Jesse, a friend of mine here introduced me to:

THE DECLARATION OF AMERICAN VALUES

We the people of the United States of America at this crucial time in History affirm the core consensus values which form the basis of America's greatness that all men and women from every race and creed and ethnicity are created equal and are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights that among these are life liberty and the pursuit of happiness. We adhere to the rule of law embodied in the Constitution of the United States of America and the principles of liberty on which America was founded in order to maintain the blessings of liberty and justice for ourselves

and our posterity. And recognizing the personal responsibility is the basis of our self governing nation we declare our allegiance.

Cut & paste did not work real well so I had to write it out and then type it and ........who really cares?

Some grown men and women sat down and copied parts of the Declaration of the Independence and parts of the Pledge of Allegiance and even our Constitution and somehow mangled them together into this mess. There are like ten or twelve 'declarations' which I may delineate, one at a time over the next couple of weeks.

But today, I am just taken by this Declaration.  I mean grown men and women, who probably went to Holy Christ Community college or Oral Roberts University or some such hall of learning sat down and 'composed this.'

I mean Cut & Paste meant something entirely different to them.

I picture like 50 people carefully chosen at some large gathering of some congregation reenacting the great outdoor celebration of John the Baptist. Hundreds arising from the stream of goodness newly born and ready to get it on. Of course the chemical factory up stream ended up making some of them blue and wrinkly. But it's the thought that counts. ALONG WITH COMMUNITY.

So I imagine these 50 people sitting at sixth grade desks, upset that a black communist is president, and thinking that TOGETHER THEY CAN CHANGE THE WORLD.

Somebody no doubt had a lap top of some sort leant to them by the Principal but most of the time there were shout outs.

Look how this here constitution starts out:

WE THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES, IN ORDER TO FORM A MORE PERFECT UNION....

Hey, I kind of like those words Ralph.

Yes, they kind of ring for me. I mean we are people and stuff and we wish to form a better union...

And then the discussion kind of went down hill from there.

I was lookin at the Constitution, I mean the original one and it says nothing about Life, liberty and the pursuit...

Emmett, that comes from the Declaration of Independence but you can kind of see the words in the 5th and 14th Amendments.

Johnny, we do not need no lawyering here.

Ok, ok

Then of course someone spoke up about pledging and everything. And someone else pointed out that evolution should not be taught to the people sitting in these desks during the day so Creation had to be snuck in and then an old Nixonian spoke up about the need for the RULE OF LAW...and...throw in something about personal responsibility so we do not end up on welfare....

And so they ended up with this.

These tired old people decided that this nation forgot about the Revolutionists who created this country. And they are attempting to experience a renewal, a rebirth of sorts and maybe sense....maybe experience remembrances of things past.

You know forty years ago, there was kind of a rebirth. 

We found ourselves young and in a war that would never, EVER end. Every able bodied man was called upon to suit up and go kill some Asian Commies. I mean, kill them over there so that we did not have to kill them here.

We were killin and bein killed at a rate ten times that we are experiencing now.

Real patriots like dickyc, and rush, and rummy and w, and buchanan joined the repubs and stayed the hell out of the conflict in order to reach a position with the government where THEY could help make the Laws sending millions to the other side of the world.

Maryjane and long hair (before repubs started wearing fashionable long hair) and draft card burning were about the only way to stand up to Nixon and his secret plans while makin a buck an hour at some mass produced restaurant and say:

FUCK YOU ALL. I AM INDEPENDENT OF ALL OF YOU.

So I thought I would take a walk down memory lane, recalling the words of some of our forefathers and foremothers:

I came upon a child of god
He was walking along the road
And I asked him, where are you going
And this he told me
Im going on down to yasgurs farm
Im going to join in a rock n roll band
Im going to camp out on the land
Im going to try an get my soul free
We are stardust
We are golden
And we've got to get ourselves
Back to the garden

Then can I walk beside you
I have come here to lose the smog
And I feel to be a cog in something turning
Well maybe it is just the time of year
Or maybe its the time of man
I dont know who l am
But you know life is for learning
We are stardust
We are golden
And we've got to get ourselves
Back to the garden

By the time we got to woodstock
We were half a million strong
And everywhere there was song and celebration
And I dreamed I saw the bombers
Riding shotgun in the sky
And they were turning into butterflies
Above our nation
We are stardust
Billion year old carbon
We are golden
Caught in the devils bargain
And weve got to get ourselves
Back to the garden

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuISB2ksnMM

It's been a long time comin'
It's goin' to be a long time gone.
Appears to be a long time,
Yes, a long, long, log time
Before the dawn.
Turn, turn any corner.
Hear, you must hear what the people say,
You know there's something that's goin' on here,
That surely, surely, surely won't stand the light of day.
And it appears to be a long,
Such a long, long, long time before the dawn.
Speak out, you got to speak out against
The madness, you got to speak your mind,
If you dare.
But don't try to get yourself elected.
If you do you had better cut your hair.
'Cause it appears to be a long time,
Before the dawn.
It's been a long time comin',
It's been a long time gone.
But you know, the darkest hour,
Is always just before the dawn.
And it appears to be a long time,
Such a long, long, long time before the dawn.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PFCgAhZEO8&feature=related

Coming in from London

From over the pole

Flying in a big airliner

Chickens flying everywhere around the plane

Could we ever feel much finer?

CHORUS:

Coming into Los Angeles

Bringing in a couple of keys

Don't touch my bags if you please

Mister Customs Man

There's a guy with a ticket to Mexico

No, he couldn't look much stranger

Walking in the hall with his things and all

Smiling, said he was the Lone Ranger

CHORUS

Hip woman walking on a moving floor

Tripping on the escalator

There's a man in the line

And she's blowing his mind

Thinking that he's already made her

CHORUS

Coming in from London

From over the pole

Flying in a big airliner

Chickens flying everywhere around the plane

Could we ever feel much finer?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsnUu71Viyo&feature=related

I'm going up the country, baby, don't you wanna go

I'm going up the country, baby, don't you wanna go

I'm going to some place where I've never been before

I'm going, I'm going where the water tastes like wine

I'm going where the water tastes like wine

We can jump in the water, stay drunk all the time

I'm gonna leave this city, got to get away

I'm gonna leave this city, got to get away

All this fussing and fighting, man, you know I sure can't stay

Now, Baby, pack your leaving trunk, you know we got to leave today

Just exactly where we going I can not say

But we might even leave the U.S.A.

'Cause it's a brand new game, and I want to play

No use of you running or screaming and crying 

'Cause you got a home as long as I've got mine

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYKY2lpxMg8

So I hereby Declare that:

We are stardust
We are golden
And we've got to get ourselves
Back to the garden

It's been a long time comin'
It's goin' to be a long time gone.
Appears to be a long time,
Yes, a long, long, log time
Before the dawn.

Speak out, you got to speak out against
The madness, you got to speak your mind,
If you dare.
But don't try to get yourself elected.
If you do you had better cut your hair.
'Cause it appears to be a long time,
Before the dawn.