Declaration of Independence

American values such as Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness as stated in the Declaration of Independence have been seriously challenged since Bush and the G.O.P have taken office. They have constantly violated our unalienable rights guaranteed in the Bill of Rights. These rights include the Right to Privacy, Freedom of the Press, and Right to a Jury Trial. It's ironic that Bush would say immigrants should learn American values when he is the one that hasn't learned it.

Let's look at Amendment 6. "In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense." How many times has this been violated since Bush took office? People have been kept in jail cells for years without knowing the charges against them or any hint of a trial.

Let's look at Amendment 4. "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized." Now think about Bush's NSA phone tapping program and the Patriot Act. How many things have been searched through the Patriot Act without a court order?

Amendment 1. Freedom of Speech. Freedom of the Press. "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances." Now the Republican Congress is threatening reporters.

I quote this from the Declaration of Independence, "That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, 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. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security."

The Declaration of Independence is worth reading in whole. It's only one page of writing.