Have a Happy July 4

Tomorrow while you are enjoying hot dogs, Coca-Cola (and apparently, for some, Kool-Aid), take a minute to remember what we are celebrating on July 4. We are celebrating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence from Great Britain, and the establishment of a nation of our own.

According to the Declaration of Independence, "Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed". The American patriots felt it necessary to "throw off" the government of King George III due to a long list of "oppressions" and "usurpations" by the King. Among these: "He has refused to Assent to Laws," "He has obstructed the Administration of Justice," "He has made judges dependent on his Will alone," "He has ... sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people," "He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power, " he has "depriv[ed] us, in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury," he has "transport[ed] us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences," and "He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation."

So have yourself a great July 4, and remember, irony is a bitch.