special person," she said. She added that "nothing could make me more proud to be a New Zealander than passing this bill." 

The new law will allow gay couples to jointly adopt children for the first time and will also allow their marriages to be recognized in other countries. The law will take effect in late August. 

"This is really, really huge," said Jills Angus Burney, a lawyer who drove about 90 minutes to Parliament to watch the vote with her partner, Deborah Hambly, who had flown in from farther afield. "It's really important to me. It's just unbelievable."

The change in New Zealand could put pressure on some of its neighbors to consider changing their laws. In Australia, there has been little political momentum for a change at a federal level and Prime Minister Julia Gillard has expressed her opposition to same-sex marriage. Some Australian states, however, are considering gay-marriage legislation. 

As is always the case, opposition to marriage equality came from the Christofascists who are increasingly incensed that their right to impose their hate and fear based religious beliefs are being eroded - as they should be - and could well be on the road to the trash heap of history.

Uruguay Lower House and French Senate Vote for Gay Marriage

Now both legislative houses of Uruguay and France have voted to approve gay marriages in their respective countries.  Meanwhile, America waits for a U. S. Supreme Court ruling that may totally dodge the issue, leaving America falling further behind modern, advanced nations.   And underscoring the lie of America's claim to being the "land of liberty" and a land of "religious freedom."  Currently, only Christofascists have full religious freedom.  Moreover, they daily trample on the religious freedom of others.  Here are highlights from Gay Star News on the vote in Uruguay:

Uruguay’s lower house, the Chamber of Deputies, has made history today (10 April) when it voted to legalize gay marriage.  An overwhelming majority (71) voted for gay marriage out of the total 92 deputies in the lower house.  This means that Uruguay has effectively legalized marriage equality, as both chambers of the General Assembly, the upper house (Senate) and lower house have now voted for the bill by an overwhelming majority.

Uruguay’s government will implement the law in no more than 90 days, during which, according to deputy Jose Bayardi, some 'drafting errors' that occurred in the Senate will be corrected.

This will be followed by Uruguay’s president, Jose Mujica, signing it officially into law, which he already stated he would.

Uruguay’s approved bill states that ‘marriage is the permanent union between two persons of the same or opposite sex’.

The bill modified some 20 articles of the country’s civil code, including allowing parents - gay or straight - to decide whose surname comes first when naming their children.

The bill also did away with the words 'marido y mujer' (husband and woman) in marriage contracts, referring instead to the gender-neutral term 'contrayentes' (contracting parties).  The gay marriage bill likewise includes amendments on laws regarding in-vitro fertilization and adoption.

Meanwhile, in France, similar equality under the law advanced as well, bringing the number of nations with full gay marriage to on the verge of 13.  Here are details from Gay Star News on this story:

The French Senate has approved adoption for same-sex couples.  On the evening of 10 April, the second article of the ‘Marriage for All’ bill was adopted by the upper level of French parliament.

The vote came just one day after the Senate approved Article 1, the provision allowing gay couples to marry.

The Senate must now complete a review of the legislation in its entirety, although passage of both articles almost guarantees gay couples will soon be able to marry and adopt in France.

Once approved, the bill will go back to the National Assembly in late May for final approval. It will then go to the French President François Hollande to sign into law.

America's fraudulent claims about equality under the law and religious freedom for all citizens are becoming increasingly obvious.   Will the Supreme Court correct this situation or will Christofascists and their hate and fear based religious beliefs continue to trump the rights of others.  Only time will tell. 

Marriage Equality Map a Week Before DOMA and Prop 8 Oral Argument

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A week from today, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in United States v. Windsor  (Docket 12-307), which challenges the constitutionality of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (“DOMA”), and Hollingsworth v. Perry (Docket 12-144), which challenges the constitutionality of California’s Proposition 8.  As the map above indicates, the United States is lagging behind  in the recognition of same sex marriage in the Western hemisphere.  Likewise, Europe is far, far ahead of America, the supposed land of liberty and religious freedom.

The Best and Worse Places in the World to be Gay

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Each year Spartacus International Gay Travel rates all of the Spartacus destinations listed in the Spartacus International Gay Guide based on 14 categories, including the laws and local customs of each country. The categories range from gay-marriage to death penalty for homosexuals.  The top rated countries are shown above, while the most anti-gay nations are shown at the end off this post. 

So where does the United States rank?  Sadly, the USA comes in 38th in the rankings, far behind most of Europe, Canada and these other western hemisphere nations: Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, St. Maarten, Guadeloupe, and Martinique.  South Africa likewise comes in well ahead of the USA.  For a nation whose founding documents declared that all men are entitled to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and equality under the law, ranking 38th is beyond pathetic.  It shows the lie promoted by hubris filled Americans who proclaim that this is the land of liberty and religious freedom when, in fact, it is not.

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Obama’s Second Inaugural Speech: A Call to Equality, Unity and Compassion

Set out below is the full text of Barack Obama's Inaugural Address that was delivered today.  The speech is in some ways an idealistic reminder of the founding principles of America: 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.   In addition, it is a call for all Americans to, among other things (i) recognize the founding principles of this nation and corollary need to continue the work to deliver full equality to all Americans, (ii) come together and work as a unified nation to move the nation forward in the face of changing circumstances and an increasingly competitive  global economy, and (iii) exhibit compassion and support to the poor, the sick and needy and the elderly.  One might even say that, without so stating, Obama in some ways called on Americans to make good on the Gospel message as well as the promises of the United States Constitution.  The speech also contains a challenge of sotrs to the Republican Party: put the interests of the nation ahead of partisanship.

From an LGBT perspective, the speech was ground breaking because for the first time in America's history providing full legal equality to LGBT Americans was named as a critical goal and a part of delivering the promise of equality to Americans.  Save and except for perhaps the call for LGBT equality, most of Obama's call should be acceptable to every American who purports to be a believing Christian.  Thus, the irony as we move into the next four years of Obama's second term will be that it will be the political party of those who most loudly proclaim themselves as "godly Christians" that will do all in its power to thwart the goals enunciated in Obama's speech today.  Here is the Inaugural speech in its entirety via the New York Times (emphasis mine):

MR. OBAMA: Vice President Biden, Mr. Chief Justice, Members of the United States Congress, distinguished guests, and fellow citizens:

Each time we gather to inaugurate a president, we bear witness to the enduring strength of our Constitution. We affirm the promise of our democracy. We recall that what binds this nation together is not the colors of our skin or the tenets of our faith or the origins of our names. What makes us exceptional – what makes us American – is our allegiance to an idea, articulated in a declaration made more than two centuries ago:

“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.”

Today we continue a never-ending journey, to bridge the meaning of those words with the realities of our time. For history tells us that while these truths may be self-evident, they have never been self-executing; that while freedom is a gift from God, it must be secured by His people here on Earth. The patriots of 1776 did not fight to replace the tyranny of a king with the privileges of a few or the rule of a mob. They gave to us a Republic, a government of, and by, and for the people, entrusting each generation to keep safe our founding creed.

For more than two hundred years, we have.

Through blood drawn by lash and blood drawn by sword, we learned that no union founded on the principles of liberty and equality could survive half-slave and half-free. We made ourselves anew, and vowed to move forward together.

Together, we determined that a modern economy requires railroads and highways to speed travel and commerce; schools and colleges to train our workers.

Together, we discovered that a free market only thrives when there are rules to ensure competition and fair play.

Together, we resolved that a great nation must care for the vulnerable, and protect its people from life’s worst hazards and misfortune.

Through it all, we have never relinquished our skepticism of central authority, nor have we succumbed to the fiction that all society’s ills can be cured through government alone. Our celebration of initiative and enterprise; our insistence on hard work and personal responsibility, these are constants in our character.

But we have always understood that when times change, so must we; that fidelity to our founding principles requires new responses to new challenges; that preserving our individual freedoms ultimately requires collective action. For the American people can no more meet the demands of today’s world by acting alone than American soldiers could have met the forces of fascism or communism with muskets and militias. No single person can train all the math and science teachers we’ll need to equip our children for the future, or build the roads and networks and research labs that will bring new jobs and businesses to our shores. Now, more than ever, we must do these things together, as one nation, and one people.

This generation of Americans has been tested by crises that steeled our resolve and proved our resilience. A decade of war is now ending. An economic recovery has begun. America’s possibilities are limitless, for we possess all the qualities that this world without boundaries demands: youth and drive; diversity and openness; an endless capacity for risk and a gift for reinvention. My fellow Americans, we are made for this moment, and we will seize it – so long as we seize it together.

For we, the people, understand that our country cannot succeed when a shrinking few do very well and a growing many barely make it. We believe that America’s prosperity must rest upon the broad shoulders of a rising middle class. We know that America thrives when every person can find independence and pride in their work; when the wages of honest labor liberate families from the brink of hardship. We are true to our creed when a little girl born into the bleakest poverty knows that she has the same chance to succeed as anybody else, because she is an American, she is free, and she is equal, not just in the eyes of God but also in our own.

We understand that outworn programs are inadequate to the needs of our time. We must harness new ideas and technology to remake our government, revamp our tax code, reform our schools, and empower our citizens with the skills they need to work harder, learn more, reach higher. But while the means will change, our purpose endures: a nation that rewards the effort and determination of every single American. That is what this moment requires. That is what will give real meaning to our creed.

We, the people, still believe that every citizen deserves a basic measure of security and dignity. We must make the hard choices to reduce the cost of health care and the size of our deficit. But we reject the belief that America must choose between caring for the generation that built this country and investing in the generation that will build its future. For we remember the lessons of our past, when twilight years were spent in poverty, and parents of a child with a disability had nowhere to turn. We do not believe that in this country, freedom is reserved for the lucky, or happiness for the few. We recognize that no matter how responsibly we live our lives, any one of us, at any time, may face a job loss, or a sudden illness, or a home swept away in a terrible storm. The commitments we make to each other – through Medicare, and Medicaid, and Social Security – these things do not sap our initiative; they strengthen us. They do not make us a nation of takers; they free us to take the risks that make this country great.

We, the people, still believe that our obligations as Americans are not just to ourselves, but to all posterity. We will respond to the threat of climate change, knowing that the failure to do so would betray our children and future generations. Some may still deny the overwhelming judgment of science, but none can avoid the devastating impact of raging fires, and crippling drought, and more powerful storms. The path towards sustainable energy sources will be long and sometimes difficult. But Americacannot resist this transition; we must lead it. We cannot cede to other nations the technology that will power new jobs and new industries – we must claim its promise. That’s how we will maintain our economic vitality and our national treasure – our forests and waterways; our croplands and snowcapped peaks. That is how we will preserve our planet, commanded to our care by God. That’s what will lend meaning to the creed our fathers once declared.

We, the people, still believe that enduring security and lasting peace do not require perpetual war. Our brave men and women in uniform, tempered by the flames of battle, are unmatched in skill and courage. Our citizens, seared by the memory of those we have lost, know too well the price that is paid for liberty. The knowledge of their sacrifice will keep us forever vigilant against those who would do us harm. But we are also heirs to those who won the peace and not just the war, who turned sworn enemies into the surest of friends, and we must carry those lessons into this time as well.

We will defend our people and uphold our values through strength of arms and rule of law. We will show the courage to try and resolve our differences with other nations peacefully – not because we are naïve about the dangers we face, but because engagement can more durably lift suspicion and fear. America will remain the anchor of strong alliances in every corner of the globe; and we will renew those institutions that extend our capacity to manage crisis abroad, for no one has a greater stake in a peaceful world than its most powerful nation. We will support democracy from Asia to Africa; from the Americasto the Middle East, because our interests and our conscience compel us to act on behalf of those who long for freedom. And we must be a source of hope to the poor, the sick, the marginalized, the victims of prejudice – not out of mere charity, but because peace in our time requires the constant advance of those principles that our common creed describes: tolerance and opportunity; human dignity and justice.

We, the people, declare today that the most evident of truths – that all of us are created equal– is the star that guides us still; just as it guided our forebears through Seneca Falls, and Selma, and Stonewall; just as it guided all those men and women, sung and unsung, who left footprints along this great Mall, to hear a preacher say that we cannot walk alone; to hear a King proclaim that our individual freedom is inextricably bound to the freedom of every soul on Earth.

It is now our generation’s task to carry on what those pioneers began. For our journey is not complete until our wives, our mothers, and daughters can earn a living equal to their efforts. Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law – for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well. Our journey is not complete until no citizen is forced to wait for hours to exercise the right to vote. Our journey is not complete until we find a better way to welcome the striving, hopeful immigrants who still see America as a land of opportunity; until bright young students and engineers are enlisted in our workforce rather than expelled from our country. Our journey is not complete until all our children, from the streets of Detroitto the hills of Appalachia to the quiet lanes of Newtown, know that they are cared for, and cherished, and always safe from harm.

That is our generation’s task – to make these words, these rights, these values– of Life, and Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness – real for every American. Being true to our founding documents does not require us to agree on every contour of life; it does not mean we all define liberty in exactly the same way, or follow the same precise path to happiness. Progress does not compel us to settle centuries-long debates about the role of government for all time – but it does require us to act in our time.

For now decisions are upon us, and we cannot afford delay. We cannot mistake absolutism for principle, or substitute spectacle for politics, or treat name-calling as reasoned debate. We must act, we must act knowing that our work will be imperfect. We must act, knowing that today’s victories will be only partial, and that it will be up to those who stand here in four years, and forty years, and four hundred years hence to advance the timeless spirit once conferred to us in a spare Philadelphia hall.

My fellow Americans, the oath I have sworn before you today, like the one recited by others who serve in this Capitol, was an oath to God and country, not party or faction– and we must faithfully execute that pledge during the duration of our service. But the words I spoke today are not so different from the oath that is taken each time a soldier signs up for duty, or an immigrant realizes her dream. My oath is not so different from the pledge we all make to the flag that waves above and that fills our hearts with pride.

They are the words of citizens, and they represent our greatest hope.

You and I, as citizens, have the power to set this country’s course.

You and I, as citizens, have the obligation to shape the debates of our time – not only with the votes we cast, but with the voices we lift in defense of our most ancient values and enduring ideals.

Let each of us now embrace, with solemn duty and awesome joy, what is our lasting birthright. With common effort and common purpose, with passion and dedication, let us answer the call of history, and carry into an uncertain future that precious light of freedom.

Thank you, God Bless you, and may He forever bless these United States of America.

What Today is Realy All About - The Declaration of Independence

With barbecues and other social events, it's easy to forget the meaning behind today's 4th of July holiday.  I have highlighted the portion of the Declaration of Independence (set out in full below) that still needs work to live up to the document's bold language about equality.  I believe that if he were alive today,the document's author, Thomas Jefferson, would be an advocate for full equality for all Americans.

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.

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 harass 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 benefit 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 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

4th of July - Let Us Regain Liberty

The regime of the Chimperator and the Christianist dominated Republican Party have done much over the last eight years to subvert the principals enunciated in the Declaration of Independence, a portion of which is quoted below, followed by an image of the original document. As Americans spend this holiday weekend at the beach, in the mountains, or in their back yards, I hope that some passing thoughts will be given to these principals and that maybe, just maybe, the citizens of the nation will realize that much must be done to turn back the erosion of liberties that have transpired, often as a result of fear mongering or efforts to pit one group of citizens against another by exploiting their differences instead of our commonality. I truly hope that November 2008 will see the stage set for a return to beliefs and values set forth in this document. Here are some of the powerful words written at a time when Virginia was a beacon of progressive thinking:

*

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.