Fifty-six men gathered in a hot, airless room in Philadelphia in the early summer of 1776. They came for hundreds of miles, from all over what was then known as Britain s 13 American colonies. Their original intent was to write a letter of protest to King George of England, stating their objections to the taxes, policies and lack of British Parliamentary representation the colonies received. The document they produced and signed was much more than that. That document was the Declaration of Independence, and it set out the guiding principles our nation was to eventually be governed by. They knew the risk they were taking and knew there would be a tremendous cost, but understood that these values were, and are, values worth fighting for.
For their troubles, of the 56:
5 were captured and tortured by the British before they died
12 had their homes ransacked and burned to the ground
2 lost sons in the Revolutionary War
2 had sons captured in the war
9 fought and died from wound or war created hardship
6 lost everything to the British and died penniless
4 lost their wives to the war
3 lost their children due to having to flee or being taken prisoner
A large number of these 56 lost everything that meant anything to them; they truly sacrificed in order to see the values of equality, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Find me 56 Republicans in Congress who would be willing to do the same.
Today s Republicans espouse to wear the mantle of the protectors of ideals of the Founding Fathers. Yet at the convention, they made it clear that cheap gas was worth protecting the environment for the future quality of life for our children. In order to not pay higher taxes, they are willing to let people go without necessary health care. So that they can keep a few extra dollars in their pockets, they do not want to see money spent on helping this country recover as a whole from economic hardship.
Where is the Republican commitment, other than with empty words? Where is their sacrifice for the ideals of this country they claim to so love? Where is the willingness to place ideals over personal interest?
As for claims of comparison between the GOP and the Founding Fathers? Until the Republicans are willing to pay the price needed to guarantee these values, there is no comparison- or at least no positive one.
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{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Your idea that Republicans are the only actors in this silly game who invoke the Founding Fathers or are hypocritical reveals your own partisan hackery. The claim that Republicans are not “willing to sacrifice for their values” belies the blinders over your own eyes, Ms. Bramble.
Democrats and Republicans are both part of the same hypocrisy. Both are quick to declare themselves the heirs to the Founding Fathers’ philosophy and both are wrong. There was no uniformity among the Founders just the same as there is none today.
I suppose you think Democrats such noble and selfless creatures who would sacrifice all for the good of the country. What a petty and silly article!
The point of the article is that in order to promote the ideals , sacrifices have to be made. Not I want the ideals, but not if it means a few extra dollars out of my pocket or that I may not be able to do all that I want when I want (accent on I). If a person wants to be able to do only what they want when they want, how they want, then they need to live outside of society. I think that the wolves and the grizzlies they’ll be living next to won’t care much about what they want, though. However, like Wall Street, when things get rough, they have no problem going to Uncle Sam looking for their handout…
Instead of trying to wean ourselves from foreign oil, how about we all use some common sense and wean ourselves of our depenence on OIL period. If we ALL drove smaller and more fuel efficient cars, if we ALL adjusted our thermostats, if we ALL used less electricity, if we ALL recycled more and used recycled products, our small changes in combination would make a big impact. The problem with our dependence on oil is that it is FINITE!!! That means that we will eventually run out and then what? Why does it always have to be a crisis that gets people to change? And what would be the negative impact to the Alaskan wilderness and to the seas from offshore drilling that would come from this. One large spill and the damage could be massive. One terrorist bomb to a pipeline or set of derricks (since the GOP loves to harp on the dangers of terrorists), major weather event, or human error is all it takes…
Nature existed well before we did and had things in harmony. Maybe if we loved nature more and our own cushy standard of living less, the world might be a little better off.
Well I can only guess that some Republicans talk about that because of the fact that there are more and more Democrats who appear to be departing from our founding principles. I realize that there are many Republicans who are also, but it is much more common and blatant in the Democratic Party. The health care reform proposal is a perfect example. Like the plan or hate it, it represents larger government – a body that intends on taking care of you. Well, if you study communist or socialistic societies, that is their belief core. I’m not saying we are a communist or socialist state – yet.
As far as “Drill, baby, drill”, where they referring to ANWAR in Alaska? If so, I can’t blame them. Though it’s a somewhat flawed theory, the intent is to liberate ourselves from the dependency on foreign oil. Of course, as with anything else, there is probably an ulterior motive (and yes, I’m basically cynical), but on the surface, it only makes sense. The EPA is complaining, but what else is new? They are notorious for loving nature and not loving people.
The Democrats are guilty too, but they are not the ones who are always rushing to invoke the Founding Fathers “original intent” as the inspiration for all that they do. When I hear the Founding Fathers referred to in a speech or statement and I look at who gave it, the vast majority of the time it is not a Democrat who has referred to them.
And it wasn’t the Democratic National Convention where one of the speakers was almost drowned out by the refrain “Drill, Baby, drill.”
Hypocrisy does not obey Party lines. Hypocrisy and empathy are bipartisan. Our politicians are mere actors on a stage. Just as in a real performance, the producers and directors are rarely seen yet make most of the decisions. Of course it helps when the actors have a sympathetic view to the directors and producers. This makes their salesmanship much more convincing. But if you truly believe that one Party cares about the public more than another (or less than another), perhaps you should take a second, closer look.
Just like Bush pushed for the Patriot Act which was a guise to strip away our freedoms, Obama wasted no time in attempting to collect names of any detractors of the “health care” reform bill. If that isn’t similar to Anne Frank’s diary, nothing is. Of course, hell broke loose and it was smothered, but just the fact that it was initiated is a very serious matter. At the very least, it gives us an idea of what this Administration has in mind and how they view the People, which is not very highly.