Article IX. The United States in Congress assembled, shall have the sole and exclusive right and power of determining on peace and war, except in the cases mentioned in the sixth article—of sending and receiving ambassadors—entering into treaties and alliances, provided that no treaty of commerce shall be made whereby the legislative power of the respective States shall be restrained from imposing such imposts and duties on foreigners, as their own people are subjected to, or from prohibiting the exportation or importation of any species of goods or commodities whatsoever—of establishing rules for deciding in all cases, what captures on land or water shall be legal, and in what manner prizes taken by land or naval forces in the service of the United States shall be divided or appropriated—of granting letters of marque and reprisal in times of peace—appointing courts for the trial of piracies and felonies committed on the high seas and establishing courts for receiving and determining finally appeals in all cases of captures, provided that no member of Congress shall be appointed a judge of any of the said courts.

The United States in Congress assembled shall also be the last resort on appeal in all disputes and differences now subsisting or that hereafter may arise between two or more States concerning boundary, jurisdiction or any other causes whatever; which authority shall always be exercised in the manner following. Whenever the legislative or executive authority or lawful agent of any State in controversy with another shall present a petition to Congress stating the matter in question and praying for a hearing, notice thereof shall be given by order of Congress to the legislative or executive authority of the other State in controversy, and a day assigned for the appearance of the parties by their lawful agents, who shall then be directed to appoint by joint consent, commissioners or judges to constitute a court for hearing and determining the matter in question: but if they cannot agree, Congress shall name three persons out of each of the United States, and from the list of such persons each party shall alternately strike out one, the petitioners beginning, until the number shall be reduced to thirteen; and from that number not less than seven, nor more than nine names as Congress shall direct, shall in the presence of Congress be drawn out by lot, and the persons whose names shall be so drawn or any five of them, shall be commissioners or judges, to hear and finally determine the controversy, so always as a major part of the judges who shall hear the cause shall agree in the determination: and if either party shall neglect to attend at the day appointed, without showing reasons, which Congress shall judge sufficient, or being present shall refuse to strike, the Congress shall proceed to nominate three persons out of each State, and the secretary of Congress shall strike in behalf of such party absent or refusing; and the judgement and sentence of the court to be appointed, in the manner before prescribed, shall be final and conclusive; and if any of the parties shall refuse to submit to the authority of such court, or to appear or defend their claim or cause, the court shall nevertheless proceed to pronounce sentence, or judgement, which shall in like manner be final and decisive, the judgement or sentence and other proceedings being in either case transmitted to Congress, and lodged among the acts of Congress for the security of the parties concerned: provided that every commissioner, before he sits in judgement, shall take an oath to be administered by one of the judges of the supreme or superior court of the State, where the cause shall be tried, ‘well and truly to hear and determine the matter in question, according to the best of his judgement, without favor, affection or hope of reward’: provided also, that no State shall be deprived of territory for the benefit of the United States.

All controversies concerning the private right of soil claimed under different grants of two or more States, whose jurisdictions as they may respect such lands, and the States which passed such grants are adjusted, the said grants or either of them being at the same time claimed to have originated antecedent to such settlement of jurisdiction, shall on the petition of either party to the Congress of the United States, be finally determined as near as may be in the same manner as is before prescribed for deciding disputes respecting territorial jurisdiction between different States.

The United States in Congress assembled shall also have the sole and exclusive right and power of regulating the alloy and value of coin struck by their own authority, or by that of the respective States—fixing the standards of weights and measures throughout the United States—regulating the trade and managing all affairs with the Indians, not members of any of the States, provided that the legislative right of any State within its own limits be not infringed or violated—establishing or regulating post offices from one State to another, throughout all the United States, and exacting such postage on the papers passing through the same as may be requisite to defray the expenses of the said office—appointing all officers of the land forces, in the service of the United States, excepting regimental officers—appointing all the officers of the naval forces, and commissioning all officers whatever in the service of the United States—making rules for the government and regulation of the said land and naval forces, and directing their operations.

The United States in Congress assembled shall have authority to appoint a committee, to sit in the recess of Congress, to be denominated ‘A Committee of the States’, and to consist of one delegate from each State; and to appoint such other committees and civil officers as may be necessary for managing the general affairs of the United States under their direction—to appoint one of their members to preside, provided that no person be allowed to serve in the office of president more than one year in any term of three years; to ascertain the necessary sums of money to be raised for the service of the United States, and to appropriate and apply the same for defraying the public expenses—to borrow money, or emit bills on the credit of the United States, transmitting every half-year to the respective States an account of the sums of money so borrowed or emitted—to build and equip a navy—to agree upon the number of land forces, and to make requisitions from each State for its quota, in proportion to the number of white inhabitants in such State; which requisition shall be binding, and thereupon the legislature of each State shall appoint the regimental officers, raise the men and cloath, arm and equip them in a solid- like manner, at the expense of the United States; and the officers and men so cloathed, armed and equipped shall march to the place appointed, and within the time agreed on by the United States in Congress assembled. But if the United States in Congress assembled shall, on consideration of circumstances judge proper that any State should not raise men, or should raise a smaller number of men than the quota thereof, such extra number shall be raised, officered, cloathed, armed and equipped in the same manner as the quota of each State, unless the legislature of such State shall judge that such extra number cannot be safely spread out in the same, in which case they shall raise, officer, cloath, arm and equip as many of such extra number as they judge can be safely spared. And the officers and men so cloathed, armed, and equipped, shall march to the place appointed, and within the time agreed on by the United States in Congress assembled.

The United States in Congress assembled shall never engage in a war, nor grant letters of marque or reprisal in time of peace, nor enter into any treaties or alliances, nor coin money, nor regulate the value thereof, nor ascertain the sums and expenses necessary for the defense and welfare of the United States, or any of them, nor emit bills, nor borrow money on the credit of the United States, nor appropriate money, nor agree upon the number of vessels of war, to be built or purchased, or the number of land or sea forces to be raised, nor appoint a commander in chief of the army or navy, unless nine States assent to the same: nor shall a question on any other point, except for adjourning from day to day be determined, unless by the votes of the majority of the United States in Congress assembled.

The Congress of the United States shall have power to adjourn to any time within the year, and to any place within the United States, so that no period of adjournment be for a longer duration than the space of six months, and shall publish the journal of their proceedings monthly, except such parts thereof relating to treaties, alliances or military operations, as in their judgement require secrecy; and the yeas and nays of the delegates of each State on any question shall be entered on the journal, when it is desired by any delegates of a State, or any of them, at his or their request shall be furnished with a transcript of the said journal, except such parts as are above excepted, to lay before the legislatures of the several States.

See what I mean? Almost as many exceptions as regulations. It all boils down to what the fledgling United States was permitted to do - declare War, negotiate Peace, appoint Ambassadors, establish Courts, value the Coinage, adjournment, etc.

One glaring difference, though. It would have been a Committee of Congress that would have the final word on what the Law says it is, rather than a Supreme Court. They also include a rather interesting means of picking the people who will decide the cases…

Next, we come to the matter of a quorum…

Article X. The Committee of the States, or any nine of them, shall be authorized to execute, in the recess of Congress, such of the powers of Congress as the United States in Congress assembled, by the consent of the nine States, shall from time to time think expedient to vest them with; provided that no power be delegated to the said Committee, for the exercise of which, by the Articles of Confederation, the voice of nine States in the Congress of the United States assembled be requisite.

Interesting only to those people who read ‘Robert’s Rules of Order’ for casual consumption…

Far more interesting was the next Article…

Article XI. Canada acceding to this confederation, and adjoining in the measures of the United States, shall be admitted into, and entitled to all the advantages of this Union; but no other colony shall be admitted into the same, unless such admission be agreed to by nine States.

Canada was issued an invitation, but somehow decided against joining us. Quelle fromage. (That was a joke. You can laugh now.)

Article XII. All bills of credit emitted, monies borrowed, and debts contracted by, or under the authority of Congress, before the assembling of the United States, in pursuance of the present confederation, shall be deemed and considered as a charge against the United States, for payment and satisfaction whereof the said United States, and the public faith are hereby solemnly pledged.

This was intended to make sure that the farmers and gunsmiths - who were basically loaning their products to the new nation - knew that they would eventually get paid if we won. It was echoed in Article 6 of our current COTUS.

Article XIII. Every State shall abide by the determination of the United States in Congress assembled, on all questions which by this confederation are submitted to them. And the Articles of this Confederation shall be inviolably observed by every State, and the Union shall be perpetual; nor shall any alteration at any time hereafter be made in any of them; unless such alteration be agreed to in a Congress of the United States, and be afterwards confirmed by the legislatures of every State.

Now comes the ‘Supreme Law of the Land’ clause (without actually using that phrase), also echoed in Article 6.

And we come to the flowery finish, calling on “the Great Governor of the World"…

And Whereas it hath pleased the Great Governor of the World to incline the hearts of the legislatures we respectively represent in Congress, to approve of, and to authorize us to ratify the said Articles of Confederation and perpetual Union. Know Ye that we the undersigned delegates, by virtue of the power and authority to us given for that purpose, do by these presents, in the name and in behalf of our respective constituents, fully and entirely ratify and confirm each and every of the said Articles of Confederation and perpetual Union, and all and singular the matters and things therein contained: And we do further solemnly plight and engage the faith of our respective constituents, that they shall abide by the determinations of the United States in Congress assembled, on all questions, which by the said Confederation are submitted to them. And that the Articles thereof shall be inviolably observed by the States we respectively represent, and that the Union shall be perpetual.

In Witness whereof we have hereunto set our hands in Congress. Done at Philadelphia in the State of Pennsylvania the ninth day of July in the Year of our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred and Seventy-Eight, and in the Third Year of the independence of America.

Man, I wish our legal documents sounded that fancy, but still remained so simple to understand…

These people were betting their case note (Ye Olde slang for “last dollar") on managing to succeed in their fight for independence. “We must all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately.” ~ Ben Franklin

Truer spokes were never whirred.

God bless those brave men who gave us all such a wonderful gift.

That’s right, it was the Articles of Confederation, and reading through them, you can see more instances of the colonists looking for ways to protect them from the predations of an overreaching government (such as the type from which they had just declared themselves separated).

The AoC treated each State as an independent political unit, with all of the rights and privileges, and all of the flowery rhetoric we have come to associate with the 18th century. But let’s begin at the beginning, shall we?

Article I. The Stile of this Confederacy shall be “The United States of America.”

Sounds simple enough… (although I’m pretty sure that it is supposed to be ”Style”

Article II. Each state retains its sovereignty, freedom, and independence, and every power, jurisdiction, and right, which is not by this Confederation expressly delegated to the United States, in Congress assembled.

Shades of the Tenth Amendment…

Article III. The said States hereby severally enter into a firm league of friendship with each other, for their common defense, the security of their liberties, and their mutual and general welfare, binding themselves to assist each other, against all force offered to, or attacks made upon them, or any of them, on account of religion, sovereignty, trade, or any other pretense whatever.

This vaguely reminds me of the Preamble to the Constitution. (BONUS LINK) And that’s not an accident, either, given that many of the same men wrote it…

But now we start to get to the meat of the document…

Article IV. The better to secure and perpetuate mutual friendship and intercourse among the people of the different States in this Union, the free inhabitants of each of these States, paupers, vagabonds, and fugitives from justice excepted, shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities of free citizens in the several States; and the people of each State shall free ingress and regress to and from any other State, and shall enjoy therein all the privileges of trade and commerce, subject to the same duties, impositions, and restrictions as the inhabitants thereof respectively, provided that such restrictions shall not extend so far as to prevent the removal of property imported into any State, to any other State, of which the owner is an inhabitant; provided also that no imposition, duties or restriction shall be laid by any State, on the property of the United States, or either of them.

If any person guilty of, or charged with, treason, felony, or other high misdemeanor in any State, shall flee from justice, and be found in any of the United States, he shall, upon demand of the Governor or executive power of the State from which he fled, be delivered up and removed to the State having jurisdiction of his offense.

Full faith and credit shall be given in each of these States to the records, acts, and judicial proceedings of the courts and magistrates of every other State.

Every citizen gets treated equally under the law, power of extradition, and the “Full Faith And Credit” clause, almost exactly as it is in Article 4 of our current Constitution. Again, not an accident.

Article V. For the most convenient management of the general interests of the United States, delegates shall be annually appointed in such manner as the legislatures of each State shall direct, to meet in Congress on the first Monday in November, in every year, with a power reserved to each State to recall its delegates, or any of them, at any time within the year, and to send others in their stead for the remainder of the year.

No State shall be represented in Congress by less than two, nor more than seven members; and no person shall be capable of being a delegate for more than three years in any term of six years; nor shall any person, being a delegate, be capable of holding any office under the United States, for which he, or another for his benefit, receives any salary, fees or emolument of any kind.

Each State shall maintain its own delegates in a meeting of the States, and while they act as members of the committee of the States.

In determining questions in the United States in Congress assembled, each State shall have one vote.

Freedom of speech and debate in Congress shall not be impeached or questioned in any court or place out of Congress, and the members of Congress shall be protected in their persons from arrests or imprisonments, during the time of their going to and from, and attendance on Congress, except for treason, felony, or breach of the peace.

The Beginnings of a real Congress, with a kind of blending of the current two branches of Congress, where each State could elect several delegates, but they all got the same number of votes. That was probably one of the reasons we have two branches because the more populated States (rightfully) argued that they should have a larger say in the government, and the less populated states argued (also rightfully) that all States should have the same influence. So the Constitutional Convention decided not to split that hair, but to split the Congress, instead. (I’d have done it differently, but that’s me...)

Moving on.

Article VI. No State, without the consent of the United States in Congress assembled, shall send any embassy to, or receive any embassy from, or enter into any conference, agreement, alliance or treaty with any King, Prince or State; nor shall any person holding any office of profit or trust under the United States, or any of them, accept any present, emolument, office or title of any kind whatever from any King, Prince or foreign State; nor shall the United States in Congress assembled, or any of them, grant any title of nobility.

No two or more States shall enter into any treaty, confederation or alliance whatever between them, without the consent of the United States in Congress assembled, specifying accurately the purposes for which the same is to be entered into, and how long it shall continue.

No State shall lay any imposts or duties, which may interfere with any stipulations in treaties, entered into by the United States in Congress assembled, with any King, Prince or State, in pursuance of any treaties already proposed by Congress, to the courts of France and Spain.

No vessel of war shall be kept up in time of peace by any State, except such number only, as shall be deemed necessary by the United States in Congress assembled, for the defense of such State, or its trade; nor shall any body of forces be kept up by any State in time of peace, except such number only, as in the judgement of the United States in Congress assembled, shall be deemed requisite to garrison the forts necessary for the defense of such State; but every State shall always keep up a well-regulated and disciplined militia, sufficiently armed and accoutered, and shall provide and constantly have ready for use, in public stores, a due number of filed pieces and tents, and a proper quantity of arms, ammunition and camp equipage.

No State shall engage in any war without the consent of the United States in Congress assembled, unless such State be actually invaded by enemies, or shall have received certain advice of a resolution being formed by some nation of Indians to invade such State, and the danger is so imminent as not to admit of a delay till the United States in Congress assembled can be consulted; nor shall any State grant commissions to any ships or vessels of war, nor letters of marque or reprisal, except it be after a declaration of war by the United States in Congress assembled, and then only against the Kingdom or State and the subjects thereof, against which war has been so declared, and under such regulations as shall be established by the United States in Congress assembled, unless such State be infested by pirates, in which case vessels of war may be fitted out for that occasion, and kept so long as the danger shall continue, or until the United States in Congress assembled shall determine otherwise.

Working under the circumstances they were, these were not unusual terms. The authors and delegates wanted to give every State a reasonable chance to protect themselves, but not by looking elsewhere. If they needed help, that help should be coming from the other States. That was the whole point of the AoC in the first place. And let’s remember that we were still fighting land and sea battles with the British and the Indian tribes were randomly raiding.

Article VII. When land forces are raised by any State for the common defense, all officers of or under the rank of colonel, shall be appointed by the legislature of each State respectively, by whom such forces shall be raised, or in such manner as such State shall direct, and all vacancies shall be filled up by the State which first made the appointment.

I guess the generals would be coming from the ‘Continental Army’. I’m kind of glad they let this one drop…

The next few parts are kind of thick, so let me slog through them, and I’ll put the rest of it up later today.

The Declaration was written by a bunch of ordinary citizens who had gotten fed up with rule from a distance, where King George III had been tightening his grip on people who had never even seen him, but had been told that he was their monarch and would be until he died.

Some of these men were farmers, some were soldiers, some were lawyers, some were storekeepers, a few were doctors. Just regular guys who decided that they would be better off deciding their own collective fate. No one knew what the outcome of that contest would be, because this ragtag band of rebels faced the longest odds imaginable. Armed with single shot rifles and captured cannons, these men grabbed their gear and took the fight to the British.

When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

This phrase is simply a “heads-up” to introduce the reader to the reasons that this document was written: that the colonies had been savagely abused beyond endurance, and giving the specific reasons why.

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.

This is the standard to which our rebels aspired - that all men would be treated equally under the law, instead of the class warfare that was such a major part of the societal fabric in Europe at that time. Let’s be clear on this. Every one of the major nations that had attempted to colonize the new world - England, France and Spain - were monarchies. These gentlemen of the New World knew no other kind of government, except through intellectual study of History and certain philosophers.

That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,

This study led them to the concept of popular rule, the idea that people could be trusted to decide what is best for their own future, that they could be trusted with the ultimate power. But because they knew that it would be impossible for every person to attend the debate and discussion that would invariably attend almost every single public issue - placement of public buildings, locations of roads, etc. - they recognized that some form of government was necessary. But they had to get rid of the old one first…

--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.

Basically, they are stating the obvious. Mankind will put up with things they might not agree with for a long time, simply because they would rather deal with the devil they know than the angel they don’t. But everybody’s got to draw a line somewhere, making a stand, and saying, “I’ve had all I can stand, and I can’t stands no more!”

--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.

These men knew that by publishing this document, they would be opening themselves up to whatever the most powerful military on the planet wished to do, but they had reached the point where they would rather die as free men than live as slaves. You cannot beat a free man, you can only kill him. But they also knew that public opinion could count for a little bit, and they still had the Tories (those still loyal to the British crown) to either persuade or dissuade, plus the hope that some foreign governments would have been willing to denounce these offenses and join us (which is what happened).

To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refuted his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

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.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

Quite a list, eh? Reading through them, you can see the seeds of our own Bill of Rights (right of trial by jury, soldiers not to be quartered in private homes, etc.) and various sections in the Constitution (Supreme Court term for life, overriding a veto, etc.).

Can you blame them? But they tried every alternative…

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.

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.

That is the basis of our foreign policy ever since then: “Enemies in War, in Peace Friends”.

Having put all the evidence on the table, only one thing remained, to sum it all up. To boil it all down to Popeye’s cry of “I’ve had all I can stand, and I can’t stand no more!”.

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.

Or, to put it in more modern terms, “With God as our witness, we humbly beseech Your Royal Highness to bite me. I quit.”

But they also knew that telling the most powerful monarch on the planet to go piss up a rope had a potential price to be paid. Even though they had some help from the French, and much of England’s military was tied up battling much of France’s military back in Europe, this was by NO means any kind of a wise bet. “God fights on the side with the heaviest artillery”, after all.

--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.

They were willing to give up everything they held dear for the chance to stand on their own two feet, win, lose, or die trying.

That is what it means to be an American.

***

Have a Happy Memorial Day, and remember why we have this day. BONUS LINK

Some Democrats are pissed off because they don’t have the same security clearance that Bolton had, because he got to see a list of names that the Donks didn’t get to see.

These documents are highly classified, showing sources and means of intelligence gathering (which could put lives in danger if leaked), but they are in a full-blown IwantitIwantitIwantit mode.

But the Donks are careful to point out that while they may be making continuous speeches on the Senate floor in order to block a up/down vote for a Presidential Ambassadorial nomination on the Senate floor, and that it would require a 60-vote majority to put a stop to it, IT ISN’T A FILIBUSTER. Uh-huh.

1.  McCain is not a conservative.....though he is a Republican (the more ‘conservative’ of the two national parties), he isn’t a conservative.  He’s socially and politically moderate, and has sponsored bills to mandate background checks for firearm purchases, and to force companies to make an inventory for the greenhouse gases they release, and co-sponsored 35 bills with Democrats (7 of those were with John Kerry and 7 with Fritz Hollings) in 2001 and 2002, compared with 26 with Republicans (and of those, only 2 were exclusively with Republicans).  He’s no conservative.  However, he’s smart enough to realize that America really didn’t pay attention to the whole ‘fillibuster’ issue.  He knows that we just don’t want the government to be politically gridlocked, so he got himself in a situation where he can be seen as the compromiser.....by triangulation, he has set himself apart from the bulk of the GOP, and the hard-line Democrats, even if what he was doing was favorable to the Dems, at least in the short run.  This makes him look like an anti-obstructionist, and as someone who will work with anybody.  In short, he is working on increasing his appeal...look at the item he sponsored and put his name on today.  It’s a nothing act....basically fluff and pandering....but here’s what he said about it:

“Over a year ago, I said publicly that the failure of professional sports – and in particular Major League Baseball – to commit to addressing the issue of doping straight on and immediately would motivate Congress to search for legislative remedies.

“Despite my clear warning and the significant attention that I and others in Congress have given to this stain on professional sports, baseball and other professional leagues have refused to do the right thing. By introducing this bill, I am once again asking the leagues to shore up the integrity of professional sports. I am asking the leagues to realize that what is at stake here is not the sanctity of collective bargaining agreements, but rather the health and safety of America’s children. Like it or not, our nation’s kids look to professional athletes as role models and take cues from their actions, both good and bad.”

A lot of “I” and “My” to go through (hat tip to Polipundit for the idea), but you get the picture.  Steroids in baseball (a sometimes-illegal substance being used in a league where people are given multiple chances when taking clearly illegal drugs...see Darryl Strawberry) is a big non-issue, all style and no substance (pun intended), but it gets into people’s consciousness via stupid, wasteful Senate hearings.  McCain is “against DRUGS IN BASEBALL...for the ‘children’. 

This is just a ploy to get him back into the national consciousness before 2006, when he’ll have to start raising money and the like.  As I heard on Rush today, he’s looking more successful then Frist (the other name from the GOP Senators being bandied about for a Presidential run in ‘08), and more active than the President (who we will discuss later).  This is all about putting him in the middle, as far away from the Deaniacs and the neo-cons and the anti-religious and the Christian Conservatives as he can get.  This is his territory, where he thinks the disaffected will go.  He wants that ground, especially if the Republicans stumble in 2006. 

2.  The Democrats were all smiles and orgasms when this occurred yesterday, because they would have been pushed off the cliff should the GOP had enough testicular fortitude between them to force their hand.  They truly believe they won one, and, maybe, in the short-term PR game, they did.  However, look at it like this....if they confirm a judicial nominee (Judge Owen, for example) and that person is nominated for a position in the SCOTUS, what do the Democrats do?  Will they say ther are “Extraordinary circumstances”?  How could they?  If that person is voted on for a federal court position, and passes, what then changes? 

See, the Dems, in their total neurosis-laden drive to get a PR win over the President and the GOP, have basically dug themselves a hole.  If Janice Rogers Brown gets rejected, the Democrats have to explain why.  If she gets accepted (if a black woman gets rejected, there will be a backlash), then rejected for the SCOTUS, then the Dems have to explain why.  If one of the Justices dies (high possibility, considering Renquist’s condition), Bush can nominate anyone, and the Dems, by obstructing it, will be seen as petty and acting in bad faith.  The Democrats, by forcing this (via McCain, and DeWine, I ashamedly add), have lost a lot in the long run.....especially if the SCOTUS gets vacancies that Bush tries to fill with his judges that have already passed Senate muster.

3.  As for Bush...he did the right thing by sitting back and letting this happen.  He let McCain show his true colors, as well as the other Republican liberals, and set them up against an American people that are basically conservative.  He didn’t expend any political capital, and he allowed the Left in the Senate to do exactly what he said they have done....slave themselves to partisan politics, and make a litmus for judges that has nothing to do with the COTUS.  When multiple judges are rejected because they are either pro-life, or conservative, or otherwise ‘extraordinary;, the Democrats will be seen as obstructionists, and he will be seen as simply trying to put good people in the federal court.  Also, with his perchant of pushing conservative minority candidates, GWB has forced the liberals to show their true bigotry....liberal sbelieve minorities are good ONLY if they tow the party line.  If they don’t they must be rejected.  Ask Clarence Thomas about that. 

A GREAT article to read is this one, which cuts through the MSM bullcrap on the judges.  See the disparity, and keep in mind what happened....it’s petty, and it’s political, but I don’t think it’s as bad as a lot of people say.