July 4th, the Soul of a Nation is Born

Elena

July 4th, in my opinion, is the defining moment in American History, and is my most revered “holiday”. My first “experience” on BVBL was as “John Locke”, for he is the real father of “natural law”, which gave us this most powerful statement of freedom and democracy, “all men are created equal. ” The Declaration of Independence, although not considered a “legal” document, is the very soul and conscience of our Democracy. I am guided by those simple, yet awe inspiring words. It was a revolution not only in deed, but in thought, and I honor my forefathers for their bravery and wisdom on July 4th.

In one vibrant paragraph of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson managed to compress both a résumé of American constitutional theory that justified the struggle for independence and a précis of a revolutionary, republican theory of government. “All men are created equal”; they enjoy “unalienable Rights” (this repudiated arguments by Thomas Hobbes and William Blackstone that people surrender their natural rights when they leave the state of nature); these rights include “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” (a liberal and literary improvement on John Locke’s triad of life, liberty, and property); governments exist to protect those rights; governments are created by “the consent of the governed” (the compact theory); the people retain the right “to alter or to abolish” government when it violates its ends, “and to institute new Government” to secure the people’s “Safety and Happiness” (the commonwealth theory). In their totality, these concepts provided a comprehensive statement of popular sovereignty.

full text http://www.answers.com/topic/the-declaration-of-independence

U.S. Conference of Mayors Calls for Comprehensive Immigration Reform

adultgirl

Check out this ground-breaking resolution by the U.S. Conference of Mayors supporting comprehensive immigration reform “which promotes the reunification of families, provides legal status with a path to earned citizenship to the estimated 12 million undocumented workers and designs a plan for current and future immigrant workers.”

I feel the “Whereas” statements in this resolution are compelling as is, but they might also have included, “Whereas Prince William County, VA has made a huge mess of itself by politicizing the immigration issue for Virginia’s 2007 election.” For press coverage click here.

The U.S. Conference of Mayors
76th Annual Meeting
June 20-24, 2008
Miami

CALLING FOR COMPREHENSIVE IMMIGRATION REFORM WHICH PROMOTES THE REUNIFICATION OF FAMILIES, PROVIDES LEGAL STATUS WITH A PATH TO EARNED CITIZENSHIP, AND A PLAN FOR CURRENT AND FUTURE IMMIGRANT WORKERS

WHEREAS, The U.S. Conference of Mayors recognizes the economic, social and cultural contributions immigrants bring to their communities; and

WHEREAS, the responsibility of municipal leaders is to protect the wellbeing and safety of all the people residing in their cities; and

WHEREAS, many local governments have passed resolutions, ordinances and policy directives reaffirming non-participation in the enforcement of civil immigration law by city officials and agencies to promote immigrant trust in its police and avert racial profiling and civil rights violations; and

WHEREAS, The International Association of Chiefs of Police Guide to Immigration Issues concludes that local police leaders face a growing set of immigration related duties in the face of scarce and narrowing resources; and

WHEREAS, raids and deportations are increasing in scope and number in recent weeks and months, separating families and spreading terror in our communities; and

WHEREAS, The U.S. Conference of Mayors opposes the separation of families by the enforcement of our current immigration laws and supports the reunification of families that have been so separated, especially those “mixed status” families with U.S. citizen children of which there are an estimated four million children currently in this country; and

WHEREAS, the national political debate on immigration reform has tended to polarize our communities; and

WHEREAS, it is the duty of local governments to respect the rights of and provide equal services to all individuals regardless of national origin or immigration status,

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by The U.S. Conference of Mayors acting on behalf of its constituents to call on the President of the United States to issue an executive order to cease and desist in the execution of all raids and deportations that do not relate to our national security or to criminal activity until comprehensive immigration reform is completed and to suspend immediately all deportations of parents with U.S. citizen children; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the U.S. Conference of Mayors supports comprehensive immigration reform which promotes the reunification of families, provides legal status with a path to earned citizenship to the estimated 12 million undocumented workers and designs a plan for current and future immigrant workers.