Happy Independence Day

Growing up in Canada I learned at a young age of your Constitution and the protections it afforded your citizens. While still in grade school I was appalled to find that Canada did not have a similar document, when the mere effort of writing and signing one was all that was required. Now decades later I see that your nation of 'laws not men' is being usurped by men who consider themselves to be above the law. They are only distinguishable from the hereditary despots of your pre-revolutionary period in that they are worse. I explain how they are worse here.

Your nation is defined by its constitution. It is to that document and its brethren that you owe your loyalty and patriotism. Every country in the world has a flag, even the most brutal of tyrannies. A piece of cloth is not worthy of your allegiance, let alone a pledge thereof. Spacious skies? Not unique, in fact it is in the nature of skies everywhere to be spacious. Most countries have amber waves of grain too, and many have purple mountains. Few have a document with the magnificent clarity and life-affirming conviction of your Declaration of Independence. Very few have the legal protection for the individual embodied in your Bill of Rights. It is exactly that protection that has allowed so many of your citizens to realize their full potential no matter their original station, and literally go from rags to riches, or from log cabin to the White House. Is social mobility not key to the American Dream?

George W. Bush came not from a log cabin but from a background of wealth and privilege. His clear agenda is to protect that privilege for himself and others in the Corporatocracy regardless of the cost to your country as a whole. He has spared no effort to put an end to the tradition of law that has guided your country for over two centuries. And, as John Locke said, "Where law ends, tyranny begins."

Webster's defines a tyrant as, "an absolute ruler unrestrained by law or constitution." Bush's assertion of 'unitary executive' authority makes him fit that definition perfectly. Not in some nebulous future, but right here, right now, present tense. It is the plain duty of your citizens to oppose him right here and right now.

I'm sorry, I seem to have gotten carried away. Really all I meant to do was wish everyone a happy Independence Day, and to remind you all to drive safely. If you're outside having the traditional barbecue, be sure to wear an adequate sunblock. Still, if you do display the Stars and Stripes today, maybe it should be upside-down. If this is not a fitting occasion for a distress signal, I don't know what would be.