The 4th of July. The day we celebrate our announcement to King George of England that we are, and ought to be, free and independent states. The Declaration of Independence is so revered by U.S. citizens that it is under incredible security, although it's probably not the original. We don't care. The document itself isn't as important as the statement -- a statement that people are, by nature, free and have the right to be free from "usurpations" by a government; that government can only exist by the consent of the governed; and that if a government is not treating its citizens properly, the citizens have a duty to "throw it off."
 
Re-read it. It's time to declare our independence once again. The current King George has violated just about all of the same human rights violated by the 1776 King George. (The Los Angeles Times has the text of the Declaration with links to current problems that fit into the original grievances.)
 
The list of "grievances" are interesteing in and of themselves. The first 3 have to do with the king's not passing laws, or not allowing governors to pass laws, that are "wholesome and necessary for the public good." Bush has repeatedly interfered with states' attempts to strengthen air pollution regulation in their states. He even interfered with the free market by not allowing a private company that wanted to provide extra protection to its customers by inspecting all of its cows for mad cow disease, at its own expense. Bush said, "No." Only he has the right to do these things. And he won't do them.
 
And, of course, there are these: "For depriving us in many cases of the benefit of trial by jury" and "For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offences." As we all know, Bush, along with complicit members of Congress, removed our right of habeas corpus, only recently restored by the Supreme Court. The issue of "extraordinary rendition" continues, with human rights being violated for those at Guantanamo Bay detention center who will undergo a "trial," known as a military commission, many for "pretended offences."
 
There are multiple "grievances" which refer to our rights, and the right not to be spied on is paramount.
 
Thomas Jefferson and his buddies must have been prescient when they wrote: "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 of the Head of a civilized nation." How could they have known about Blackwater, CACI, and Abu Ghraib? How could they know about "enhanced interrogation?" How can we know about these things and not rise up as our forefathers did?
 
The signers of the Declaration were well aware of the risks they were taking: "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." If you're a history buff, spend some time looking up what happened to the signers of this document. Many lost all their property in the Revolution. Some lost family members, including their children. And they knew what they were doing. They believed it was THAT important.
 
And where do we stand now? Too many allege that all of these "usurpations" are necessary to fight the so-called "war on terrorism." Oh, please. Terrorism isn't something you can wage a war against. It's a strategy; and it's being used against us by our enemies -- "foreign and domestic." These same scaredy-cats claim that these violations of our rights are necessary since, for the first time, we were attacked on our own soil. I guess they've forgotten that in the War of 1812, when the British army marched across the country right into Washington, D.C. and burned down the White House, Madison didn't see fit to suspend habeas corpus. And when, during the Civil War, Lincoln did suspend habeas corpus, the Supreme Court stepped in and said, "No." The current "usurpations" should be seen for just what they are -- a power-hungry group of would-be "kings" taking, not given, their "divine rights" at our expense.
 
So, on this 4th of July, take the time to re-read the Declaration of Independence. If you have children, take the time to read it to them and discuss what it means. Talk to them about what these people went through to declare and earn our independence. Impress on them that our hard-earned freedom takes constant vigilance in order to sustain it. Make today about more than hamburgers and fireworks. Make it about what it is meant to be -- the celebration of a free people determined to stay free.