In honor of Independence Day, here’s a rerun of an earlier blog entry. I’ve modified it a little, so I guess this is the “director’s cut”:

On July 2, 1776, representatives of 13 British colonies met in Philadelphia as the Second Continental Congress and declared their independence from England.

So why do Americans celebrate Independence Day on the 4^th of July, and not the 2^nd?

On July 4, the Congress approved the Declaration of Independence. They knew that they were taking a large and dangerous step, splitting from the mother country. They felt that they should justify their actions.

WHEN in the Course of human Events, it becomes necessary for one People to dissolve the Political Bands which have connected them with another… a decent Respect to the Opinions of Mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the Separation.

We celebrate the 4^th of July because the founders took the time to explain themselves, and in doing so, gave birth not only to a new nation, but a new kind of nation, based not on territory or ethnicity, but on an idea.

WE hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men 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 -- That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed…

Nowadays in Washington, D.C., “a decent respect to the opinions of mankind” is considered a sign of weakness. Here’s what President Bush said in an interview in the Washington Post on November 18, 2002:

I’m the commander. See, I don’t need to explain why I say things. That’s the interesting thing about being the president. Maybe somebody needs to explain to me why they say something, but I don’t feel like I owe anybody an explanation.

Discussion topic: how have our leaders advanced since the days of the country’s birth?

Media Matters for America observes that Fox News’ “Supreme Court Analyst” C. Boyden Gray is founder of a group lobbying for the Bush nominees:

Fox News featured extended commentary by C. Boyden Gray in its initial coverage of the retirement of Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, identifying Gray as a “Fox Supreme Court Analyst.” But how can Fox News hire as a “Supreme Court analyst” someone who also founded the Committee For Justice — a group committed to ensuring the confirmation of President Bush’s judicial nominees — without disclosing the conflict to its viewers?

Uh… lack of journalistic integrity?