Barney Fife Recites The Preamble To The Constitution

Barney gives Andy a history lesson...

Happy 4th to everyone.

Comments

[S. Gompers]

Where is Ernest T when you need him...

[S. Gompers]

Celebrate that which deserves to be venerated, shun that which deforms our indispensable values and noble aspirations. The Fourth of July is not a government anniversary. It is a time to remember that independence is the spirit and the soul of the nation. The fireworks are for as John Adams rightly affirms - a Day of Deliverance. That liberation from captivity is what we honor and so often forget. If any are incapable of understanding the distinction between the goal of liberty and the reality of tyranny, they should study their heritage on this solemn day.

Happy Independence day to all...

[DailyBail]

John Stuart Mills On Liberty

That the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others. His own good, either physical or moral, is not a sufficient warrant. He cannot rightfully be compelled to do or forbear because it will be better for him to do so, because it will make him happier, because, in the opinions of others, to do so would be wise, or even right. These are good reasons for remonstrating with him, or reasoning with him, or persuading him, or entreating him, but not for compelling him, or visiting him with any evil, in case he do otherwise. To justify that, the conduct from which it is desired to deter him must be calculated to produce evil to someone else. The only part of the conduct of any one, for which he is amenable to society, is that which concerns others. In the part which merely concerns himself, his independence is, of right, absolute. Over himself, over his own body and mind, the individual is sovereign.

[john]

John Adam's Letter on the Eve of the Declaration of Independence

http://www.sonofthesouth.net/revolutionary-war/patriots/john-adams-declaration-independence.htm

[snip]

... But the day is past. The second day of July, 1776, will be a memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great Anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp, shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of the continent to the other, from this time forward forever.

You may think me transported with enthusiasm; but I am not. I am well aware of the toil and blood and treasure that it will cost us to maintain this declaration and support and defend these States. Yet, through all the gloom, I can see the rays of light and glory; I can see that the end is more than worth all the means, and that posterity will triumph, although you and I may rue, which I hope we shall not.

[Josie]

http://www.dojgov.net/Liberty_Watch.htm

[john]

Josie, well said.

"Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence?

Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died. Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army; another had two sons captured. Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War. They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor. What kind of men were they?

Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists. Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantation owners; men of means, well educated. But they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured.

Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts, and died in rags. Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay, and
his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his reward. Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton. At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson, Jr. noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters. He quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt. Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months. John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying. Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished. A few weeks later, he died from exhaustion and a broken heart. Norris and Livingston suffered similar fates. Such were the stories and sacrifices of the American Revolution. These were not wild-eyed, rabble-rousing ruffians. They were soft-spoken men of means and education. They had security, but they valued liberty more."

[DailyBail]

'You want my home, it will cost you your life': Five dead after German gunman 'took hostages when bailiffs arrived to evict him from his flat'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2168598/Five-dead-German-gunman-took-hostages-bailiffs-arrived-evict-flat.html

It's getting rough out there...

[DailyBail]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/04/us-britain-libor-diamond-idUSBRE8630H620120704

Good recap of Bob Diamond's testimony in the UK this morning.

[Tina]

Thanks for our Founders, their courage and sacrifices. May enough of us who have benefited from their decisive action on this day in 1776 work to defend the Constitution (especially the Bill of Rights) from all enemies, foreign and domestic, to ensure that we American citizens may recover and maintain for ourselves and our posterity our individual freedoms and rights a year from today and for many years to come.

God save the Republic!

[Texas Dar]

I am So Lucky, I get to watch Andy, Barny, Aunt Bee, Obey, every day at 12:30 here in the Ozarks. Its my "Stress Pill" for the day.

30 min. whAre the goverment cant get in my Face........