At a recent TEA Party protest in Washington DC, House Minority Leader John Boehner stood before a crowd of thousands. Encouraging him to stand against the proposed health care bill in the House (which is now endorsed by the AARP), he spoke of a great founding document, the U.S. Constitution. Holding his personal copy of the document in his hand, Boehner recited the Preamble to the crowd:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident," Boehner said, "that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights..."
Without a doubt, many TEA Party protesters at the event felt a sense of pride in hearing those words.
Some, however, probably felt a bit confused. Indeed, the document that Boehner was quoting was not the Constitution -- it was the Declaration of Independence.
That someone in today's world may confuse the two (both documents date back over two hundred years ago) is not surprising. Equally as unsurprising is that a person at a TEA Party event missed the mark (protesters within the crowds have spread lies and misinformation for several months now). But what should worry some is that a ranking member of Congress, the leader of the oppositional party in the House of Representatives, got the two mixed up.
Nevertheless, the sentiment is what matters more than the error. Boehner was articulating what many TEA Party protesters felt: that they had a right to protest this government, to bring it down, and to defeat Obama and his Democratic allies.
The Declaration of Independence -- the real document that Boehner had quoted -- justifies just that. When "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" are deprived from the people, then "it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it (government), 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."
The Declaration indeed is a very rebellious document. But it's purpose was to address the grievances against the King of England at the time. Comparing those grivances to today's, and you'll notice something: the grievances of today are squat when you look back at history.
Patriots of 1776 rallied against unfair taxation (without represenation in Parliament), quartering of soldiers in colonial homes, dissolving of "representative houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people," unfair trials without juries, and general disregard for the law made by King George.
TEA Party protesters today are rallying against...taxes, high spending at the federal level, Barack Obama's birth certificate, health care reform...hardly anything comparable to the grievances of the late 18th century.
Whereas King George took away the livelihood of the people, took away their just rights, took away their right to purue their own happiness, Barack Obama is asking the wealthy to pay a little bit more in taxes (something most Americans support, and that father of the Republican Party Abraham Lincoln imposed). He is asking that we not fear high spending. And he's asking that we use some of our revenue to help put in place a health care plan that will allow people to keep their insurance, or to purchase a public plan offered by the government itself.
Oppose these policies all you want -- that's an American ideal that we all can celebrate, even if we do disagree with one another. Comparing the grievances of conservatives today, however, to the grievances the colonies had with King George, and you're out of line.
Barack Obama has done nothing to constitute the removal of government as we know it, as Jefferson suggested we do in times destruction to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." We mustn't be hasty, and we shouldn't over-dramatize the grievances we may have with the president, with some of us proposing an actual revolution to deal with them.
Disagree with him. Be emotional about it. But don't compare apples to oranges.
(Photo courtesy of AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Comments
Your photo would cause me conclude that your are a young perosn. Have you figured out yet that your generation will end up picking up the tab for Obama's socialist excess?
Get Rid of Obama = Get Rid of the Pork
Young people have been taken in by a big city con man and will pay for it for the rest of their lives:
Google -Stupid is as stupid does - IMPORTANT!steady drip
Google - Uninformed voted Obama - Informed voted McCain - Poll...Who Elected Obama? steady drip
Who elected Obama? steady drip
This moron leads the American Taliban Party (Rep.) and you wonder why they oppose healthcare reform? Thay can't read the bill!!!
They are also picking up the tab for a needless war in Iraq that far exceeds anything else, another war in Afghanistan, huge tax breaks to the wealthy & corporations running Wash. through their Rep. cronies(Ins.lobbyists, Big Pharma, Def. contractors,...). This young person, along with millions of others got the message and voted for Dems in overwhelming numbers. The American Taliban Party will soon be a third party!!!
Your inexperience shows in your inability to see that OPINIONS are just that - OPINIONS and not FACTS.
While I appreciate your apples to oranges OPINION, it is my opinion that the Tea Party'ers are comparing Apples to Apples. They may not be on the grandeous scale of King George issues, but Obama is taking away the people's livelihood by not creating jobs! He, too, lacks the experience needed for his job.
The transgressions of Obama may be different in details, but they are transgressions levied against the American people just the same. How would you have those that disagree, show their disagreement? Basically you want them to sit at home and emotionally wring their hands when they feel their America is being assulted by the President?
You are immature and naive - you need to grow up and figure out how you are going to pay for Obama's transgressions, because we will be dead and gone and YOU will still be paying for them.
You say Obama Barack Obama is asking the wealthy to pay a little bit more in taxes - I say you need to ask Obama just what he considers the wealthy. And do you have any idea how many Americans WERE wealthy prior to Obama taking office as opposed to how many there are NOW?
You say Obama is asking that we not fear high spending...use some of our revenue?
I say, what revenue - the revenue from all the taxes that people are no longer paying because they have no jobs? You mean, THAT revenue?
Here is a little secret - there is no revenue - you can't spend what you don't have. If you print it so you can spend it, you cause more problems, and evenutally the bottom drops out. Obama and Tax Cheat Geithner are no different than Felony Counterfeiters! There is a reason it is illegal.
The sad thing is - you should be so much more worried about it than I - as I said in my last post, I'll be dead - but you'll still be paying for Obama's 'high spending'. Enjoy....
Hey Sally....age has nothing to do with it. How long will it take us to reclaim the billions spent on an insane war in Iraq...that was created by people of the older generation...health care could have been funded by that error...now your great grandchildren will be paying for that...get your head out of the ground; young people are sometimes much more aware of what they will inherit than what us older folks foresee..
Obama did not create the deficit. I is a compilation of decades of Republican administrations. Do you even remember that when GW got into office there was a surplus. Obama will address the deficit, the first thing to do is get health care under control. When he got into office the economy was in free fall. He turned it around. If he hasn't done anything to address the deficit after his first 4 years then maybe it will be a legitimate complaint. History shows that Republicans run up the debt and the Democrats (the real fiscal conservatives) bring it down. He is really fixing the problems in this country. I am proud of my president. The Republicans need to get their head out of the sand and start working to help Obama fix the problems rather than just oppose him. Obama is truly shaping up to be one of our greatest presidents.
Don't you worry His O'liness, King "The One" Almighty is making headway fast on that deficit spending.
Patriots of 2009 rallied against unfair taxation, imprisonment and fines through the guise of healthcare legislation (without proper representation in Congress), quartering of their children in public re-education systems, dissolving of "representative houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people" through massive government agent hiring and untold unaccountable czars, unruly proselytization of the Supreme Court, News Organizations, and Private Citizens, the former who's job it is to decipher the constitutionality of legislation, the next whose job it is as Free Press to be the watchdog of the citizenry, the latter whom are The People they serve under while they demonstrate a general disregard for the law set forth in our Constitution of by and for The People.
If that's the copy of the Constitution I have (and it looks identical) it also has the Dec of Ind included with it.
So your entire "Dur-HUR! GOTCHA!" thesis is based on your ignorance, not his.
See for yourself. Grab one of those portable Pocket Constitutions... and yaknow... READ IT once in a while..
"That someone in today's world may confuse the two (both documents date back over two hundred years ago) is not surprising." Are you serious? If that is true what in god's name are they teaching people in school these days. We not only studied the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, we were required to memorize the preamble to the Constitution. Why are we making excuses for the ignorance and hypocracy of Boehner, Cantor, McConnell and the rest of that crowd?
These people shouldn't even be representing the people of the US. They are a disgrace.
Woops, I didn't mean to make my comment 1 second ago anonymously.
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