Happy Independence Day! Wishing everyone a safe and happy Fourth of July.

I'm a sentimental old fool for the idea of the country begun by the Founding Fathers. They worked their butts off, while risking their lives to create a united nation. And they did it by traveling by horse or bumpy coach to a very hot city in JULY, while wearing layers of clothes. You go to Philly and try getting work done in the Summer, while wearing multiple clothing layers, without air conditioning. And create something that lasts quite well for over 200 years. With a quill pen… and no copier… and no bottles of ice water…

Yeah, and by the way, sign your name for the loss of everything you own, and your death warrant, in case your ill-trained, underfunded, divided, quarreling, ragtag, volunteer army loses, which looked like the probable course. Put your whole families' life on the line for a fools' dream, a combined nation that defies the King and Country of the greatest army and navy in the world. In a region where one third of the populace like what you're doing, one third are violently opposed, and one third just want to survive without taking sides.

Can you imagine? The Founding Fathers had everything in the world to lose, and they chose to stake it all on a concept of Freedom (mostly for landed Caucasian males, but still, a good start…).
They had a dream where a government could not grab a person and torture them in a dungeon with no cause. Remember that, remember Human Rights? It's still the Law, by the way, and anyone who violates it must be held accountable as a criminal. No matter what office they held or currently hold.

The Founding Fathers established a principal of Rule of Law that mattered, based on the Magna Carta and the writings of John Locke and Thomas Paine. Because back then it mattered, that the individual rights of a human being had priority over the desires of the State for control.

Read carefully the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. Study how it grants a person the privilege of living like a human being, with protections that cannot be arbitrarily taken away by a dictator. And then look at our past and current government and the current media, who cannot even bear to say or print the words "torture" and "murder." Which has now become the de facto government policy, even though they are too cowardly to admit it. Our elected government now accepts kidnapping and torture as a public policy. This should outrage every true American. We cannot, we must not allow this to go further. What we allow to be done to others, we grant permission to be done to us. Many persons, so-called religious or otherwise, conveniently forget this primary rule.

"No good can come from anything done in secret." So very true. If those in power have to hide a thing, it cannot be good. Demand that every act, every deed, become available for public scrutiny and review, and possible prosecution, if so warranted. Do not give away your rights as a person, or as a voice on government.

By doing nothing, we will lose everything. Make a difference, stand up for your rights, and let those in charge know you demand they act according to the Law. Without Law, those in power can do anything. If you do not speak up when they oppress others, who will speak up when they oppress you?