Stem Cell Research Petition
To the Honorable George W. Bush.
President of the United States of Ameirca
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20500
Stem Cell Research Petition
president@whitehouse.gov
Dear Mr. President:
Embryonic stem cell research has the potential to help more than 100 million Americans who have deadly and disabling diseases and conditions such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury, and many others.
However, the limits on the lines of stem cells available for Federally funded research has seriously hindered researchers' ability to help treat these diseases and conditions. Since the policy was announced on August 9, 2001, the number of viable embryonic stem cell lines available to researchers who receive Federal funding has plummeted from 78 to 19.
This research is immensely important and should be fully explored so that we are able to do as much as possible to find cures and alleviate human suffering. We ask that you expand the current policy so that Federal funds will be available for more embryonic stem cell lines.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Respectfully submitted this ______ day of ___________________ , _______ by
We The People of the United States of America:
Name Address City, State, Zip Code Phone E-Mail
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Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Pre-emptive War
The other day, Bush launched a new public relations effort on Iran to counter his record-low poll numbers. As part of the PR campaign, he is once again asserting his doctrine of the "pre-emptive war " as he used to justify the Iraq War. Join us now for a few looks at other pre-emptive wars or someone else’s invasion based on one’s point of view.
1941: Japan launches a pre-emptive war on the US over our efforts to rebuild our defenses following the Great Depression and our condemnation of Japanese attacks on China (a pre-emptive war started much earlier). Enhanced by our reluctance to sell Japan needed resources.
1917: Germany launches submarine attacks on the US over US aid to the Allies and rumors of American involvement in WWI.
1812:England launches an attack on the US over regaining lost territory from the Revolutionary War and rumors of spreading the revolt to Canada.
Most Americans did not view these pre-emptive strikes as good news and some might have even questioned the veracity of the threat posed. Certainly there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, so can pre-emptive wars based on unsound judgment ever be justified? I say no.
1941: Japan launches a pre-emptive war on the US over our efforts to rebuild our defenses following the Great Depression and our condemnation of Japanese attacks on China (a pre-emptive war started much earlier). Enhanced by our reluctance to sell Japan needed resources.
1917: Germany launches submarine attacks on the US over US aid to the Allies and rumors of American involvement in WWI.
1812:England launches an attack on the US over regaining lost territory from the Revolutionary War and rumors of spreading the revolt to Canada.
Most Americans did not view these pre-emptive strikes as good news and some might have even questioned the veracity of the threat posed. Certainly there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, so can pre-emptive wars based on unsound judgment ever be justified? I say no.
The Faces of Death
A. Study of the Texas death penalty under Governor George W. Bush was performed by three Chicago Tribune reporters – Steve Mills, Ken Armstrong, and Douglas Holt – in June 2000. Their study found glaring and pervasive failures in the death penalty process under the presidential hopeful. By the time of the study Gov. Bush had executed 131 alleged murderers.
The investigative journalists found that, of those 131 executions, defense attorneys in 40 cases presented either no evidence whatsoever or only one witness during the trial’s sentencing phase. In 29 of the cases, James “Dr. Death” Grigson testified that the defendant would commit future violent acts, although in most of these cases he had never interviewed the client. In 43 (one-third) of the cases the defendant was represented at trial or on initial appeal by an attorney who had been or was later disbarred, suspended, or otherwise sanctioned. In 23 of the cases prosecutors utilized jailhouse snitches, a form of testimony so notoriously unreliable that some states warn jurors to view it skeptically
B. On 9/11/2001 approximately 3000 Americans died and NORAD was nowhere. Since Sept. 11 government representatives have in fact promoted a series of mutually contradictory narratives of how the nation's air defenses responded to the unfolding attacks. Various chronologies were presented at different times by the high military command, the North American Air Defense command. Gen. Richard Myers, the acting Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on 9/11 told the Senate that no fighter jets were scrambled to intercept any of the 9/11 flights until after the Pentagon was struck. Myers's statement to the Senate was incredible, given the standard U.S. air defense protocols for dealing with errant instrument flights (including off-course passenger planes).
In place many years before Sept. 11, these procedures are automatic and require no special order. Within minutes after a flight ceases to respond to ground control, the FAA is expected to alert NORAD - which scrambles jet fighters to intercept the errant flight for reconnaissance purposes. These are supposed to be airborne within 10 minutes of the problem arising. This routine was activated on at least 67 occasions in the year prior to June 1, 2001
C. Iraqi death totals range from 50,000 to 100,000 civilians but no accurate official figure for the number of Iraqis killed since the outbreak of war in 2003. Some non-governmental estimates range from 100,000 to 300,000. About 3500 U.S. servicemen had been killed, according to the U.S. Defense Department. Violent deaths — those brought about by the intentional act of others — were wide spread studies reported. The chances of a violent death were 58 times higher after the invasion than before it, researchers concluded.
D. New Orleans and the Gulf Coast suffered. Hurricane Katrina was the costliest and one of the deadliest hurricanes in the history of the United States. It was the sixth-strongest Atlantic hurricane ever recorded and the third-strongest landfalling U.S. hurricane ever recorded. Katrina formed in late August during the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season and devastated much of the north-central Gulf Coast of the United States. Most notable in media coverage were the catastrophic effects on the city of New Orleans,.
The storm killed at least 1,836 people, making it the deadliest U.S. hurricane since the 1928 Okeechobee Hurricane. Criticism of the federal, state and local governments' reaction to the storm was widespread and resulted in an investigation.
Don’t you think it time to end the culture of death?
http://davidcogswell.com/MediaRoulette/LateMay05.html
The investigative journalists found that, of those 131 executions, defense attorneys in 40 cases presented either no evidence whatsoever or only one witness during the trial’s sentencing phase. In 29 of the cases, James “Dr. Death” Grigson testified that the defendant would commit future violent acts, although in most of these cases he had never interviewed the client. In 43 (one-third) of the cases the defendant was represented at trial or on initial appeal by an attorney who had been or was later disbarred, suspended, or otherwise sanctioned. In 23 of the cases prosecutors utilized jailhouse snitches, a form of testimony so notoriously unreliable that some states warn jurors to view it skeptically
B. On 9/11/2001 approximately 3000 Americans died and NORAD was nowhere. Since Sept. 11 government representatives have in fact promoted a series of mutually contradictory narratives of how the nation's air defenses responded to the unfolding attacks. Various chronologies were presented at different times by the high military command, the North American Air Defense command. Gen. Richard Myers, the acting Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on 9/11 told the Senate that no fighter jets were scrambled to intercept any of the 9/11 flights until after the Pentagon was struck. Myers's statement to the Senate was incredible, given the standard U.S. air defense protocols for dealing with errant instrument flights (including off-course passenger planes).
In place many years before Sept. 11, these procedures are automatic and require no special order. Within minutes after a flight ceases to respond to ground control, the FAA is expected to alert NORAD - which scrambles jet fighters to intercept the errant flight for reconnaissance purposes. These are supposed to be airborne within 10 minutes of the problem arising. This routine was activated on at least 67 occasions in the year prior to June 1, 2001
C. Iraqi death totals range from 50,000 to 100,000 civilians but no accurate official figure for the number of Iraqis killed since the outbreak of war in 2003. Some non-governmental estimates range from 100,000 to 300,000. About 3500 U.S. servicemen had been killed, according to the U.S. Defense Department. Violent deaths — those brought about by the intentional act of others — were wide spread studies reported. The chances of a violent death were 58 times higher after the invasion than before it, researchers concluded.
D. New Orleans and the Gulf Coast suffered. Hurricane Katrina was the costliest and one of the deadliest hurricanes in the history of the United States. It was the sixth-strongest Atlantic hurricane ever recorded and the third-strongest landfalling U.S. hurricane ever recorded. Katrina formed in late August during the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season and devastated much of the north-central Gulf Coast of the United States. Most notable in media coverage were the catastrophic effects on the city of New Orleans,.
The storm killed at least 1,836 people, making it the deadliest U.S. hurricane since the 1928 Okeechobee Hurricane. Criticism of the federal, state and local governments' reaction to the storm was widespread and resulted in an investigation.
Don’t you think it time to end the culture of death?
http://davidcogswell.com/MediaRoulette/LateMay05.html
The Words of History II
"If you tell a lie, tell a big one."
"When the Führer speaks it is like a divine service".
“The essence of propaganda consists in winning people over to an idea so sincerely, so vitally, that in the end they succumb to it utterly and can never again escape from it. “
Joseph Goebbels -http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/joseph_goebbels.htm
Why was so much effort put into propaganda?
At no time up to 1933, did the Nazi Party win a majority of votes at elections. They may have been the largest political party in 1933, but they did not have a majority of support among the people. Therefore, those who had supported the Nazis needed to be informed on how correct their choice was with an emphasis on the strength of the party and the leadership. Those who opposed the Nazi Party had to be convinced that it was pointless continuing with their opposition. The fact that Goebbels had so much power is indicative of how important Hitler thought it was to ensure that the people were won over or intimidated into accepting Nazi rule.
Hitler on Propaganda
In chapter six of Mein Kampf, Hitler reviewed the use of propaganda during World War I. In the course of his criticism of the German effort, he included comments on the function of propaganda in general. His statements offer insight into the methods used by the Nazi Party.
Source: Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf, translated by Ralph Manheim. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1943.
The function of propaganda does not lie in the scientific training of the individual, but in calling the masses' attention to certain facts, processes, necessities, etc., whose significance is thus for the first time placed within their field of vision.
All propaganda must be popular and its intellectual level must be adjusted to the most limited intelligence among those it is addressed to. Consequently, the greater the mass it is intended to reach, the lower its purely intellectual level will have to be. But if, as in propaganda for sticking out a war, the aim is to influence a whole people, we must avoid excessive intellectual demands on our public, and too much caution cannot be extended in this direction.
The more modest its intellectual ballast, the more exclusively it takes into consideration the emotions of the masses, the more effective it will be. And this is the best proof of the soundness or unsoundness of a propaganda campaign, and not success pleasing a few scholars or young aesthetes.
The art of propaganda lies in understanding the emotional ideas of the great masses and finding, through a psychologically correct form, the way to the attention and thence to the heart of the broad masses. The fact that our bright boys do not understand this merely shows how mentally lazy and conceited they are.
Once understood how necessary it is for propaganda in be adjusted to the broad mass, the following rule results:It is a mistake to make propaganda many-sided, like scientific instruction, for instance.
The receptivity of the great masses is very limited, their intelligence is small, but their power of forgetting is enormous. In consequence of these facts, all effective propaganda must be limited to a very few points and must harp on these in slogans until the last member of the public understands what you want him to understand by your slogan. As soon as you sacrifice this slogan and try to be many-sided, the effect will piddle away, for the crowd can neither digest nor retain the material offered. In this way the result is weakened and in the end entirely cancelled out.
Thus we see that propaganda must follow a simple line and correspondingly the basic tactics must be psychologically sound.
What, for example, would we say about a poster that was supposed to advertise a new soap and that described other soaps as 'good'?
We would only shake our heads.
Exactly the same applies to political advertising.
The function of propaganda is, for example, not to weigh and ponder the rights of different people, but exclusively to emphasize the one right which it has set out to argue for. Its task is not to make an objective study of the truth, in so far as it favors the enemy, and then set it before the masses with academic fairness; its task is to serve our own right, always and unflinchingly.
A TEACHER’S GUIDE TO THE HOLOCAUST
http://fcit.coedu.usf.edu/holocaust/resource/document/DocPropa.htm
"When the Führer speaks it is like a divine service".
“The essence of propaganda consists in winning people over to an idea so sincerely, so vitally, that in the end they succumb to it utterly and can never again escape from it. “
Joseph Goebbels -http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/joseph_goebbels.htm
Why was so much effort put into propaganda?
At no time up to 1933, did the Nazi Party win a majority of votes at elections. They may have been the largest political party in 1933, but they did not have a majority of support among the people. Therefore, those who had supported the Nazis needed to be informed on how correct their choice was with an emphasis on the strength of the party and the leadership. Those who opposed the Nazi Party had to be convinced that it was pointless continuing with their opposition. The fact that Goebbels had so much power is indicative of how important Hitler thought it was to ensure that the people were won over or intimidated into accepting Nazi rule.
Hitler on Propaganda
In chapter six of Mein Kampf, Hitler reviewed the use of propaganda during World War I. In the course of his criticism of the German effort, he included comments on the function of propaganda in general. His statements offer insight into the methods used by the Nazi Party.
Source: Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf, translated by Ralph Manheim. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1943.
The function of propaganda does not lie in the scientific training of the individual, but in calling the masses' attention to certain facts, processes, necessities, etc., whose significance is thus for the first time placed within their field of vision.
All propaganda must be popular and its intellectual level must be adjusted to the most limited intelligence among those it is addressed to. Consequently, the greater the mass it is intended to reach, the lower its purely intellectual level will have to be. But if, as in propaganda for sticking out a war, the aim is to influence a whole people, we must avoid excessive intellectual demands on our public, and too much caution cannot be extended in this direction.
The more modest its intellectual ballast, the more exclusively it takes into consideration the emotions of the masses, the more effective it will be. And this is the best proof of the soundness or unsoundness of a propaganda campaign, and not success pleasing a few scholars or young aesthetes.
The art of propaganda lies in understanding the emotional ideas of the great masses and finding, through a psychologically correct form, the way to the attention and thence to the heart of the broad masses. The fact that our bright boys do not understand this merely shows how mentally lazy and conceited they are.
Once understood how necessary it is for propaganda in be adjusted to the broad mass, the following rule results:It is a mistake to make propaganda many-sided, like scientific instruction, for instance.
The receptivity of the great masses is very limited, their intelligence is small, but their power of forgetting is enormous. In consequence of these facts, all effective propaganda must be limited to a very few points and must harp on these in slogans until the last member of the public understands what you want him to understand by your slogan. As soon as you sacrifice this slogan and try to be many-sided, the effect will piddle away, for the crowd can neither digest nor retain the material offered. In this way the result is weakened and in the end entirely cancelled out.
Thus we see that propaganda must follow a simple line and correspondingly the basic tactics must be psychologically sound.
What, for example, would we say about a poster that was supposed to advertise a new soap and that described other soaps as 'good'?
We would only shake our heads.
Exactly the same applies to political advertising.
The function of propaganda is, for example, not to weigh and ponder the rights of different people, but exclusively to emphasize the one right which it has set out to argue for. Its task is not to make an objective study of the truth, in so far as it favors the enemy, and then set it before the masses with academic fairness; its task is to serve our own right, always and unflinchingly.
A TEACHER’S GUIDE TO THE HOLOCAUST
http://fcit.coedu.usf.edu/holocaust/resource/document/DocPropa.htm
The Words of History
The people don’t want War ”Of course the people don't want war. But after all, it's the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it's always a simple matter to drag the people along whether it's a democracy, fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism, and exposing the country to greater danger." --Herman Goering at the Nuremberg trials
These words attributed to Hermann Goering are real. Goering was a reviled twentieth-century figure associated with the most chilling example of genocide in human history: Hermann Goering, Nazi Reich Marshall and Luftwaffe-Chief. He was one of the highest-ranking Nazis who survived to be captured and put on trial for war crimes in the city of Nuremberg by the Allies after the end of World War II. He was found guilty on charges of "war crimes," "crimes against peace," and "crimes against humanity" by the Nuremberg tribunal and sentenced to death by hanging. The sentence could not be carried out, however, because Goering committed suicide with smuggled cyanide capsules hours before his execution, scheduled for 15 October 1946. The quote cited above does not appear in transcripts of the Nuremberg trials because although Goering spoke these words during the course of the proceedings, he did not offer them at his trial. His comments were made privately to Gustave Gilbert, a German-speaking intelligence officer and psychologist who was granted free access by the Allies to all the prisoners held in the Nuremberg jail.
Gilbert kept a journal of his observations of the proceedings and his conversations with the prisoners, which he later published in the book Nuremberg Diary. The quote offered above was part of a conversation Gilbert held with a dejected Hermann Goering in his cell on the evening of 18 April 1946, as the trials were halted for a three-day Easter recess: Sweating in his cell in the evening, Goering was defensive and deflated and not very happy over the turn the trial was taking. He said that he had no control over the actions or the defense of the others, and that he had never been anti-Semitic himself, had not believed these atrocities, and that several Jews had offered to testify in his behalf. If [Hans] Frank [Governor-General of occupied Poland] had known about atrocities in 1943, he should have come to him and he would have tried to do something about it. He might not have had enough power to change things in 1943, but if somebody had come to him in 1941 or 1942 he could have forced a showdown. (I still did not have the desire at this point to tell him what [SS General Otto] Ohlendorf had said to this: that Goering had been written off as an effective "moderating" influence, because of his drug addiction and corruption.)
I pointed out that with his "temperamental utterances," such as preferring the killing of 200 Jews to the destruction of property; he had hardly set himself up as champion of minority rights. Goering protested that too much weight was being put on these temperamental utterances. Furthermore, he made it clear that he was not defending or glorifying Hitler. Later in the conversation, Gilbert recorded Goering's observations that the common people can always be manipulated into supporting and fighting wars by their political leaders: We got around to the subject of war again and I said that, contrary to his attitude, I did not think that the common people are very thankful for leaders who bring them war and destruction.
"Why, of course, the people don't want war," Goering shrugged. "Why would some poor slob on a farm want to risk his life in a war when the best that he can get out of it is to come back to his farm in one piece. Naturally, the common people don't want war; neither in Russia nor in England nor in America, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy or a fascist dictatorship or a Parliament or a Communist dictatorship."
"There is one difference," I pointed out. "In a democracy the people have some say in the matter through their elected representatives, and in the United States only Congress can declare wars." "Oh, that is all well and good, but, voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country."
The URL for this page is http://www.snopes.com/quotes/goering.htm
Urban Legends Reference Pages © 1995-2003
These words attributed to Hermann Goering are real. Goering was a reviled twentieth-century figure associated with the most chilling example of genocide in human history: Hermann Goering, Nazi Reich Marshall and Luftwaffe-Chief. He was one of the highest-ranking Nazis who survived to be captured and put on trial for war crimes in the city of Nuremberg by the Allies after the end of World War II. He was found guilty on charges of "war crimes," "crimes against peace," and "crimes against humanity" by the Nuremberg tribunal and sentenced to death by hanging. The sentence could not be carried out, however, because Goering committed suicide with smuggled cyanide capsules hours before his execution, scheduled for 15 October 1946. The quote cited above does not appear in transcripts of the Nuremberg trials because although Goering spoke these words during the course of the proceedings, he did not offer them at his trial. His comments were made privately to Gustave Gilbert, a German-speaking intelligence officer and psychologist who was granted free access by the Allies to all the prisoners held in the Nuremberg jail.
Gilbert kept a journal of his observations of the proceedings and his conversations with the prisoners, which he later published in the book Nuremberg Diary. The quote offered above was part of a conversation Gilbert held with a dejected Hermann Goering in his cell on the evening of 18 April 1946, as the trials were halted for a three-day Easter recess: Sweating in his cell in the evening, Goering was defensive and deflated and not very happy over the turn the trial was taking. He said that he had no control over the actions or the defense of the others, and that he had never been anti-Semitic himself, had not believed these atrocities, and that several Jews had offered to testify in his behalf. If [Hans] Frank [Governor-General of occupied Poland] had known about atrocities in 1943, he should have come to him and he would have tried to do something about it. He might not have had enough power to change things in 1943, but if somebody had come to him in 1941 or 1942 he could have forced a showdown. (I still did not have the desire at this point to tell him what [SS General Otto] Ohlendorf had said to this: that Goering had been written off as an effective "moderating" influence, because of his drug addiction and corruption.)
I pointed out that with his "temperamental utterances," such as preferring the killing of 200 Jews to the destruction of property; he had hardly set himself up as champion of minority rights. Goering protested that too much weight was being put on these temperamental utterances. Furthermore, he made it clear that he was not defending or glorifying Hitler. Later in the conversation, Gilbert recorded Goering's observations that the common people can always be manipulated into supporting and fighting wars by their political leaders: We got around to the subject of war again and I said that, contrary to his attitude, I did not think that the common people are very thankful for leaders who bring them war and destruction.
"Why, of course, the people don't want war," Goering shrugged. "Why would some poor slob on a farm want to risk his life in a war when the best that he can get out of it is to come back to his farm in one piece. Naturally, the common people don't want war; neither in Russia nor in England nor in America, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy or a fascist dictatorship or a Parliament or a Communist dictatorship."
"There is one difference," I pointed out. "In a democracy the people have some say in the matter through their elected representatives, and in the United States only Congress can declare wars." "Oh, that is all well and good, but, voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country."
The URL for this page is http://www.snopes.com/quotes/goering.htm
Urban Legends Reference Pages © 1995-2003
An American Vision
Ten score and 30 years ago our forefathers brought forth an American Covenant upon this Continent. It was a completely new government fueled by an American Dream of all men created equal and endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights. These rights are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. It was said that this nation can not endure without those rights and without this Dream. Our forefathers founded the Democratic Republican Party on these principals and they by their actions created the American Dream of Freedom and Representation within the law.
It is a Dream founded in law and nourished by economic freedom, a gift of the Backbone of Democracy, the small businessman and the Guilds. It is a gift of innocent till proven guilty, the right to face ones accuser, and to have a fair trial with an impartial jury of ones peers. It is a gift ensured by the availability of jobs and business opportunity. It maintained by fair trade to create enterprise and the jobs that go with them, not the sending of jobs overseas to the highest bidder, because men cannot be free when they are economically chained to poverty, illness, disease, and need.
It is a Vision inscribed upon the Statue of Liberty that said “send us men, women, and children from all lands yearning to be free.” It is the hope and was the foundation of a Nation of Immigrants to create this great new world. It was echoed in "give me Liberty or give me death,'' and it is tied to economic independence and the creation of jobs and free enterprise. Now we have two visions competing for this nation, one who wants tax breaks for ultra millionaires and hides scandalous behavior behind closed doors, and one who wants to create millions of new American jobs that give economic vitality to our hard working men and women and give our children back their future.
Over forty years ago, Martin Luther King also saw this Dream and spoke of it so eloquently. His I Have a Dream speech echoes even now as The American Vision of fair play and rights of all individuals with our society. Lyndon Johnson called for a Great Society; FDR a New Deal, John Kennedy a New Frontier, perhaps it is now time for a Fair Deal that grants the Working Class its rightful place at the economic table and affordable healthcare. Statistics show that under Republican leadership the gap between the Middle Class and the Wealthy has grown by leaps and bounds since the dawn of our 21st Century.
A clear choice is now available of what America has been and should be. There remains one real vision verses an alternative vision that has failed. It is time to now denounce with the righteous indignation that is building over the Scandals of Corruption, Crisis of Competence and a Climate of Cronyism, and the nightmare of a Moral Lack of Leadership that ignores legality and refuses the decency of resignation within the Republican Party. Perhaps the party that claimed personal responsibility and family values as their motto, needs to take the advice they are so willing to give, but in conduct so willing to ignore, and go quietly and quickly into that good night with what principals they do possess. They need to exit a failed direction of hype and failure that now threatens our economic and moral livelihood at its very roots. Certainly the choice is clear: the American Dream or the American Nightmare.
I urge you to choose the American Covenant that was and is the Democratic Party.
Thomas P. Love
The Constitution of the United States of America
We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
The First 10 Amendments to the
Constitution as Ratified by the States
December 15, 1791
Congress OF THE United States
begun and held at the City of New York, on Wednesday
the Fourth of March, one thousand seven hundred and eighty nine.
THE Conventions of a number of the States having at the time of their adopting the Constitution, expressed a desire, in order to prevent misconstruction or abuse of its powers, that further declaratory and restrictive clauses should be added: And as extending the ground of public confidence in the Government, will best insure the beneficent ends of its institution
RESOLVED by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, two thirds of both Houses concurring, that the following Articles be proposed to the Legislatures of the several States, as Amendments to the Constitution of the United States, all or any of which Articles, when ratified by three fourths of the said Legislatures, to be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of the said Constitution; viz.:
ARTICLES in addition to, and Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America, proposed by Congress, and ratified by the Legislatures of the several States, pursuant to the fifth Article of the original Constitution.
Amendment I
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.
Amendment II
A well regulated Militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed.
Amendment III
No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.
Amendment IV
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.
Amendment V
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
Amendment VI
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 defence.
Amendment VII
In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise reexamined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.
Amendment VIII
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
Amendment IX
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
Amendment X
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
History
During the debates on the adoption of the Constitution, its opponents repeatedly charged that the Constitution as drafted would open the way to tyranny by the central government. Fresh in their minds was the memory of the British violation of civil rights before and during the Revolution. They demanded a "bill of rights" that would spell out the immunities of individual citizens. Several state conventions in their formal ratification of the Constitution asked for such amendments; others ratified the Constitution with the understanding that the amendments would be offered.
On September 25, 1789, the First Congress of the United States therefore proposed to the state legislatures 12 amendments to the Constitution that met arguments most frequently advanced against it. The first two proposed amendments, which concerned the number of constituents for each Representative and the compensation of Congressmen, were not ratified. Articles 3 to 12, however, ratified by three-fourths of the state legislatures, constitute the first 10 amendments of the Constitution, known as the Bill of Rights
As the delegates gathered at the Pennsylvania State House in May 1787 to "revise" the Articles of Confederation, Virginia delegate George Mason wrote, "The Eyes of the United States are turned upon this Assembly and their Expectations raised to a very anxious Degree." Mason had earlier written the Virginia Declaration of Rights that strongly influenced Thomas Jefferson in writing the first part of the Declaration of Independence. He left the convention bitterly disappointed, however, and became one of the Constitution's most vocal opponents. "It has no declaration of rights," he was to state. Ultimately, George Mason's views prevailed. When James Madison drafted the amendments to the Constitution that were to become the Bill of Rights, he drew heavily upon the ideas put forth in the Virginia Declaration of Rights.
It is a Dream founded in law and nourished by economic freedom, a gift of the Backbone of Democracy, the small businessman and the Guilds. It is a gift of innocent till proven guilty, the right to face ones accuser, and to have a fair trial with an impartial jury of ones peers. It is a gift ensured by the availability of jobs and business opportunity. It maintained by fair trade to create enterprise and the jobs that go with them, not the sending of jobs overseas to the highest bidder, because men cannot be free when they are economically chained to poverty, illness, disease, and need.
It is a Vision inscribed upon the Statue of Liberty that said “send us men, women, and children from all lands yearning to be free.” It is the hope and was the foundation of a Nation of Immigrants to create this great new world. It was echoed in "give me Liberty or give me death,'' and it is tied to economic independence and the creation of jobs and free enterprise. Now we have two visions competing for this nation, one who wants tax breaks for ultra millionaires and hides scandalous behavior behind closed doors, and one who wants to create millions of new American jobs that give economic vitality to our hard working men and women and give our children back their future.
Over forty years ago, Martin Luther King also saw this Dream and spoke of it so eloquently. His I Have a Dream speech echoes even now as The American Vision of fair play and rights of all individuals with our society. Lyndon Johnson called for a Great Society; FDR a New Deal, John Kennedy a New Frontier, perhaps it is now time for a Fair Deal that grants the Working Class its rightful place at the economic table and affordable healthcare. Statistics show that under Republican leadership the gap between the Middle Class and the Wealthy has grown by leaps and bounds since the dawn of our 21st Century.
A clear choice is now available of what America has been and should be. There remains one real vision verses an alternative vision that has failed. It is time to now denounce with the righteous indignation that is building over the Scandals of Corruption, Crisis of Competence and a Climate of Cronyism, and the nightmare of a Moral Lack of Leadership that ignores legality and refuses the decency of resignation within the Republican Party. Perhaps the party that claimed personal responsibility and family values as their motto, needs to take the advice they are so willing to give, but in conduct so willing to ignore, and go quietly and quickly into that good night with what principals they do possess. They need to exit a failed direction of hype and failure that now threatens our economic and moral livelihood at its very roots. Certainly the choice is clear: the American Dream or the American Nightmare.
I urge you to choose the American Covenant that was and is the Democratic Party.
Thomas P. Love
The Constitution of the United States of America
We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
The First 10 Amendments to the
Constitution as Ratified by the States
December 15, 1791
Congress OF THE United States
begun and held at the City of New York, on Wednesday
the Fourth of March, one thousand seven hundred and eighty nine.
THE Conventions of a number of the States having at the time of their adopting the Constitution, expressed a desire, in order to prevent misconstruction or abuse of its powers, that further declaratory and restrictive clauses should be added: And as extending the ground of public confidence in the Government, will best insure the beneficent ends of its institution
RESOLVED by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, two thirds of both Houses concurring, that the following Articles be proposed to the Legislatures of the several States, as Amendments to the Constitution of the United States, all or any of which Articles, when ratified by three fourths of the said Legislatures, to be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of the said Constitution; viz.:
ARTICLES in addition to, and Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America, proposed by Congress, and ratified by the Legislatures of the several States, pursuant to the fifth Article of the original Constitution.
Amendment I
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.
Amendment II
A well regulated Militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed.
Amendment III
No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.
Amendment IV
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.
Amendment V
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
Amendment VI
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 defence.
Amendment VII
In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise reexamined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.
Amendment VIII
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
Amendment IX
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
Amendment X
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
History
During the debates on the adoption of the Constitution, its opponents repeatedly charged that the Constitution as drafted would open the way to tyranny by the central government. Fresh in their minds was the memory of the British violation of civil rights before and during the Revolution. They demanded a "bill of rights" that would spell out the immunities of individual citizens. Several state conventions in their formal ratification of the Constitution asked for such amendments; others ratified the Constitution with the understanding that the amendments would be offered.
On September 25, 1789, the First Congress of the United States therefore proposed to the state legislatures 12 amendments to the Constitution that met arguments most frequently advanced against it. The first two proposed amendments, which concerned the number of constituents for each Representative and the compensation of Congressmen, were not ratified. Articles 3 to 12, however, ratified by three-fourths of the state legislatures, constitute the first 10 amendments of the Constitution, known as the Bill of Rights
As the delegates gathered at the Pennsylvania State House in May 1787 to "revise" the Articles of Confederation, Virginia delegate George Mason wrote, "The Eyes of the United States are turned upon this Assembly and their Expectations raised to a very anxious Degree." Mason had earlier written the Virginia Declaration of Rights that strongly influenced Thomas Jefferson in writing the first part of the Declaration of Independence. He left the convention bitterly disappointed, however, and became one of the Constitution's most vocal opponents. "It has no declaration of rights," he was to state. Ultimately, George Mason's views prevailed. When James Madison drafted the amendments to the Constitution that were to become the Bill of Rights, he drew heavily upon the ideas put forth in the Virginia Declaration of Rights.
An Open Thank You To Ron Reagan
Ron Reagan, I do not know what exactly it is that you believe. I know what I hear on TV, and I know what read in the newspapers about your stance on stem cell research. I have never met you and probably never will. But, my father died from Alzheimer's. He had a slow and terrible destruction of the very essence that made him human. He became a helpless silent remnant of what he once was. At the end, he was unable to talk, eat except through a feeding tube; helpless to dress him self, without control of his body functions, and once in a lucid moment asked why I kept him alive. This was a hard question, but the answer was I hoped medical science would find a way to restore hope where the only certainty was a gradual decline into death.
I realize stem cell research will take many years of trials before a person's loved ones might never again face this horrible reality. That there are probably worse deaths in the greater scheme of things, but few so painfully slow and agonizing to those left behind. In Boston at the Democratic Convention of 2004, you became the champion of us all. You were at least as eloquent as your father. He and all the victims and all the benefactors of the many cures that one-day will come will smile down and say, Well done, Thank You. That day, you grabbed the ball and won one for The Gipper.
Source: Alzheimer's Association
http://www.alzheimers.org/ http://www.bedfordresearch.org/
http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/07/11/reagan.democrats/index.htm
Thomas P. Love
July 29, 2004
I realize stem cell research will take many years of trials before a person's loved ones might never again face this horrible reality. That there are probably worse deaths in the greater scheme of things, but few so painfully slow and agonizing to those left behind. In Boston at the Democratic Convention of 2004, you became the champion of us all. You were at least as eloquent as your father. He and all the victims and all the benefactors of the many cures that one-day will come will smile down and say, Well done, Thank You. That day, you grabbed the ball and won one for The Gipper.
Source: Alzheimer's Association
http://www.alzheimers.org/ http://www.bedfordresearch.org/
http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/07/11/reagan.democrats/index.htm
Thomas P. Love
July 29, 2004
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