On the Fourth of July in 1776 our Founding Fathers signed the Declaration of Independence, thereby giving notice to George III that they were willing to put their necks on the line—literally and figuratively. I imagine that the King was dying to get his hands around those uppity necks, but I’m sure George III practically choked when he read down the list of his many atrocities the Founding Fathers offered as factual proof for a candid World.
The fact is, poor meticulous George was so bummed out by the whole thing that he considered resigning his kingship. He didn’t, but became permanently deranged in 1810 and died ten years later, blind and senile. Some medical historians say ‘Farmer George’ was a victim of porphyria, an inherited metabolic condition that feeds on stress and causes psychiatric disorders. I don’t know if I believe that, because Porphyria is hard to diagnose when the patient is still alive, much less dead: To begin with, Doctors need a urine sample.
Speaking of urine samples, I bet our Founding Fathers would not have approved of such obvious invasions of their private parts/privacy. The truth is, though, they should have voided in their own little individual buckets and had the urine guarded and preserved for posterity—just so we could make sure that they were not deranged or under the influence of locally grown crops. So much defiance with so little firepower to back it up seems insane when you think about it.
All kidding aside, folks, the Founding Fathers and Mothers had to be extraordinary people with guts and vision. The recent television miniseries on John Adams really drives that point home.
Back to the Declaration of Independence, though: Certain powers are summed up in the conclusion of this document that I find interesting “…Free and Independent States have full power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce…”
Did you notice that ‘Include Peace’ is listed as a separate power? Judging from our history, we’ve never had much— Peace, that is. Not including the American Indian Wars, the Range Wars, Bloody local feuds, state and national secession attempts, armed insurrections and slave revolts, I counted over 280 deployments of U.S. military forces abroad and domestically.
For example, The Whiskey Rebellion (1791-1794), was the first time our federal government sent troops in to squash its own citizens. Led by President George Washington, himself, the whole thing started because the Secretary of the Treasury (Alexander Hamilton) convinced Congress to approve taxes on distilled spirits. Unfortunately, this tax penalized small distillers who paid by the gallon, while big-time distillers took advantage of a flat fee.
You have to understand that farmers had been converting their excess grain to liquor for years. Some growers converted all their grain to liquor because it was easier to transport to market. In other words, home-made booze was their only source of hard cash. I don’t think the first Secretary of the Treasury stopped to consider that poor folk don’t have a treasury.
In any case, by sending in the President of the United States to get those ‘Whiskey Boys’ back in line, Hamilton was trying to do two very important things: Pay down the national debt from the Revolutionary War and secure the authority of the brand new federal government over its citizens—citizens who had some silly notion that they should not be taxed without a vote.
All of which brings me to the here and now…
As we approach the most celebrated date in our history, July 4th, you can’t deny that our Federal Government has come along way in establishing its power; and, regardless of political leanings, you can’t help but be worried about the National Debt, the War in Iraq along with its possible escalation into Iran, not to mention the upcoming election of our new World Leader. Speaking of which, what will he do about Iraq?
About a month ago, right before Memorial Day, Chris and I came across a waving sea of small white and red flags in Ashland, Oregon called The Iraq Body Count Exhibit. Although there were too many flags to get into one shot, Chris took a bunch of pictures, and we made a Send-Out Card of a really provocative one which we had the Great Printer in Salt Lake City mail to some friends and relatives. It really makes you think. Read the sign and decide what you think. As always, let me know if you would like a card and I’ll send you one.