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The Last Fourth of July

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David Swanson
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The Eighth Amendment had read: "Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted."

Now, no bail may be permitted at all, and the most hideous forms of torture are no longer unusual.

The Ninth Amendment had read: "The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people."

This has now been reversed.  Whereas the main body of the Constitution reads: "The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it," it has now been established that because the Constitution does not actually say that anyone ever has the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus, nobody does.  Just as nobody has any other rights.

The Tenth Amendment had read: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people."

Now, all powers belong to the king, whether delegated to the Congress, left to the states and the people, or never hitherto imagined.

On the First Fourth of July, the signers of the Declaration of Independence declared: "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 ... We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America ... 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 for the support of this Declaration ... we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor."

On the Last Fourth of July, the subjects of the new King George thought long and hard.  Would they grill hotdogs, turn up the air-conditioning, cheer for militarism, and wait for total tyranny.  Or would they go to the local offices of their senators and say: "If you follow through on eliminating our Fourth Amendment, we will be through with you.  We do not care what you threaten us with.  We do not care what faction or party you belong to.  You will restore our Fourth Amendment or you will be finished in public life."  Will they go to their representatives, also home for the holiday, and say "You must now put one piece of the Constitution back where it belongs, the fundamental piece, the keystone on which all else depends.  You must impeach this president, join our cause, and enjoy our gratitude, or we will end your career as court jester and replace you with a representative of the will of the Free and Independent People that our ancestors gave their lives to create."

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David Swanson is the author of "When the World Outlawed War," "War Is A Lie" and "Daybreak: Undoing the Imperial Presidency and Forming a More Perfect Union." He blogs at http://davidswanson.org and http://warisacrime.org and works for the online (more...)
 
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