Please join Dr. Charles Stanley, and fellow Americans, in 140 days of prayer for our great country:

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Below is a table, linking to each verse, for all 20 weeks:

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The history of the United States is mired with many tragic events, wars, popular and unpopular political leaders and outspoken critics of government. Certainly there is no shortage of those types of folks today, however there is a key difference between the political leaders of history and those of today. The missing ingredient – in this writers eyes – is honor. Many, and dare I say most, of our political leaders lack honor. Not ’honor’ in the classical sense, but rather an honor that is so deep that it is espoused as a permanent and integral part of their essence. This honor is of the highest magnitude, it surpasses doing what is right simply because it is right and it holds a stronger bond than any familial blood line; no, this honor is about doing what is right because not doing it would grate infinitely harsh against the inner core of your being, such that you would rather suffer immeasurable and irreparable harm than fail at preserving it.

Too often our political leaders view holding office as a power grab, despite their assertion otherwise. It ends up being their golden parachute or fulfilling an internal desire to be famous. Whatever the reasons may be, it is seldom that we find true statesmen. Who do we have, or have we had in our midst in the last 20 years that would begin to measure up against the bar set so high by those such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Samuel Adams. Certainly they exist, but unfortunately they are very rare. The political climate of today instead reflects the poor quality of self-deserving politicos who would rather do what is expedient for the purposes at hand and forgo doing that which is honorable.

The interesting thing here is that it stems not from politicians, but rather the citizens of this once great country who vote them into office because their personal needs would be better served by a political type buying votes as opposed to one doing what is right and just – honorable. Of course we must not forget those who do not vote, as an abstained vote is tantamount to condoning the status quo or roughly the same as a vote against the trailing candidate. But then this isn’t a lesson on why one should vote, but rather why it is important that we maintain the utmost respect for an institution that transcends individual desires.

On Christmas Night, 1776, George Washington and the Continental Army mounted a surprise attack against the British by crossing the Delaware River and marching to Trenton, New Jersey. Washington Crossing Park marks the site where Washington’s troops were encamped, as well as the location where they launched the boats across the Delaware River that ensured their victory. This successfully saved Washington’s army, and help lead the Continental Army to final victory. This action by George Washington was one of the most important events in U.S. history.

The Friends of Washington Crossing Park (FWCP) are working tirelessly to open Washington Crossing Historic Park for tours and educational programming. FWCP understands the importance of the park as a historical treasure and cultural gem. In light of recent budget cuts, we believe strongly that now is the time to move forward, take action on this long-standing Bucks County Park, and re-open the doors.

A nonprofit group, FWCP has been formed to pursue and create fundraising, membership and volunteer opportunities. Your donations and assistance will help support our efforts.

When financial budgets cuts by the state of Pennsylvania threatened to cancel the 2009 Christmas Crossing event, FWCP formed as an ad hoc group. We successfully mobilized time and financial resources to see that this significant event succeeded.

While establishing a board of directors, by-laws and nonprofit status, FWCP has continued to host events traditional to the park. FWCP will partner with The Pennsbury Society and will open Bowman’s Tower this May. Very soon, in partnership with the Pennsylvania Historical Museum Commission (PHMC), we will open the doors to the historic homes at the park and give guided interpretive tours to visitors. 

How can you help our efforts?

Volunteer: There are dozens of volunteer opportunities at Washington Crossing Historic Park from manning the visitor center gift shop to caring for sheep. We need help for special events and on a regular basis. It’s a great way to make friends and connect with the community. No experience is necessary but if you have a special interest or talent, we will find a volunteer opportunity that suits you!

Become a Member: We have several different membership levels. Members are invited to all FWCP events and receive an e-newsletter. Levels are: Patriot ($25 or 20 hours volunteer service), Infantry ($50), Oarsman ($100), Lord Stirling ($250) and General Washington ($500+). Membership dues are used to fund programming and events. Join today by using the Donate link on top right.

Donate: FWCP has ambitious plans to open and improve the park.
http://www.friendsofwashingtoncrossingpark.com

Your donation will help us fulfill our goals.

After watching it, you will hopefully better understand and appreciate the great system our founders put in place for our young nation; as well as seeing the  potential peril we can be faced with, if we do not guard our freedom and Republic with great vigilance. Even if this is not new information to you, I see it as a great tool to share with others who are not as well-informed on our system of government.

“A Republic … if you can keep it.” Those words, attributed to Benjamin Franklin during the evening hours of September 17, 1787, spoke into being a rich history of our nation, its founding and the establishment of our Constitution as the rule of law. The Constitution was written, debated, edited and debated further until a consensus of the Constitutional Convention was reached. In his closing speech, Benjamin Franklin acknowledged, “I doubt too whether any other Convention we can obtain may be able to make a better Constitution.” This republic afforded the people of the various sovereign states representation on an equal basis based on the population, these are our representatives in Congress. The states were given an equal say in states matters in the Senate. Together the Representatives and Senators would comprise the legislative branch of our government that would direct the laws and policy of these United States.

Order Out of Chaos

Much confusion abounded during the time of the convention, bickering among the participants was considerable. However, one item echoed throughout the process that today most folks would deride as folly. During the final debates, Mr. Elbridge Gerry expressed the concern that the Constitution as it was written would lead to a civil war because it didn’t adequately protect republicanism. It was argued that in his home state of Massachusetts, there were two political parties, one devoted to Democracy, “the worst thought of all political evils” and the extreme opposite. Without a guarantee that the Constitution would protect the nation against such extremes, he refused to sign and subsequently argued against ratification because of the lack of a bill of rights that limited the power of the government.

The republic that was formed allowed each state to have 2 senators that were selected by the various states to ensure the government would never impinge upon the sovereignty of the individual states. This bi-level system assured that the states acting in concert could not impose legislation on the country as a whole without the consent that comes from the people through their representatives. The representatives and senators thus each are required to produce legislation and have it approved through both houses assuring the needs of the people are met and the sovereignty of the states is ensured.

States’ Rights Dealt Death Blow

The 17th Amendment, if doing nothing else, brought about the demise of states rights and effectively neutered the republic. When the Senate passed the amendment on June 12, 1911, they were voting for themselves the ability to be elected by popular vote and whether knowingly or not, they changed the face of the country. A senator elected by the people, will ultimately do the will of the people, or at very least the will of the people who ensure their continued re-election. This holds true for appointed senators as well. Those appointed senators would be loyal to the state legislature. The move from the states’ legislature selecting senators to the people removed the loyalty to the state and put it squarely in the lap of the people. The republic that Ben Franklin announced that historic day in 1787 had been lobotomized.

The Arguments

There are several arguments for the repeal of the 17th Amendment:

• It removed states’ representation from the federal government and essentially abolished state sovereignty and the states no longer have a representative voice in the legislature.
• It removed the balance from the legislative branch of government. A congress made up of elected officials from the enumerated people, plus two from each state essentially gives the people additional representation greater than the enumerated representation allowed by the constitution.
• Power has become centralized in Washington. A senate without loyalty to the individual states takes away the rights of individual states to pass any meaningful legislation, and causes the legislative power to reside in the federal government.
• It has increased partisanship in government. Political parties exist to give a stronger voice to like-minded individuals. Since individuals belong to political parties, their will is pressed in the senate as well as the house. The states on the other hand, do not belong to political parties and usually consist of a varied mix of several political views.
• The Senate is now directly responsible to the people. This means that if they don’t do the will of the people, they can be replaced. While this sounds good, the senate was never designed to do the will of the people. It was designed to do the will of the states. This effectively removed whatever protections the 10th Amendment provided.

The Repeal

In the political climate today, the likelihood of a repeal of the 17th Amendment is remote. There have been attempts to do so in the past, but they failed due to obvious reasons. As recently as August 2009, there were bipartisan attempts to amend the 17th to prevent the appointment of senators by state governors.

Constitutionally we must live within the law, and when those laws seem unjust or no longer are appropriate, it is the duty of the people to change those laws. The expansion of the federal government has put us on the edge of a crevasse that will soon give way to a calamitous action. We must act with purpose to restore the proper balance to a union of nation/states. Each state being sovereign, each person being secure in their liberty and the strength of the nation improved through a cooperative federal government instead of the bastardized monstrosity we are currently relegated to deal with.

“When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.”

Our founders were very wise, and most believed in the de-centralization of power, and often chose to relinquish power; unlike the over-reaching and ever-expanding federal government that we are often seeing today.

When our founders drafted The United States Constitution, the federal government was given explicit (expressed) powers…

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First let’s look at the expressed powers given  to The (Legislative Branch) United States Congress…

• The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defense and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;
• To borrow Money on the credit of the United States;
• To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes;
• To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States;
• To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures;
• To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities and current Coin of the United States;
• To establish Post Offices and post Roads;
• To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries;
• To constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court;
• To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas, and Offences against the Law of Nations;
• To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;
• To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years;
• To provide and maintain a Navy;
• To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces;
• To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions;
• To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;
• To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of particular States, and the Acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States, and to exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards, and other needful Buildings;

• —And To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the “foregoing” Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof.

• The Migration or Importation of such Persons (prev. referred to as slaves) as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the Year one thousand eight hundred and eight (1808), but a Tax or duty may be imposed on such Importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each Person.
• The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.
• No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed.
• No Capitation, or other direct, Tax shall be laid, unless in Proportion to the Census or enumeration herein before directed to be taken.
• No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported from any State.
• No Preference shall be given by any Regulation of Commerce or Revenue to the Ports of one State over those of another; nor shall Vessels bound to, or from, one State, be obliged to enter, clear, or pay Duties in another.
• No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law; and a regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money shall be published from time to time.
• No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.

• “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people”.

Article 2, Section 2…

• The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States; he may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any Subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices, and he shall have Power to Grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.
• He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law: but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments.
• The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session.

Then there are presidential duties…

Article 2, Section 3…

• He shall from time to time give to the Congress Information on the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Disagreement between them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper; he shall receive Ambassadors and other public Ministers; he shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed, and shall Commission all the Officers of the United States.

And lastly, a United States President can be impeached (removed from office) for any of the below reasons…

• The President, Vice President and all Civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.

Article 3, Section 1…

• The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The Judges, both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices during good Behaviour, and shall, at stated Times, receive for their Services, a Compensation, which shall not be diminished during their Continuance in Office.

Article 3, Section 2…

• The judicial Power shall extend to all Cases, in Law and Equity, arising under this Constitution, the Laws of the United States, and Treaties made, or which shall be made, under their Authority;—to all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public ministers and Consuls;—to all Cases of admiralty and maritime Jurisdiction;—to Controversies to which the United States shall be a Party;—to Controversies between two or more States;—between a State and Citizens of another State;—between Citizens of different States;—between Citizens of the same State claiming Lands under Grants of different States, and between a State, or the Citizens thereof, and foreign States, Citizens or Subjects.
• In all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, and those in which a State shall be Party, the supreme Court shall have original Jurisdiction. In all the other Cases before mentioned, the supreme Court shall have appellate Jurisdiction, both as to Law and Fact, with such Exceptions, and under such Regulations as the Congress shall make.
• The Trial of all Crimes, except in Cases of Impeachment, shall be by Jury; and such Trial shall be held in the State where the said Crimes shall have been committed; but when not committed within any State, the Trial shall be at such Place or Places as the Congress may by Law have directed.

Article 3, Section 3…

• Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.
• The Congress shall have Power to declare the Punishment of Treason, but no Attainder of Treason shall work Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person attainted.

“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”…

Therefore, let’s not be confused or misled: here in The United States, we are not living in a true democracy… If anything, we have  a Representative form of Democracy.

In reality, we are a Republic… which is a state or a country that is not led by a monarchy, and which the people (or part of the people) have an impact on it’s government. More broadly, we are a Constitutional Republic, governed by laws, and by which the people are represented by elected officials.

The word Republic is derived from the Latin phrase “res publica,“ which is translated to English as “public thing,” or “public affair.”

Article 4, Section 4, of The United States Constitution:
“The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government,…”

–Rev. Martin Niemoeller, German Lutheran Pastor

It was The attack on Pearl Harbor that ultimately brought The United States into World War 2; however, if The United States did not enter that war, Europe, as we know it, could very well be dramatically different today.

We owe a great amount of  gratitude to those men and women, from all countries, that made these enormous sacrifices in World War 2, to defend the liberties that we still have today.

There is hardly any words that I can write to effectively describe their sacrifices, and the gratitude that I feel to that generation. However, our former President, Ronald Reagan, said it so eloquently, in this 40th anniversary speech to the veteran Rangers at Pointe Du Hoc, Normandy, France, on June 6th, 1984.

Please watch this great and emotional speech…

Mark 
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President Reagan’s Speech:

We’re here to mark that day in history when the Allied armies joined in battle to reclaim this continent to liberty. For four long years, much of Europe had been under a terrible shadow. Free nations had fallen, Jews cried out in the camps, millions cried out for liberation. Europe was enslaved, and the world prayed for its rescue. Here, in Normandy, the rescue began. Here, the Allies stood and fought against tyranny, in a giant undertaking unparalleled in human history.

We stand on a lonely, windswept point on the northern shore of France. The air is soft, but forty years ago at this moment, the air was dense with smoke and the cries of men, and the air was filled with the crack of rifle fire and the roar of cannon. At dawn, on the morning of the 6th of June, 1944, 225 Rangers jumped off the British landing craft and ran to the bottom of these cliffs. Their mission was one of the most difficult and daring of the invasion: to climb these sheer and desolate cliffs and take out the enemy guns. The Allies had been told that some of the mightiest of these guns were here, and they would be trained on the beaches to stop the Allied advance.

The Rangers looked up and saw the enemy soldiers at the edge of the cliffs, shooting down at them with machine guns and throwing grenades. And the American Rangers began to climb. They shot rope ladders over the face of these cliffs and began to pull themselves up. When one Ranger fell, another would take his place. When one rope was cut, a Ranger would grab another and begin his climb again. They climbed, shot back, and held their footing. Soon, one by one, the Rangers pulled themselves over the top, and in seizing the firm land at the top of these cliffs, they began to seize back the continent of Europe. Two hundred and twenty-five came here. After two days of fighting, only ninety could still bear arms.

Behind me is a memorial that symbolizes the Ranger daggers that were thrust into the top of these cliffs. And before me are the men who put them here. These are the boys of Pointe du Hoc. These are the men who took the cliffs. These are the champions who helped free a continent. These are the heroes who helped end a war. Gentlemen, I look at you and I think of the words of Stephen Spender’s poem. You are men who in your “lives fought for life and left the vivid air singed with your honor.”

I think I know what you may be thinking right now — thinking “we were just part of a bigger effort; everyone was brave that day.” Well, everyone was. You remember the story of Bill Millin of the 51st Highlanders? Forty years ago today, British troops were pinned down near a bridge, waiting desperately for help. Suddenly, they heard the sound of bagpipes, and some thought they were dreaming. Well, they weren’t. They looked up and saw Bill Millin with his bagpipes, leading the reinforcements and ignoring the smack of bullets into the ground around him.

Lord Lovat was with him — Lord Lovat of Scotland, who calmly announced when he got to the bridge, “Sorry, I’m a few minutes late,” as if he’d been delayed by a traffic jam, when in truth he’d just come form the bloody fighting on Sword Beach, which he and his men had just taken.

There was the impossible valor of the Poles who threw themselves between the enemy and the rest of Europe as the invasion took hold, and the unsurpassed courage of the Canadians who had already seen the horrors of war on this coast. They knew what awaited them there, but they would not be deterred. And once they hit Juno Beach, they never looked back.

All of these men were part of a roll call of honor with names that spoke of a pride as bright as the colors they bore; The Royal Winniped Rifles, Poland’s 24th Lancers, the Royal Scots Fusiliers, the Screaming Eagles, the Yeomen of England’s armored divisions, the forces of Free France, the Coast Guard’s “Matchbox Fleet,” and you, the American Rangers.

Forty summers have passed since the battle that you fought here. You were young the day you took these cliffs; some of you were hardly more than boys, with the deepest joys of life before you. Yet, you risked everything here. Why? Why did you do it? What impelled you to put aside the instinct for self-preservation and risk your lives to take these cliffs? What inspired all the men of the armies that met here? We look at you, and somehow we know the answer. It was faith and belief. It was loyalty and love.

The men of Normandy had faith that what they were doing was right, faith that they fought for all humanity, faith that a just God would grant them mercy on this beachhead, or on the next. It was the deep knowledge — and pray God we have not lost it — that there is a profound moral difference between the use of force for liberation and the use of force for conquest. You were here to liberate, not to conquer, and so you and those others did not doubt your cause. And you were right not to doubt.

You all knew that some things are worth dying for. One’s country is worth dying for, and democracy is worth dying for, because it’s the most deeply honorable form of government ever devised by man. All of you loved liberty. All of you were willing to fight tyranny, and you knew the people of your countries were behind you.

The Americans who fought here that morning knew word of the invasion was spreading through the darkness back home. They fought — or felt in their hearts, though they couldn’t know in fact, that in Georgia they were filling the churches at 4:00 am., in Kansas they were kneeling on their porches and praying, and in Philadelphia they were ringing the Liberty Bell.

Something else helped the men of D-day; their rock-hard belief that Providence would have a great hand in the events that would unfold here; that God was an ally in this great cause. And so, the night before the invasion, when Colonel Wolverton asked his parachute troops to kneel with him in prayer, he told them: Do not bow your heads, but look up so you can see God and ask His blessing in what we’re about to do. Also, that night, General Matthew Ridgway on his cot, listening in the darkness for the promise God made to Joshua: “I will not fail thee nor forsake thee.”

These are the things that impelled them; these are the things that shaped the unity of the Allies.

When the war was over, there were lives to be rebuilt and governments to be returned to the people. There were nations to be reborn. Above all, there was a new peace to be assured. These were huge and daunting tasks. But the Allies summoned strength from the faith, belief, loyalty, and love of those who fell here. They rebuilt a new Europe together. There was first a great reconciliation among those who had been enemies, all of whom had suffered so greatly. The United States did its part, creating the Marshall Plan to help rebuild our allies and our former enemies. The Marshall Plan led to the Atlantic alliance — a great alliance that serves to this day as our shield for freedom, for prosperity, and for peace.

In spite of our great efforts and successes, not all that followed the end of the war was happy or planned. Some liberated countries were lost. The great sadness of this loss echoes down to our own time in the streets of Warsaw, Prague, and East Berlin. Soviet troops that came to the center of this continent did not leave when peace came. They’re still there, uninvited, unwanted, unyielding, almost forty years after the war. Because of this, allied forces still stand on this continent. Today, as forty years ago, our armies are here for only one purpose: to protect and defend democracy. The only territories we hold are memorials like this one and graveyards where our heroes rest.

We in America have learned bitter lessons from two world wars. It is better to be here ready to protect the peace, than to take blind shelter across the sea, rushing to respond only after freedom is lost. We’ve learned that isolationism never was and never will be an acceptable response to tyrannical governments with an expansionist intent. But we try always to be prepared for peace, prepared to deter aggression, prepared to negotiate the reduction of arms, and yes, prepared to reach out again in the spirit of reconciliation. In truth, there is no reconciliation we would welcome more than a reconciliation with the Soviet Union, so, together, we can lessen the risks of war, now and forever.

It’s fitting to remember here the great losses also suffered by the Russian people during World War II: 20 million perished, a terrible price that testifies to all the world the necessity of ending war. I tell you from my heart that we in the United States do not want war. We want to wipe from the face of the earth the terrible weapons that man now has in his hands. And I tell you, we are ready to seize that beachhead. We look for some sign from the Soviet Union that they are willing to move forward, that they share our desire and love for peace, and that they will give up the ways of conquest. There must be a changing there that will allow us to turn our hope into action.

We will pray forever that someday that changing will come. But for now, particularly today, it is good and fitting to renew our commitment to each other, to our freedom, and to the alliance that protects it.

We’re bound today by what bound us 40 years ago, the same loyalties, traditions, and beliefs. We’re bound by reality. The strength of America’s allies is vital to the United States, and the American security guarantee is essential to the continued freedom of Europe’s democracies. We were with you then; we are with you now. Your hopes are our hopes, and your destiny is our destiny.

Here, in this place where the West held together, let us make a vow to our dead. Let us show them by our actions that we understand what they died for. Let our actions say to them the words for which Matthew Ridgway listened: “I will not fail thee nor forsake thee.”

Strengthened by their courage, heartened by their valor and borne by their memory, let us continue to stand for the ideals for which they lived and died.

Thank you very much, and God bless you all.

♦ On May 25, 1787, the delegates from twelve of The thirteen states, with the exception of Rhode Island, convene in Philadelphia, in The Assembly Room of The Pennsylvania (Independence Hall) State House.

♦ On July 13, 1787, The Congress of the Confederation meet in New York City, and adopt The Northwest Ordinance, which established formal procedures for transforming territories into states.

♦ On September 17, 1787, The Federal Convention, in Philadelphia, adopt the final text of the proposed Constitution.

♦ On December 7, 1787, Delaware becomes the first state to ratify The Constitution; officially making Delaware the first state of  The United States.

♦ On June 21, 1788, New Hampshire becomes the ninth state to ratify The Constitution, and two-thirds needed to officially put The Constitution into effect; establishing the new government for The United States, and making The Constitution the new (highest) law of the land.

♦ On April 30, 1789, George Washington is inaugurated as the first President of The United States, in Federal Hall, in New York City.

♦ May 29, 1790, Rhode Island becomes the thirteenth of the original thirteen colonies to ratify The Constitution; making The Constitution unanimous.

♦ On December 15, 1791, Virginia becomes the tenth state (of the now fourteen) to ratify ten proposed amendments to The Constitution; these ten amendments, known as The Bill of Rights, and some of our most treasured rights, were then added to the United States Constitution.

♦ On March 4, 1801, Thomas Jefferson is inaugurated as the third president of The United States, in Washington, D.C, making him the first president to be inaugurated in the nation’s permanent capital. 

♦ On April 27, 1861, Abraham Lincoln suspendes Habeas Corpus in Maryland and parts of the midwestern states. 

♦ On January 1, 1863, Abraham Lincoln issues The Final Emancipation Proclamation, declaring all slaves in The United States  “forever free”.

♦ On December 6, 1865, The Thirteenth Amendment was ratified, outlawing slavery, forever, in The United States.

♦ On February 3, 1870, The Fifteenth Amendment was ratified, which forbids discrimination in accessing the polls, based on race, color, or previous conditions of servitude. This amendment allows men of all color to vote in The United States.

♦ On February 3, 1913, The Sixteenth Amendment was ratified, which grants Congress the authority to directly tax income;  this amendment modified Article 1, Section 8, and Article 1, Section 9  (No Capitation, or other direct, Tax shall be laid…), which required all taxes to be levied relative to the population as determined by the census. Prior to this amendment, taxing income directly “may” have been considered unconstitutional.

♦ On April 8, 1913, The Seventeenth Amendment was ratified; transferring the selection of state Senators from the state legislation, to an election by the people of each respective state.

♦ On January 16, 1919, The Eighteenth Amendment was ratified; after one year from the ratification of this article, the manufacturing, sale, import or export of intoxicating alcohol, for the purpose of beverage, is prohibited (prohibition) in The United States.

♦ On August 18, 1920, The Nineteenth Amendment was ratified, which forbids discrimination in accessing the polls, based on sex. This amendment allows women to vote in The United States.

♦ On December 5, 1933, The Twenty-First Amendment was ratified, which repeals The Eighteenth Amendment; allowing the manufacturing, sale, import and export of intoxicating alcohol, for the purpose of beverage, in The United States.

♦ On April 12, 1937, The United States Supreme Court decides The National Labor Relations Board v. Jones & Laughlin Steel Corporation, which upholds the federal power to regulate labor relations.

♦ On May 17, 1954, The United States Supreme Court decides Brown v. The Board of Education, which strikes down school segregation as a violation of The Fourteenth Amendment’s “equal protection” clause.

♦ On March 9, 1964, The United States Supreme Court decides New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, which imposes federal constitutional standards on libel suits brought on by government officials against news media.

♦ On July 2, 1964, The U.S. Civil Rights Act of 1964 was enacted, upholding federal authority to enforce civil rights against state and local governments, and to bar discrimination.

♦ On June 7, 1965,  The United States Supreme Court decides Grinswold v. Connecticut, recognizing the constitutional protection for rights of privacy in decision about giving birth and the use of contraception.

♦ On June 13, 1966, The United States Supreme Court decides Miranda v. Arizona, enforcing federal constitutional protection of rights of criminal suspects and defendants against state and local governments. This is the origin of The Miranda Rights. Police officers must read a suspect their Miranda Rights when being placed under arrest.

♦ On June 30, 1971, The United States Supreme Court decides New York Times v. The United States (“Pentagon Papers” case), striking down the idea that the federal government can prevent the publication of news stories in the name of national security.

♦ On January 22, 1973, The United States Supreme Court decides Roe v. Wade, which upholds federal constitutional protection for a woman’s right to decide whether or not to have an abortion.

♦ On July 24, 1974, The United States Supreme Court decides The United States v. Nixon, rejecting presidential claims of executive privilege, and upholding that a president must submit to a demand of evidence from a federal grand jury in an ongoing investigation.

♦ On June 29, 1992, The United States Supreme Court decides Planned Parenthood v. Casey, upholding the constitutional protection of a women’s right of choice.

• First Amendment: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

I do believe that history shows that The United States is a country that is able to face its mistakes, or injustices, and strives (even to our own detriment) to constantly improve any such instances that we are faced with, or made aware of.

After some recent events in our country, and after years of hearing how bad our country is from people inside and outside of our country; even from politicians who have taken an oath to preserve, protect, and defend our constitution, I can not help but wonder what the world would have been like had The United States never existed.  

Allow me to share some of my insights…

1. The United States, with its tremendous amount of land, and huge population, needs a great deal of products to sustain the population of this country; therefore, The United States (via imports) is likely counted on tremendously by other country’s economies.

3. Along with Russia, Great Britain, and the other allies, The United States had liberated most (if not all) of Europe from such evil forces as Mussolini and Hitler; effectively destroying not such friendly political systems such as Fascism and Imperialism; and the sick practice of Eugenics that was rampant in Nazi Germany.

4. The United States has welcomed thousands upon thousands of immigrants to our country, allowing those who have chosen to become United States citizens, to seek an opportunity, and freedoms that they may not have had in their country of origin. Not to mention the grants and benefits that often accompany their citizenship.

5. Numerous scientific, medical, and pharmaceutical breakthroughs.

6. With the blood and fortitude of our founding fathers, and brave men who gave their lives for a cause greater then themselves, a modern day political system was created, to which many countries would subsequently adopt and follow.

• The Automobile (as we know it today)
• Airplanes
• The Railroad
• The Personal Computer
• The Internet
• Cameras
• The Phonograph (sound recording)
• The Telephone
• The Television
• Radio
• Light bulbs
• Movies (video recording)
• Televised and Cable Network News
• and how about the discovery of harnessing Electricity?

8. There are worldwide services that have been adopted by many countries, due to the great ingenuity of Benjamin Franklin, such as fire departments and public libraries.

9. How about modern day manufacturing and assembly line practices?

10. Despite the race with Russia, in the sixties, The United States was the first country to take a man to the moon; and with programs such as NASA, has contributed greatly to space exploration.

For anyone that is concerned about preserving our traditional values, and the foundation upon which this great country was built on, I hope that you will get involved, in some way, shape or form.

The history of the United States is mired with many tragic events, popular and unpopular political leaders and outspoken critics of government. Certainly there are no shortages of those types of folks today, however there is a key difference in the political leaders of history and those of today. The missing ingredient in this writers eyes is honor. Many, and dare I say most, of our political leaders lack honor. I am not just talking about honor in the classical sense, but rather an honor that is so deep that it is espoused as a permanent and integral part of their essence. This honor is of the highest magnitude, it surpases doing what is right because it is right and it holds a stronger bond than any familial blood line. This honor is about doing what is right because not doing it would grate so harshly against your inner core that you would rather suffer immeasurable harm than be dishonorable.

Too often our political leaders look at holding office as a power grab, a golden parachute or to fulfil an internal desire to be famous. Whatever the reasons may be, it is seldom that we find true statesmen. Who do we have, or have we had in our midst in the last 20 years that would begin to measure up against the bar set so high by those such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Samuel Adams. Certainly they exist, but unfortunately they are very rare. The political climate of today instead reflects the poor quality of self deserving politicos who would rather do what is expedient for the purposes at hand and forgo doing that which is right.

The interesting thing here is that it stems not from politicians, but rather the citizens of this once great country who vote them into office because their personal needs would be better served by a politicial buying votes as opposed to one doing what is right and honorable. Of course we must not forget those who do not vote, as an abstained vote is the same as a vote against the trailing candidate. But then this isn’t a lesson on why you should vote, but rather why it is important that we maintain the utmost respect for an institution that trancends individual desires.

In the current climate, our government does so much more than was originally intended by our founding fathers. We build roads and bridges, conduct scientific experimentation, feed those who can’t or won’t feed themselves, house the homeless, and now we run businesses that the business people obviously don’t know how to run. What seems to be lacking though, is the single most important aspect of what government is designed and required to do, and that is to provide for the common defense of the individual states. Sure we have a military, but in recent times our government leaders, all of whom have taken an oath to defend and protect the Constitution and the Citizens of these United States, have abandoned perhaps the most important dictate of the Constitution. Our military has been derided, chastized, demoralized, demonized and apologized for. Our defense budgets have been cut and the safety of our country has been put into jeopardy because of this failure.

But you might be wondering where honor comes into the picture, or you might have already seen it, and it requires no further explanation. If you are among the latter group, then I applaud your sensibilities and hope that the future of our country rests in your capable hands, however, if you are still unsure as to how honor works into the bigger picture, I urge you to start reading as much as possible on how and especially why this country was founded. The Boston Tea Party has become symbolic in nature, and while we applaud and cheer those who defied the crown and under stealth of night dumped 342 chests of tea into the harbor, under the political winds of today’s society, we would imprison the offenders for a dozen years or more. While the threat of imprisonment or worse must have been on the minds of those 100 or so men who protested unfair taxation through a criminal act, they took the road with a higher moral ground and did what was right. The end result was the freedom that this country enjoyed for 232 years. Unfortunately, in November 2009, the politicians finally succeeded in killing what they could not in 1775.

Our country has been pillaged for the few in power and the masses have been enslaved by the government through the enabling nature of massive treasury gifts to those who could care about neither liberty nor freedom. Perhaps it is time to stage a politician party in the vein of events as was staged so long ago on December 16, 1773, if we could find but 435 people who hold honor above all else.

The British would then collect tax revenues for these stamps, and use these revenues for the defense of the colonies. Being that the tax was used for their defense, wouldn’t one conclude that this tax was well-intended?  Why then were the colonists so outraged?  So outraged that movements such as The Sons of Liberty were started; as well as the convening of Congress, in Oct. of 1765, in New York City, where The Declaration of Rights and Grievances were written.

Most of us know that the colonies were being taxed, but did not have representation in Parliament, back in England. Is it possible that the people of the colonies felt disenfranchised?

Perhaps we can get into their heads for a moment…

I believe it is a moral injustice to force something on people, that through a great majority, did not agree with the end result; clearly they were tired of Britain controlling their way of life, and of doing business.

The American Revolution did not take place until eleven years later; and the rest is certainly history. However, if we look back, perhaps the whole revolution could have been avoided “if” The British government would have listened to the pleas of the colonies. It is really hard to imagine it working out that way, because we would not have The United States today, and we would quite possibly still be part of England, but that is not the case, and today, we all know why.

So, here we are in modern times, saying, this is not the most prudent use of our tax dollars, and it is totally affecting our lives, our businesses etc….and we want change! If you read The Declaration of Independence, in its entirety, they listed a whole host of grievances against Britain; so surely Britain must have known that the pot was boiling over, however, they did not want to make the necessary changes, and the rest is history.

I do pray that our government will see that the people are getting very weary of the normal course of doing business in D.C., and begin to come back to the grass roots, and get down to the level of the every day person; otherwise, it is not too hard to imagine that the people will eventually need a party that will represent them again, and not the special interests of a few; and policies that will encompass the needs and concerns of the entire country, and not “just” a constituency of people.

In The Declaration of Independence, our founding fathers declared, that we have three very basic rights; and they are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. I pray that we never lose these rights.

Mark

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 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.

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.

–

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

All of a sudden, your political affiliations did not seem to matter; your career, your past and present situations also did not seem to matter; all that mattered was that we were fellow Americans and this radical terrorist group just took down two large buildings in a major United States city, in which nearly 3,000 innocent people were killed; not to mention, the many rescue personnel that came to the call, and gave their lives, as well.

Like many others, I desperately wanted time to move quickly, as the pain, grief and anger that I felt was so intense. Still, I often think back, and recall how united we (as a country) were.

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I will never forget watching The President on TV, and feeling really touched by his words, and his call for Americans to stay united; he also seemed just as in shock as we were; he shared in our grief, fear and anger; undoubtedly, he was not the same man that he was prior to 911.

That day, our country could very well had been brought to its knees; however, there was a call for Americans to get back out there and live. We were directed “not” to let these hateful terrorists to cause us to live in fear, and we heard the call. I recall people coming out, and vocalizing their anger at these people, and publicly declaring that we were not going to stop living The American life because of their despicable acts.

I can still recall the president quoting Psalms 23, and having tears fill my eyes while listening. Yes, that day, we walked in the shadow of the valley of death, however, we were able to rise out from behind that shadow. 

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In retrospect, I truly do believe that most Americans were united in the fact that we had to go after the terrorists who perpetuated these acts; we now knew that the attacks were planned and implemented by Al-Quaeda who were operating primarily in Afghanistan. So, within a month, American troops were deployed, with much of the free world behind us. Shortly thereafter, we were told that Iraq was somehow involved; to the surprise of many, we reluctantly went along with this premise;and sadly, the war in Iraq seems to have been the factor that has divided many Americans, and caused many fractured relationships between ourselves and other countries; leaving many Americans very skeptical our own government.

That being said, we were attacked on 911, by some very extreme individuals who wanted nothing more then to bring The United States, as we know it, to its knees. I must admit, as much as I longed for it, I never went back to a pre-911 mindset. My thoughts on politics, military, and national security was forever changed. Thousands and thousands of brave Americans left the comfort of home and went to war for the rest of us; many of them are no longer with us. Our military personnel are truly brave people who have made tremendous sacrifices while the rest of us moved on and tried to forget that horrific day.

No matter what your thoughts on politics are, no matter how you feel about the post 911 strategy, I for one say, we must never forget that day and the brave people that came to our call; and the tremendous solidarity that we shared. We should always remember the lesson learned that day; we are all Americans first, and no matter what any one tells me, I do believe, deep in our hearts, we do care tremendously for each other.

I pray that it will not take another cataclysmic event for us to all be reminded of these lessons.

I truly do believe that we are a blessed country, that was brought into existence by great men, with divine intervention. The American dream will never die, as long as “we“ never let it die.

God Bless our great nation…

Mark 

1. What do we call the first ten amendments to the Constitution?
2. What are two rights in the Declaration of Independence?
3. We elect a U.S. Senator for how many years?
4. If both the President and the Vice President can no longer serve, who becomes President?
5. What is the highest court in the United States?
6. How many justices are on the Supreme Court?
7. What is the name of the Speaker of the House of Representatives now?
8. What are two rights of everyone living in the United States?
9. Why did the colonists fight the British?
10. Who wrote the Declaration of Independence

“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…”  

“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”