When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
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.
This isn’t just what we believe. It’s what is TRUE. People have rights, period. Governments do not grant them; governments are created to secure them.
Somewhere along the way, this administration forgot — or abandoned — these ideals.
People do have rights, this is absolutely true. However, a posting referencing a document with actual legal standing to this effect might be more effective (US Constitution).
This complaint about “legal standing” illustrates the problem perfectly.
Either we believe, as a matter of moral principle, that these rights exist and should be honored and protected — and that the role of the state is to protect those rights, and that the state is NOT the source of them — or we believe that the rights of man are simple legal concepts to be circumvented, abused, and shot full of loopholes like zoning laws and the tax code.
It’s clear which side the GOP is on.