Stars or Stripes?

Does anyone remember the Texaco Service Man Commercial growing up where he is stripped of his service stripes because he didn't perform up to Texaco's high standards? I am sure that dates me a little bit.

Lately, there is some confusion in America about who is a star and who deserves to have their stripes removed.

We should all sign on as Americans and accept that there are rules and a Constitution to follow regardless of circumstances. No more hyphens or pushing and shoving to the front of the line to get what you want and when you want it.

I am going to state quite boldly, that we can be compassionate without having to sacrifice our own values in the process.

They say that history repeats itself. The reason for that being that human beings don't learn their lessons in life the first time. They become proud and willful in their dealings with each other.

The biggest Star of our Country besides the Constitution should be the Declaration of Independence and I have typed out the entire thing to teach myself a little history lesson.

The first paragraph reads:

"When in the Course of Human Events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation."

The second paragraph is more widely known and oft repeated:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.-That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their jut 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.-Such as has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their form systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid word.

The next several paragraphs are quite short and to the point, no need for thousands of pages of rhetoric:

He has refused his Assent to Laws most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in the operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all dangers of invasion from without and convulsions within.

He as endeavored to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage the migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

he has affected to render the Military independent and superior to Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their acts of pretended Legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them by mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, the benefit of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond the Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighboring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies.

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of Our Governments:

For Suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government her, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with the circumstances of Cruelty and Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy, the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose know rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is marked by every act which may define a Tyrant is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been Wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must therefore acquiesce in the necessity which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We therefore, the representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do in the Name and and by the Authority of good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies re and of Right out to be 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 out to be totally dissolved; Contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and do all other Acts and Things which Independent States my of right do.-And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the Protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other, our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

Whew! I realize that this is very long and most of this blog is not even my own words. However, as I typed this out, I realized that nothing much has changed in human nature. We still have tyrants, there is still war, and unfairness all around.

This not only reflects upon our government, country, but the entire world and our attitudes and choices that cause others harm; a spread of cancerous malaise and despair.

It would seem that there are more stripes laid upon the backs of the common man than ever before. However, goodness will always prevail amongst those who take the higher road and attempt to move beyond self.

Brave and Courageous Men and Women of thirteen Colonies risked their lives and fortunes to stand up to a Tyrant. Not to make themselves a comfortable life, but to ensure that future generations would enjoy the freedoms of this wonderful and blessed nation.

Our Stars shine more brightly because of the dedication and courage of our forefathers.

Take a moment this Fourth of July to reflect upon our Country's Historic Beginnings. Our God is so Good. He has blessed us beyond measure.

Have a nice and safe holiday everyone, And May God Continue to Bless America.