Ohio treasurer democRAT Kevin Boyce gives bank contract then gets political fund-raiser

Posted by DarthDilbert at 7/29/2009 12:38:00 PM

Just a week after winning a new contract from Ohio Treasurer Kevin Boyce, Key Bank officials are hosting a $500-a ticket political fund-raiser for him in Cleveland on Tuesday, July 28. Political contributions had nothing to do with the contract, [Mike] Culp [Boyce’s chief of staff] said. Key Bank’s political action committees have contributed $680,634 to state and local candidates and parties over the last five years, including $3,250 to Boyce’s campaigns, according to state records.

Boyce, a democRAT and a former Columbus City Councilman, was appointed state treasurer in January by Gov. Ted Strickland. He is running for election against Republican Josh Mandel, a state representative and Iraqi war veteran from Lyndhurst.

Cade and Charlie Luken, former Cincinnati mayor and another Key Bank lobbyist, are listed as hosts for the fund-raiser. Boyce hired Luken’s sister to work treasurer’s office. Culp said neither he nor Boyce made calls to ask donors to attend the fund-raiser or make contributions.

Gee, another corrput democRAT. Surprise, surprise. Perhaps, another chapter for Michelle Malkin's Culture of Corruption?

Dayton Daily News
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Book about Islam required reading for University of Dayton freshmen

Posted by DarthDilbert at 7/27/2009 01:25:00 PM

Everything I learned about Islam I learned on 9/11

Dayton Daily News
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Secret Service raids home of jihadist Kent State professor Julio Pino

Posted by DarthDilbert at 7/27/2009 12:27:00 PM

Julio Pino has described himself as "the most dangerous Muslim in America." His activity on a jihadist website has now finally drawn the attention of the Secret Service.

A search of comments by students describe him as "boring and unorganized," "makes noam chomsky look patriotic," "horrible," "truly godawful," "worst teacher ever," and that he attempts to "brainwash" his students. One comment from 22 March 2004 was alarming "I swear this guy is going to turn out to be the leader of a major terrorist group, he clearly hates america and capitalism." What overwhelming endorsements. It seems we have Ohio's own Ward Churchill.

In a letter to the editor sent to KentNewsNet and published on 5 September 2008, he wrote that the nomination of Barack Hussein Obama for democRAT candidate for President was "ominous." He went on to present a list of questions in which he asked Obama to "eliminate the U.S. military bases and facilities located in 151 countries around the world," "set a date for the withdrawal of all American forces, and not just combat troops, from Iraq and Afghanistan," "dismantle what Amnesty International has called the U.S. global gulag of secret detention centers and torture chambers, starting with Guantanamo Bay," "free America's foremost political prisoners, Mumia Abu-Jamal and Leonard Peltier," "abolish the racist death penalty," "stop using food as a weapon in international diplomacy by lifting the embargo that starves my family in Cuba and my brethren in Gaza," "end the biggest pork project in government, namely the two billion dollars a year the American taxpayer is forced to fork over to Israel," "stop the deportations of immigrants to this country, estimated at twenty million, whose only crime is that they sought a better life for their children," "pardon the 50 percent of state and federal prisoners in this country who are black - proportionally and in absolute terms, a figure greater than for South Africa - who obviously were not tried by juries of their peers," and "restore even a portion of all lands stolen by the European conquerors of America to their rightful owners, from the Native Americans to the Mexicans to the Cubans."

However, when you consult the Ohio Secretary of State's website, you find that in spite of all his bluster, he's an empty burka. In 2000, he voted in the general election in 2000, but skipped the primary. He then repeated this pattern in 2002, 2004, and 2006. Last year, he didn't bother to vote in either the primary or the general election. It's not like it's a long journey such as traveling to Mecca. In fact, it's only a 1.8 mile drive from his home on Morris Road to his polling location at the Church of the Nazarene on Summit Street taking an estimated four minutes.

Ohio.com
TownHall.com
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Joan Boian: Another reason to privatize the US Postal Service

Posted by DarthDilbert at 7/21/2009 04:11:00 PM

T-7 window service technician Joan Boian has worked at the Airway Road post office for 43 years and fears her office will be closed down. "They can bail out GM and all those other companies, why can't they bail out the post office," Boian said.

Dayton Daily News
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The Ten Commandments according to Obama

Posted by DarthDilbert at 7/21/2009 09:50:00 AM

From The Patriot Update:

I. Thou shalt have no God in America, except for me. For we are no longer a Christian nation and, after all, I am the chosen One. (And like God, I do not have a birth certificate.) [source]

II. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, unless it is my face carved on Mt. Rushmore. [source]

III. Thou shalt not utter my middle name in vain (or in public). Only I can say Barack Hussein Obama. [source]

IV. Remember tax day, April 15th, to keep it holy. [source]

V. Honour thy father and thy mother until they are too old and sick to care for. They will cost our public-funded health-care system too much money. [source]

VI. Thou shalt not kill, unless you have an unwanted, unborn baby. For it would be an abomination to punish your daughter with a baby. [source]

VII. Thou shalt not commit adultery if you are conservative or a Republican. Liberals and Democrats are hereby forgiven for all of their infidelity and immorality, but the careers of conservatives will be forever destroyed. [source]

VIII. Thou shalt not steal, until you've been elected to public office. Only then is it acceptable to take money from hard-working, successful citizens and give it to those who do not work, illegal immigrants, or those who do not have the motivation to better their own lives. [source]

IX. Thou shalt not discriminate against thy neighbor unless they are conservative, Caucasian, or Christian. [source]

X. Thou shalt not covet because it is simply unnecessary. I will place such a heavy tax burden on those that have achieved the American Dream that, by the end of my term as President, nobody will have any wealth or material goods left for you to covet. [source]
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Netanyahu: Jerusalem is ours, not up for debate

Posted by DarthDilbert at 7/21/2009 09:49:00 AM

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu issued a sharp response Sunday to United States pressure to stop Jews from building in parts of Jerusalem claimed by the Palestinian Authority. Israel's sovereignty in Jerusalem is "not up for debate," Netanyahu said, and Jews are permitted to build in any part of the capital city, as are Arabs.

Netanyahu implied that the U.S. request was racist, saying before the weekly Cabinet meeting, "Imagine what would happen if Jews were forbidden to live or to buy apartments in certain parts of London, New York, Paris or Rome. There would be an international outcry."

"All the more, we cannot to a decree like this regarding Jerusalem," he said.

I Stand With Israel

IsraelNationalNews.com
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Congressman Mike Pence (R - Indiana) to offer amendment to de-fund Planned Parenthood abortion business

Posted by DarthDilbert at 7/21/2009 09:49:00 AM

The most recent annual report shows Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest abortion business, received $350 million in taxpayer dollars from state, local and federal governments. Congressman Mike Pence says that's too much money and he is floating an amendment to reduce the flow.

Pence, an Indiana Republican, will offer an amendment next week to the appropriations bill that funds the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

The amendment would stop HHS’ Family Planning funding (Title X) from going to Planned Parenthood.

"Planned Parenthood is the largest recipient of family planning money and is also the largest abortion provider in America - this should not be," Pence's office told LifeNews.com on Friday. "Although Title X cannot be used to directly pay for abortions, government financial assistance is a vital tool in offsetting operational costs, therefore freeing up money to provide more abortions."

The Pence amendment says "None of the funds made available under this Act shall be available to Planned Parenthood for any purpose under Title X of the Public Health Services Act."

The amendment does not cut any funding from the family planning program but ensures none of the money goes to the Planned Parenthood abortion business.

ProLife
LifeNews.com
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The National Debt Road Trip

Posted by DarthDilbert at 7/21/2009 09:48:00 AM

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Man arrested in Florida for homicide had prior in Middletown (Ohio)

Posted by DarthDilbert at 7/16/2009 02:11:00 PM

Miami Valley Connection

WHIO-AM/FM
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Unemployment rate in Montgomery County (Ohio) rises to 11.4%

Posted by DarthDilbert at 7/16/2009 02:08:00 PM

I'd like to congratulate the democRATs running Montgomery County (Dan Foley, Deborah *hic* Lieberman, & Judy Dodge) for almost one year of rising unemployment. How's that Hope and Change working out for y'all?

Google
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If...

Posted by DarthDilbert at 7/16/2009 02:03:00 PM

If George W. Bush had made a joke at the expense of the Special Olympics, would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had given Gordon Brown a set of inexpensive and incorrectly formatted DVDs, when Gordon Brown had given him a thoughtful and historically significant gift, would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had given the Queen of England an iPod containing videos of his speeches, would you have thought this embarrassingly narcissistic and tacky?

If George W. Bush had bowed to the King of Saudi Arabia, would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had visited Austria and made reference to the non-existent "Austrian language," would you have brushed it off as a minor slip?

If George W. Bush had filled his cabinet and circle of advisers with people who cannot seem to keep current on their income taxes, would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had been so Spanish illiterate as to refer to "Cinco de Cuatro" in front of the Mexican ambassador when it was the fourth of May (Cuatro de Mayo), and continued to flub it when he tried again, would you have winced in embarrassment?

If George W. Bush had misspelled the word advice would you have hammered him for it for years like Dan Quayle and potatoe as "proof" of what a dunce he is?

If George W. Bush had burned 9,000 gallons of jet fuel to go plant a single tree on "Earth Day", would you have concluded he's a hypocrite?

If George W. Bush's administration had okayed Air Force One flying low over millions of people followed by a jet fighter in downtown Manhattan causing widespread panic, would you have wondered whether they actually "get" what happened on 9-11?

If George W. Bush had been the first President to need a teleprompter installed to be able to get through a press conference, would you have laughed and said this is more proof of how inept he is on his own and is really controlled by smarter men behind the scenes?

If George W. Bush had failed to send relief aid to flood victims throughout the Midwest with more people killed or made homeless than in New Orleans, would you want it made into a major ongoing political issue with claims of racism and incompetence?

If George W. Bush had ordered the firing of the CEO of a major corporation, even though he had no constitutional authority to do so, would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had proposed to double the national debt in one year, which had taken more than two centuries to accumulate, would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had then proposed to double the debt again within 10 years, would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had reduced your retirement plan's holdings of GM stock by 90% and given the unions a majority stake in GM, would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had spent hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars to take Laura Bush to a play in NYC during the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, would you have approved?

So, tell me again, what is it about Barack Hussein Obama that makes him so brilliant and impressive? Can't think of anything? Don't worry. He's done all this in five months -- so you'll have three years and seven months to come up with an answer.

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Hey Barry: Has the stimulus done its job?

Posted by DarthDilbert at 7/12/2009 08:58:00 PM


YouTube
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Barack Hussein Obama: A history of being wrong for over 26 years

Posted by DarthDilbert at 7/12/2009 08:56:00 PM

The Reagan administration's stalling at the Geneva talks on nuclear weapons has thus already caused severe tension and could ultimately bring about a dangerous rift between the United States and Western Europe. By being intransigent, Reagan is playing directly into the Russians' hands.

Hey Barry, I know this brings you sadness while you stare at the derriere of a sixteen year old girl, but we (the United States) won. Your pals (the Communists) lost.

Gateway Pundit
NY Times (PDF)
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Somalia: Muslims behead seven people accused of abandoning Islam

Posted by DarthDilbert at 7/12/2009 08:55:00 PM

Somali Islamist insurgent fighters beheaded seven people accused of abandoning their religion and of espionage, residents said Friday, in the largest mass execution since the Islamists were chased from power two and a half years ago.

Another example of the Religion of Peace Religion of Perpetual Outrage.

Atlas Shrugs
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Can you pass the US citizenship test from Arizona government schools?

Posted by DarthDilbert at 7/12/2009 08:53:00 PM

You know those groan-inducing spots on late-night television when the typical person-on-the-street can't identify the vice president?
That's akin to what happened to the state's education system Tuesday, with the issuance of a new report that found only 3.5 percent of traditional public high school students would be able to pass a U.S. citizenship test— bombing out on questions such as who was America's first president, who wrote the Declaration of Independence and what do we call the first 10 amendments to the Constitution.
There's little room to be smug from the charter school or private school arenas. While they both did better, they still did poorly, with only 7 percent and 14 percent of those students passing the test, respectively, according to a survey by the Goldwater Institute, a conservative think tank.
"I was dismayed and shocked at just how poorly the kids did," said Matthew Ladner, vice president of research. "When 74 percent [of children in government schools] can't tell you that George Washington was the first president of the U.S., that's really disturbing."

Here are the questions (highlight for answer):
1. What is the supreme law of the land?
Answer: The Constitution. Correct - 29.5 percent


2. What do we call the first 10 amendments to the Constitution?
Answer: The Bill of Rights. Correct - 25 percent


3. What are the two parts of the U.S. Congress?
Answer: The Senate and the House. Correct - 23 percent


4. How many justices are on the Supreme Court?
Answer: Nine. Correct - 9.4 percent


5. Who wrote the Declaration of Independence?
Answer: Thomas Jefferson. Correct - 25.3 percent


6. What ocean is on the East Coast of the United States?
Answer: Atlantic. Correct - 58.8 percent


7. What are the two major political parties in the United States?
Answer: Democratic and Republican. Correct - 49.6 percent


8. We elect a U.S. senator for how many years?
Answer: Six. Correct - 14.5 percent


9. Who was the first president?
Answer: Washington. Correct - 26.5 percent


10. Who is in charge of the executive branch?
Answer: The president. Correct - 26 percent



Reason # to homeschool.

Arizona Daily Star

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Happy Independence Day!

Posted by DarthDilbert at 7/04/2009 11:00:00 AM

"Our lives, our fortunes, our sacred honor" by Rush H. Limbaugh, Jr. (as published in the July 1996 edition of The Limbaugh Letter)

It was a glorious morning. The sun was shining and the wind was from the southeast. Up especially early, a tall bony, redheaded young Virginian found time to buy a new thermometer, for which he paid three pounds, fifteen shillings. He also bought gloves for Martha, his wife, who has ill at home. Thomas Jefferson arrived early at the statehouse. The temperature was 72.5 degrees and the horseflies weren't nearly so bad at that hour. It was a lovely room, very large, with gleaming white walls. The chairs were comfortable. Facing the single door were two brass fireplaces, but they would not be used today. The moment the door was shut, and it was always kept locked, the room became an oven. The tall windows were shut, so that loud quarreling voices could not be heard by passersby. Small openings atop the windows allowed a slight stir of air, and also a large number of horseflies. Jefferson records that "the horseflies were dexterous in finding necks, and the silk of stocking was nothing to them." All discussion was punctuated by the slap of hands on necks. On the wall at the back, facing the President's desk, was a panoply-consisting of a drum, swords, and banners seized from Fort Ticonderoga the previous year. Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold had captured the place, shouting that they were taking it "in the name of the Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress!"

Now Congress got to work, promptly taking up an emergency measure about which there was discussion but no dissention. "Resolved: That an application be made to the Committee of Safety of Pennsylvania for a supply of flints for the troops at New York." Then Congress transformed itself into a committee of the whole. The Declaration of Independence was read aloud once more, and debate resumed. Though Jefferson was the best writer of all of them, he had been somewhat verbose. Congress hacked the excess away. They did a good job, as a side-by-side comparison of the rough draft and the final text shows. They cut the phrase "by a self-assumed power." "Climb" was replaced by "must read," then "must" was eliminated, then the whole sentence, and soon the whole paragraph was cut. Jefferson groaned as they continued what he later called "their depredations." "Inherent and inalienable rights" came out "certain unalienable rights," and to this day no one knows who suggested the elegant change. A total of 86 alterations were made. Almost 500 words were eliminated, leaving 1,337. At last, after three days of wrangling, the document was put to a vote.

Here in this hall Patrick Henry had once thundered: "I am no longer a Virginian, Sir, but an American." But today the loud, sometimes bitter argument stilled, and without fanfare the vote was taken from north to south by colonies, as was the custom. On July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was adopted. There were no trumpets blown. No one stood on his chair and cheered. The afternoon was waning and Congress had no thought of delaying the full calendar of routine business on its hands. For several hours they worked on many other problems before adjourning for the day.

Much To Lose
What kind of men were the 56 signers who adopted the Declaration of Independence and who, by their signing, committed an act of treason against the crown? To each of you the names Franklin, Adams, Hancock, and Jefferson are almost as familiar as household words. Most of us, however, know nothing of the other signers. Who were they? What happened to them?

I imagine that many of you are somewhat surprised at the names not there: George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, Patrick Henry. All were elsewhere. Ben Franklin was the only really old man. Eighteen were under 40; three were in their 20s. Of the 56 almost half -24- were judges and lawyers. Eleven were merchants, 9 were landowners and farmers, and the remaining 12 were doctors, ministers, and politicians. With only a few exceptions, such as Samuel Adams of Massachusetts, these were men of substantial property. All but two had families. The vast majority were men of education and standing in their communities. They had economic security as few men had in the 18th century. Each had more to lose from revolution than he had to gain by it. John Hancock, one of the richest men in America, already had a price of 500 pounds on his head.

He signed in enormous letters so "that his Majesty could now read his name without glasses and could now double the reward." Ben Franklin wryly noted: "Indeed we must all hang together, otherwise we shall most assuredly hang separately." Fat Benjamin Harrison of Virginia told tiny Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts: "With me it will all be over in a minute, but you , you will be dancing on air an hour after I am gone. These men knew what they risked. The penalty for treason was death by hanging. And remember: a great British fleet was already at anchor in New York Harbor. They were sober men. There were no dreamy-eyed intellectuals or draft card burners here. They were far from hot-eyed fanatics, yammering for an explosion. They simply asked for the status quo. It was change they resisted. It was equality with the mother country they desired. It was taxation with representation they sought. They were all conservatives, yet they rebelled.

It was principle, not property, that had brought these men to Philadelphia. Two of them became presidents of the United States. Seven of them became state governors. One died in office as vice president of the United States. Several would go on to be U.S. Senators. One, the richest man in America, in 1828 founded the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. One, a delegate from Philadelphia, was the only real poet, musician and philosopher of the signers (it was he, Francis Hopkinson - not Betsy Ross who designed the United States flag). Richard Henry Lee, A delegate from Virginia, had introduced the resolution to adopt the Declaration of Independence in June of 1776. He was prophetic in his concluding remarks: "Why then sir, why do we longer delay? Why still deliberate? Let this happy day give birth to an American Republic. Let her arise not to devastate and to conquer but to reestablish the reign of peace and law. The eyes of Europe are fixed upon us. She demands of us a living example of freedom that may exhibit a contrast in the felicity of the citizen to the ever increasing tyranny which desolates her polluted shores. She invites us to prepare an asylum where the unhappy may find solace, and the persecuted repost. If we are not this day wanting in our duty, the names of the American Legislatures of 1776 will be placed by posterity at the side of all of those whose memory has been and ever will be dear to virtuous men and good citizens."

Though the resolution was formally adopted July 4, it was not until July 8 that two of the states authorized their delegates to sign, and it was not until August 2, that the signers met at Philadelphia to actually put their names to the Declaration. William Ellery, delegate from Rhode Island, was curious to see the signers' faces as they committed this supreme act of personal courage. He saw some men sign quickly, "but in no face was he able to discern real fear." Stephan Hopkins, Ellery's colleague from Rhode Island, was a man past 60. As he signed with a shaking pen, he declared: "My hand trembles, but my heart does not."

"Most glorious service"
Even before the list was published, the British marked down every member of Congress suspected of having put his name to treason. All of them became the objects of vicious manhunts. Some were taken. Some, like Jefferson, had narrow escapes. All who had property or families near British strongholds suffered.

* Francis Lewis, New York delegate saw his home plundered and his estates in what is now Harlem, completely destroyed by British soldiers. Mrs. Lewis was captured and treated with great brutality. Though she was later exchanged for two British prisoners though the efforts of Congress she died from the effects of her abuse.

* William Floyd, another New York delegate, was able to escape with his wife and children across Long Island Sound to Connecticut, where they lived as refugees without income for seven years. When they came home they found a devastated ruin.

* Philips Livingstone had all his great holdings in New York confiscated and his family driven out of their home. Livingstone died in 1778 still working in Congress for the cause.

* Louis Morris, the fourth New York delegate, saw all his timber, crops, and livestock taken. For seven years he was barred from his home and family.

* John Hart of Trenton, New Jersey, risked his life to return home to see his dying wife. Hessian soldiers rode after him, and he escaped in the woods. While his wife lay on her deathbed, the soldiers ruined his farm and wrecked his homestead. Hart, 65, slept in caves and woods as he was hunted across the countryside. When at long last, emaciated by hardship, he was able to sneak home, he found his wife had already been buried, and his 13 children taken away. He never saw them again. He died a broken man in 1779, without ever finding his family.

* Dr. John Witherspoon, signer, was president of the College of New Jersey, later called Princeton. The British occupied the town of Princeton, and billeted troops in the college. They trampled and burned the finest college library in the country.

* Judge Richard Stockton, another New Jersey delegate signer, had rushed back to his estate in an effort to evacuate his wife and children. The family found refuge with friends, but a Tory sympathizer betrayed them. Judge Stockton was pulled from bed in the night and brutally beaten by the arresting soldiers. Thrown into a common jail, he was deliberately starved. Congress finally arranged for Stockton's parole, but his health was ruined. The judge was released as an invalid, when he could no longer harm the British cause. He returned home to find his estate looted and did not live to see the triumph of the revolution. His family was forced to live off charity.

* Robert Morris, merchant prince of Philadelphia, delegate and signer, met Washington's appeals and pleas for money year after year. He made and raised arms and provisions which made it possible for Washington to cross the Delaware at Trenton. In the process he lost 150 ships at sea, bleeding his own fortune and credit almost dry.

* George Clymer, Pennsylvania signer, escaped with his family from their home, but their property was completely destroyed by the British in the Germantown and Brandywine campaigns.

* Dr. Benjamin Rush, also from Pennsylvania, was forced to flee to Maryland. As a heroic surgeon with the army, Rush had several narrow escapes.

* John Martin, a Tory in his views previous to the debate, lived in a strongly loyalist area of Pennsylvania. When he came out for independence, most of his neighbors and even some of his relatives ostracized him. He was a sensitive and troubled man, and many believed this action killed him. When he died in 1777, his last words to his tormentors were: "Tell them that they will live to see the hour when they shall acknowledge it [the signing] to have been the most glorious service that I have ever rendered to my country."

* William Ellery, Rhode Island delegate, saw his property and home burned to the ground.

* Thomas Lynch, Jr., South Carolina delegate, had his health broken from privation and exposures while serving as a company commander in the military. His doctors ordered him to seek a cure in the West Indies and on the voyage he and his young bride were drowned at sea.

* Edward Rutledge, Arthur Middleton, and Thomas Heyward, Jr., the other three South Carolina signers, were taken by the British in the siege of Charleston. They were carried as prisoners of war to St. Augustine, Florida, where they were singled out for indignities. They were exchanged at the end of the war, the British in the meantime having completely devastated their large landholdings and estates.

* Thomas Nelson, signer of Virginia, was at the front in command of the Virginia military forces. With British General Charles Cornwallis in Yorktown, fire from 70 heavy American guns began to destroy Yorktown piece by piece. Lord Cornwallis and his staff moved their headquarters into Nelson's palatial home. While American cannonballs were making a shambles of the town, the house of Governor Nelson remained untouched. Nelson turned in rage to the American gunners and asked, "Why do you spare my home?" They replied, "Sir, out of respect to you." Nelson cried, "Give me the cannon!" and fired on his magnificent home himself, smashing it to bits. But Nelson's sacrifice was not quite over. He had raised $2 million for the Revolutionary cause by pledging his own estates. When the loans came due, a newer peacetime Congress refused to honor them, and Nelson's property was forfeited. He was never reimbursed. He died, impoverished, a few years later at the age of 50.

Lives, fortunes, honor
Of those 56 who signed the Declaration of Independence, nine died of wounds or hardships during the war. Five were captured and imprisoned, in each case with brutal treatment. Several lost wives, sons or entire families. One lost his 13 children. Two wives were brutally treated. All were at one time or another the victims of manhunts and driven from their homes. Twelve signers had their homes completely burned. Seventeen lost everything they owned. Yet not one defected or went back on his pledged word. Their honor, and the nation they sacrificed so much to create is still intact.

And, finally, there is the New Jersey Signer, Abraham Clark. He gave two sons to the officer corps in the Revolutionary Army. They were captured and sent to that infamous British prison hulk afloat in New York Harbor known as the hell ship "Jersey," where 11,000 American captives were to die. The younger Clarks were treated with a special brutality because of their father. One was put in solitary and given no food. With the end almost in sight with the war almost won, no one could have blamed Abraham Clark for acceding to the British request when they offered him his sons' lives if he would recant and come out for the King and Parliament. The utter despair in this man's heart, the anguish in his very soul, must reach out to each and one of us down through 200 years with the answer: "No."

The 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence proved by their every deed that they made no idle boast when they composed the most magnificent curtain line in history. "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."



"It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more." - John Adams

On this July 4th, 2009 we celebrate the 233nd anniversary of our nations independence. I hope everyone has a safe and wonderful Fourth of July!
Declaration of Independence
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