Donald Morrison: A new Declaration of Independence
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with their President, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men — and women — 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, and that whenever any President becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people peaceably to replace him.
Prudence will dictate that Presidents should not be changed for light and transient causes. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations evinces a design to reduce a free people to absolute Despotism, it is their Right, it is their Duty, to throw off such a leader.
The history of the current President is a history of repeated injuries, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute personal Tyranny. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world:
* He has systematically attempted to undermine the prestige and credibility of the Judiciary, the Press, the Scientific Community and other mediating Institutions necessary for a free and democratic Society.
* He has attempted to withdraw Health Coverage from tens of millions of his fellow citizens in order to provide tax breaks for the wealthiest among them.
* He has coarsened the National Discourse and, by his own example, encouraged his supporters to engage in displays of incivility and even violence.
* He has chosen, through words and actions, to divide the people of the Nation rather than unite them.
* He has imposed a religious ban, disguised as a security measure, on Immigrants to a country that was founded by Immigrants and has prospered for centuries as, a Beacon of Freedom in the world.
* He has appointed Cabinet Ministers distinguished by their lack of qualifications and their determination to subvert the very purpose of their Agencies.
* He has accepted Emoluments from self-interested parties both foreign and domestic, and he has enriched himself and his family at the public expense.
* He has offered praise and encouragement to murderous Dictators and undemocratic human rights Abusers around the world.
* He has turned a blind eye to the efforts by a certain hostile foreign Power to subvert our nation’s Electoral Process on his behalf.
* He has obstructed the efforts of the Congress and the Legal System to investigate this attack against the Nation.
* He has belittled and insulted our Allies, withdrawn from Treaties commercial and environmental, and diminished the influence and prestige of our Nation in world affairs.
* He has, in various and sometimes shocking ways, proven himself unfit for and unworthy of the Office of the Presidency.
We, therefore, the citizens of the United States of America, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do solemnly publish and declare that we of right deserve leadership better than this.
And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.
Proclaimed this day in the Spirit, and the great Tradition, of July the 4th, 1776.
