Tag Archives: Declaration of Independence

Obama Grants Waiver to Philadelphia’s Legendary City Tavern

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city tavern signcity tavern fron

Well, not really.

The City Tavern Restaurant, a Philadelphia icon, has been ordered by the National Park Service to shut down as a result of the squabble in our nation’s capital.  This authentically recreated 18th century tavern was modeled after the original, which had been an important gathering place for many of our country’s founding fathers. Located within walking distance from the place where both the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution were debated and signed, men such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin were known to have socialized at the City Tavern after hours. No doubt this “watering hole” was a place where revolutionary ideas were floated and important alliances formed in order to help to win American Independence and form a new nation.

When the last federal shutdown occurred in 1996 the City Tavern Restaurant was allowed to stay open for business even though it leases its property and building from NPS/Dept. of Interior. The only difference between then and now is that President Obama and his team are in charge instead of Bill Clinton and his team, and so City Tavern has been ordered to close. Whether one sides with Democrats or Republicans, in the current dispute, or neither one, clearly, the City Tavern closure is on the Obama Administration and the Democrat leaders who support the President and who govern and control the district where the City Tavern lies.

Anybody familiar with this restaurant knows that it functions on a day to day basis without NPS personnel. It’s just ugly politics. And so, about 20 of City Tavern’s private- sector employees are out of work. Unlike the federal employees on furlough, they have no hope of getting “back pay” when the tavern reopens. The fact that City Tavern was allowed to operate during the 1996 federal shutdown is proof that the current shutdown cannot be blamed on the Republicans. Besides, President Obama has become famous for granting waivers. Why not now?

An American

Post Script: We should all be putting pressure on Mayor Nutter, Senator Casey and Congressman Brady to help the patrons and employees of City Tavern. Also, don’t forget to support City Tavern when it reopens by making a lunch or dinner reservation. If you have never been to this fabulous restaurant for a meal before, rest assured; you are in for a really great experience. While you’re there, why not spend a day in Philadelphia’s historic district and enjoy all that this hallowed place has to offer. The legacy that our founders left behind has lately not been respected; let a visit to Philadelphia help to revive the Spirit of ’76 and ’87 in all of us! 

AA

MSNBC’s Reign of Terror

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Dr. Benjamin Rush, one of our great men, once wrote a friend:

“I agree with you in deriving our physical calamities from moral causes…. A bitter and unchristian spirit has likewise divided our citizens. We have not, it is true, erected a guillotine in our country, but we enjoy similar spectacles of cruelty in the destruction of public and private characters in our newspapers.” *

Things haven’t changed much, have they?

I’ve watched Maddow, Olberman, Matthews and others similar on MSNBC many, many times, so I don’t need anyone to tell me what to think about them. For those of you who have been told how horrible and racist Fox News is, but haven’t watched it for yourselves, you might want to take it upon yourselves to actually see if what you have been told is true. Give it at least two weeks. Fox News has excellent and fair reporting (not perfect). And they truly have nice, good and decent people working for them – they are not the rotten devils you have been told they are.

Some of you who watch MSNBC and other Liberal news outlets have been led to believe that most Republicans are racist. You have been lied to. Why? Because by demonizing their opponents, the left prevents people from listening to Republicans’ ideas, which may have merit. Another reason the left makes charges of racism is that it provokes in some people an immediate, prejudicial response, which requires no critical thinking. The trumped-up charges of racism and wars on women are nothing but propaganda meant to manipulate the feelings of certain groups. Independent, critical thinkers generally are not fooled by such propaganda. There is no Republican war on Gays, or Hispanics, or Women. These are all distractions meant to control these groups and maintain them as constituents in the Democrat party.

Why did MSNBC run the Rubio sipping water clip over 155 times? Answer: It’s part of a larger effort to neutralize an up and coming Hispanic conservative and make him look like a buffoon. It’s part of the left’s war on conservative minorities. That, is a real war. Many on the left show no respect for conservative minorities and heap nothing but disdain on them.

As far as our leaders go, we must not tolerate politicians who prefer to sow seeds of division, hatred and confusion, rather than discuss the difficult issues facing our country with well-reasoned and substantive arguments. The time they waste spewing their nonsense means less time spent offering solutions. Decent people do not try to manipulate others with false accusations of being homophobic, or racist or whatever.

Benjamin Rush’s observation about the media still applies today. Unfortunately, it appears we have learned nothing in the 220 years since he observed it. It’s time to stop once and for all the public name calling and character assassination that is so prevalent in our politics. We need to begin devoting only our intellects and all of our energies towards solving the dangerous problems that face our nation. That goes for Republicans too.

Our number one issue is economic, so lets start there. We need to revive the economy mainly through private, not public initiative. We must reduce government spending before the federal government becomes insolvent or destroys the value of our currency and our savings. We need fewer regulatory constraints on businesses. We must revise the tort system. If we do these things, there is no doubt in my mind that America will rise again. For that, I am sure, some will call me a racist.

For those of you who are not familiar with him, I would like to call your attention to that great man who was Benjamin Rush. Born in Philadelphia in 1746, Rush became a physician, patriot, author, educator, humanitarian and an early abolitionist. He was one among those brave men who pledged their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor when they signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776. According to L. H. Butterfield, editor of Rush’s letters, “Rush’s fame sprang from his own vigorous and magnetic personality; from his substantial accomplishments in medicine, psychiatry, education, and social reform; from the great body of his published writings; from his gifts as a teacher and lecturer; and finally, from the letters he wrote to scores of friends, relatives, patients, pupils and colleagues on both sides of the Atlantic.”

“Long regarded by everyone except himself and perhaps a few other Philadelphians as the leading citizen of Philadelphia, the recipient of uncounted honors from his countrymen and from European courts and learned societies, Rush had achieved a reputation not surpassed by that of any other American physician for a century or more.”

Dear Reader: Please check back in the future for a page which I will wholly devote to Dr. Rush’s life and accomplishments.)

Frotho

*Benjamin Rush to William Marshall, September 15, 1798. Letters of Benjamin Rush, Vol. II, p. 807

THOUGHTS ON SECESSION

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While I am not advocating SECESSION as a way to deal with the current fiscal crisis, I would not rule it out as an option if the federal government continues its slide towards insolvency. Another reason to consider secession would be if the governments of fiscally irresponsible states like California and Illinois ask the federal government to coerce fiscally responsible states like Kansas and Oklahoma to bail them out. This scenario is more than just a remote possibility. I won’t attempt to list all the possible justifications for secession. My point is that there are good and valid reasons for considering secession.

An example of one group of Americans bailing out another group occurred when the housing bubble burst in 2007-8. As the housing market collapsed, responsible homeowners began supporting with their taxes the bailout of a system shattered by the irresponsible actions of others. How long will the good citizens of our country support a system that continually abuses them?

Much of the criticism of this most recent Secessionist wave is coming from people who seem to be very loosely educated in American history. While I don’t always agree with Ron Paul, I have to admit that he was right when he made the point that the United States was created by a secessionist movement. It’s an historical fact that can’t be argued with. In 1776, 13 English colonies declared that they were “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.” The leaders of the colonies thought the British policies so oppressive that it warranted secession. Americans still celebrate this Declaration of Independence (or what might also be properly called a Declaration of Secession) every 4th of July.

The accusation that people discussing secession are kooks or even worse, traitors begs the question: Why are so many Americans ignorant of their own history?

When the Virginia delegates gathered in Richmond in June of 1788 to consider ratification of the Constitution they wrote: “The powers granted under the Constitution, being derived from the People of the United States, may be resumed by them, whensoever the same shall be perverted to their injury or oppression.” By this declaration, the Virginia delegates were making it very clear that the governing powers conferred by them to the federal authority might be withdrawn if the federal authority began abusing those powers. In other words, the same Virginians who gave their consent to the Constitution were simultaneously asserting their right to secede from the Union just as the 13 colonies had dissolved their union with Great Britain 12 years prior.

The men of the Virginia Ratifying Convention did not believe that the Constitution was a perfect legal framework for federal governing and so they proposed several amendments to it. One began thus: “That Government ought to be instituted for the common benefit, protection and security of the People; and that the doctrine of non-resistance against arbitrary power and oppression is absurd, slavish, and destructive of the good and happiness of mankind.” It seems obvious to me that many of the founding fathers from Virginia viewed complacency towards an abusive federal government as unpatriotic.

Was Virginia’s ratification declaration just the ranting of a landed, slave-owning gentry who wanted to leave the door open for secession to protect the institution of slavery? I don’t think so. No serious Constitutional historian that I know of has attributed a strong pro-slavery interest to the representatives at New York’s ratifying convention, and yet they expressed sentiments similar to Virginia’s in their own declaration: “That all power is originally vested in, and consequently derived from, the people, and that government is instituted by them for their common interest, protection, and security.” “That the powers of government may be reassumed by the people whensoever it shall become necessary to their happiness.” I really don’t think Virginia and New York had anything specific in mind when they made these declarations. If one studies the things that motivated the founding fathers, one of the common themes revealed is a general mistrust of central authority.

This little peek into our constitutional beginnings demonstrates that Ron Paul was absolutely right when he said “We came together voluntarily – a free society means you can dissolve it voluntarily.” Liberty does not exist when people lose the power to enforce their right to replace the government that oppresses them.

N. B. The source of the declarations quoted above is the work popularly know as Elliot’s Debates on the Federal Constitution. It’s unfortunate that very few Americans seem to understand the principles behind the origin of our Constitutional Republic. What’s worse is that they may not even care. Because they do not know what the Constitution was intended to be, they do not recognize how far we have strayed from its original purpose and the danger that this implies. This holiday season, with the young ones in mind; consider the gift of early American history. I will try to find some good American history books to recommend for the kids. Please check back later.

Canutus