by Mike –
Today is the Fourth of July – Independence Day for the USA – on this day in 1776 the Declaration of Independence was signed (243 years ago!).
Celebrations will be held from sea to shining sea!
Statue of Liberty – New York – photo by kazuend on Unsplash
Golden Gate Bridge – San Francisco – photo by Maarten van den Heuvel on Unsplash
Whoever would overthrow the liberty of a nation must begin by subduing the freeness of speech. — Benjamin Franklin, 1722
There is nothing so fretting and vexatious, nothing so justly terrible to tyrants, and their tools and abettors, as a free press. — Samuel Adams, 1768
The freedom of speech may be taken away — and, dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep, to the slaughter. — George Washington, to officers of the Army, 1783
The Declaration of Independence triggered events that changed the world. This one page document demonstrates the power of words.
Read it for yourself – click to enlarge.
Today, on July 4th, I was reading about Clint Eastwood making a movie called Flags of our Fathers and I appreciate even more the sacrifices made by Americans defending the flag since 1776. As deep as the rancor has gotten between the political parties, I still like to think the basic system signed off of in 1776 is still functioning. There’s a lot of countries where they can’t say that…