I have great difficulty reconciling concepts such as the Patriot act, seatbelt legislation, wall street bailouts, RIAA's perversion of US copyright law and the entire War on Drugs with the philosophies of the Founding Fathers.

If you ask me, we've lost our way. we're no longer 'free'. we've been TOLD we're free, but we need permits for everything and today we're going to have to run a gauntlet of drunk driving checkpoints to get around town. Not to mention the fact that the NSA and DHS are going to tap our phones to make sure nobody blows up the statue of Liberty tonight. So I don't think we're 'free'. I think we decidedly less free than we've ever been at any time before in the history of this country.

just my .02 cents.

Weaver95: I have great difficulty reconciling concepts such as the Patriot act, seatbelt legislation, wall street bailouts, RIAA's perversion of US copyright law and the entire War on Drugs with the philosophies of the Founding Fathers.

If you ask me, we've lost our way. we're no longer 'free'. we've been TOLD we're free, but we need permits for everything and today we're going to have to run a gauntlet of drunk driving checkpoints to get around town. Not to mention the fact that the NSA and DHS are going to tap our phones to make sure nobody blows up the statue of Liberty tonight. So I don't think we're 'free'. I think we decidedly less free than we've ever been at any time before in the history of this country.

just my .02 cents.

You shush. Have a hot dog, a beer, and a sparkler.

what_now: You shush. Have a hot dog, a beer, and a sparkler.

I don't think my homeowners association would allow something like that.

Weaver95: I don't think my homeowners association would allow something like that.

*snarf*

I see your point, but you voluntarily chose to enter into a contract..

No. Stop. this is the 4th of July thread, and it shouldn't have political fights unless you're a Tory.

Anywho, I'm off to watch a friggin boat turn around , because sometimes you do silly things to make other people happy.

Happy 4th everyone.

Weaver95: just my .02 cents.

Your two/one hundredths of a cent are quite valuable these days

;)

/doesn't feel very "free" most of the time

This got greenlit? It's a repeat from 1776.

Man, that King guy sounds like a real douchebag. I hope they voted him out of office.

Weaver95: what_now: You shush. Have a hot dog, a beer, and a sparkler.

I don't think my homeowners association would allow something like that.

Thread over.

John Adams: Mark me, Franklin... if we give in on this issue, posterity will never forgive us.

Dr. Benjamin Franklin: That's probably true, but we won't hear a thing, we'll be long gone. Besides, what would posterity think we were? Demi-gods? We're men, no more no less, trying to get a nation started against greater odds than a more generous God would have allowed. First things first, John. Independence; America. If we don't secure that, what difference will the rest make?

Sum Dum Gai: This got greenlit? It's a repeat from 1776.

I think it appeared as a newsflash in a "if Fark had existed back in ..." photoshop contest.

when i brought up the phrase "...and the pursuit of happiness" in a gay marriage debate here on fark, a fark "conservative" told me straight-faced that the key word there is "pursuit" - as in, "all y'all gheys can pursue equality all you want - but nobody's saying you're actually gonna get it!"

UNC_Samurai: John Adams: Mark me, Franklin... if we give in on this issue, posterity will never forgive us.

Dr. Benjamin Franklin: That's probably true, but we won't hear a thing, we'll be long gone. Besides, what would posterity think we were? Demi-gods? We're men, no more no less, trying to get a nation started against greater odds than a more generous God would have allowed. First things first, John. Independence; America. If we don't secure that, what difference will the rest make?

John Adams: lol

Site farked?

Like Michael Jackson, the American revolution was influential and important even if its declining years left later generations wondering what all the fuss was about.

Thomas Jefferson was a godless Commie.

But I'm happy, because I'm going to a friend's house in the middle of nowhere, and I got a shiatton of fireworks for cheap as hell (finally, an upside to the recession), her dad bought mortars, and we're grilling burgers and dogs. Promises to be a good day.

I'd like to highlight this portion of the declaration for all people out there who feel we are exceptional to the point where we can insult other countries and hate on the UN and generally dismiss all foreign criticism:

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.

I won't listen to anything that Thomas Hussein Jefferson has to say until I see a birth certificate.

F-bear

He got a special clause in the constitution allowing him to be president despite not being born a United States citizen.

*Except for negroes and women.

kronicfeld: *Except for negroes and women.

and the gheys
and in certain cases, mesicans, japs, chinks, wops, spics, jews, and greasers.

You have not experienced Jefferson until you have read him in the original Klingon

Weaver95

I have great difficulty reconciling concepts such as the Patriot act, seatbelt legislation, wall street bailouts, RIAA's perversion of US copyright law and the entire War on Drugs with the philosophies of the Founding Fathers.

In addition to the "offical" Founding Fathers, the American Revolution was fomented in large part by some men of whom most Americans have never heard. They would approve of those concepts, I think.

Here is a partial list, for any who would like to learn more:

William Livingston
William Smith, Junior
John Morin Scott
John Lamb
Alexander McDougall
Isaac Sears
Donald Campbell
Peter Livingston

And anyone who thinks our Congress is bad now should check out the Continental Congress.

/But don't bother with this today, folks, have a happy Fourth and enjoy the fireworks, assuming your town can still afford them.

You go, Tommy!

I (technically) work for Thomas Jefferson, as he is a permanent leading Rector of the institution I work for. 'course, he's been worm food for 180 years, but still.

what_now: No. Stop. this is the 4th of July thread, and it shouldn't have political fights unless you're a Tory.

God save the Queen! Never forget!

Just another blog rant from the fringe and it looks like they only got a handful of people to sign their petition.

Weaver95: I think we decidedly less free than we've ever been at any time before in the history of this country.

Here's my take. We are free. We are most likely the most "free" nation on Earth. Or, close to.

Ok, so yeah- DUI checkpoints, drug laws, permits all that- I understand you. But all of the core freedoms (speech, etc.) are in place and defended well. Yeah, its not perfect, but that's not my point...

The problem is the groundwork is there now for those freedoms to instantly be taken away. We're not necessarily becoming facist, a dictatorship, or a theocracy. But the *groundwork* is there for that to happen- over a long-ish period of time- if shiat hits the fan one of these decades.

THAT'S what the founding fathers wanted to avoid. And THAT'S what people don't understand.

Yeah, all these "protections" help us in the near-term. But the system of the government to quickly put a stop to nearly everything in the long term is scary. And people don't give a crap about that.

Weaver95: I have great difficulty reconciling concepts such as the Patriot act, seatbelt legislation, wall street bailouts, RIAA's perversion of US copyright law and the entire War on Drugs with the philosophies of the Founding Fathers.

What about reconciling a slave-owning abolitionist that was screwing one of the people he owned and fathering children by her all while believing that mixing races was a "degredation", unpatriotic, and a disservice to humanity?

At no point in our nation's history has there been some idyllic "golden-era" where everything was perfect. We are much better off than most any other country on the planet. And contrary to what you may think, the founding fathers were not perfect, nor was the time period they lived in. There are many things we can do better, and on many issues, the country regresses from time to time. But we are generally pretty well off. To complain that we are not 'free', or that somehow the founding fathers would spin in their graves at current society, is just ignorant.

YouWinAgainGravity: At no point in our nation's history has there been some idyllic "golden-era" where everything was perfect.

We came pretty close with the Era of Good Feelings.

"we'll have our cake...and eat it too!!!"

-the united states of america...1776-2009.

don't kid yourselves.

you'll never be 'more free' than you are at this moment in time.

Bauer:
you'll never be 'more free' than you are at this moment in time.

It's 'cause I'm not wearing pants.

/salutes

In case anyone was wondering, the USS Constitution is boring, and being the Navy would SUUUUUUCK, as they stack the sailors up like cordwood.


/went to see old ship
//BBQing soon.
///pleasepleasepleaspleaseplease don't rain.

this is why the 'war on drugs' and the 'war on terror' are doomed to fail.

-and they may also take america with them.

you cannot protect a free society by force without falling into apathy and oppression.

9/11 must be forgotten.

-and forgiven.

we must move on!

honor them...but do not worship them.

let's not get into the total hypocrisy that is "the american illegal drug policy".

-add shiat...and stir.

"For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offenses:"

2 tips to lose stomach fat.

Forgot about that part.

Wow, this is really old news.



Welcome to 1776 subby.

FlashHarry: when i brought up the phrase "...and the pursuit of happiness" in a gay marriage debate here on fark, a fark "conservative" told me straight-faced that the key word there is "pursuit" - as in, "all y'all gheys can pursue equality all you want - but nobody's saying you're actually gonna get it!"

It does not say pursuit of equality, it says pursuit of happiness.

Weaver95: I have great difficulty reconciling concepts such as the Patriot act, seatbelt legislation, wall street bailouts, RIAA's perversion of US copyright law and the entire War on Drugs with the philosophies of the Founding Fathers.

If you ask me, we've lost our way. we're no longer 'free'. we've been TOLD we're free, but we need permits for everything and today we're going to have to run a gauntlet of drunk driving checkpoints to get around town. Not to mention the fact that the NSA and DHS are going to tap our phones to make sure nobody blows up the statue of Liberty tonight. So I don't think we're 'free'. I think we decidedly less free than we've ever been at any time before in the history of this country.

just my .02 cents.

/golf clap

pursuit of happiness, results are not guaranteed!

America is the best place in the world. All you stinky foreigners can SUCK IT!

penthesilea...pants are for the weak.

i agree.

-naked is...as naked does.

There's no hate like revolutionary hate.

As it is my country's 233rd birthday and my 24th birthday, I'm going to be drinking a whole lot for the both of us.

Weaver95: I have great difficulty reconciling concepts such as the Patriot act, seatbelt legislation, wall street bailouts, RIAA's perversion of US copyright law and the entire War on Drugs with the philosophies of the Founding Fathers.
If you ask me, we've lost our way. we're no longer 'free'. we've been TOLD we're free, but we need permits for everything and today we're going to have to run a gauntlet of drunk driving checkpoints to get around town. Not to mention the fact that the NSA and DHS are going to tap our phones to make sure nobody blows up the statue of Liberty tonight. So I don't think we're 'free'. I think we decidedly less free than we've ever been at any time before in the history of this country.
just my .02 cents.

006andahalf: kronicfeld: *Except for negroes and women.

and the gheys
and in certain cases, mesicans, japs, chinks, wops, spics, jews, and greasers.


Hey, don't forget us Micks.

Sum Dum Gai: This got greenlit? It's a repeat from 1776.

I kept looking for the joke in the headline. Realized the joke was on me. Oops...

Weaver95: I have great difficulty reconciling concepts such as the Patriot act, seatbelt legislation, wall street bailouts, RIAA's perversion of US copyright law and the entire War on Drugs with the philosophies of the Founding Fathers.

If you ask me, we've lost our way. we're no longer 'free'. we've been TOLD we're free, but we need permits for everything and today we're going to have to run a gauntlet of drunk driving checkpoints to get around town. Not to mention the fact that the NSA and DHS are going to tap our phones to make sure nobody blows up the statue of Liberty tonight. So I don't think we're 'free'. I think we decidedly less free than we've ever been at any time before in the history of this country.

just my .02 cents.

Came in to say something like this. Well said.

If I don't believe in a Creator, do I still have certain unalienable rights?

Bauer: 9/11 must be forgotten.

-and forgiven.

Forgotten? No nation should forget such an attack on their own soil. We were not at war. Civilians were killed. We need to remember what happened.

That does not mean we live our lives in fear. We remember Pearl Harbor, but I'm pretty sure we rebuilt the harbor. Not a freakin' exhorbitant, useless monument.

Forgiven? Someday, perhaps, but not today.

/rant over
//this is a July 4 thread, I know

006andahalf: kronicfeld: *Except for negroes and women.

and the gheys
and in certain cases, mesicans, japs, chinks, wops, spics, jews, and greasers.

you forgot native americans, ya know the people that were here 16000 years before the US.