When In The Course of Inhuman Events

I finally saw HAMILTON on Saturday night. Yes, it was on Disney+ , but this was going to be the best way for me to finally see the show. 

That is was a filmed stage version and that worked well for me, being that I am by education and early practice a theater director, and I much prefer stage to screen.  Always have. Why it is so transformative is easy to understand. Although I am not a big fan of hip-hop, the music is compelling. As for history, well, no musical ever really tells history in anything other than glossy glossing over reality...and that's kinda what theater does anyway. Setting that to the side, HAMILTON made people curious about Alexander Hamilton and gee, isn't that a good thing?

Well, actually, it is. It also made me go back and read the Declaration of Independence.  ALL of it. Hadn't done that in a while, but the use of the text in the show was too inviting to ignore. So, as a public service, here is the full text of that document [Highlight and italics are my own addition.]:

In Congress, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, 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, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

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.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. 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.

  *****************************

Some of the grievances are rather applicable at the moment, which is disheartening and rather scary. The reading of the following quote requires a very cautious understanding of what the Founding Fathers meant, and begs the question as to whether or not this was to be a one-time deal, or a blueprint:

That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

This is the open door, an invitation to insurrection to be used by anyone who feels the current government is, in any way, unjust and unrepresentative of We, the People. Granted, at the time this was written, it was a truly revolutionary statement that was the basis for the break away from Great Britain. I get that. But at the same time, that language is enshrined in our national discourse as a sacred responsibility. 

That national discourse has been derailed of late, but Feckless Leader's remarks at Mount Rushmore harkened back to that very paragraph.  In his speech, he said:

Our nation is witnessing a merciless campaign to wipe out our history, defame our heroes, erase our values, and indoctrinate our children. Angry mobs are trying to tear down statues of our founders, deface our most sacred memorials, and unleash a wave of violent crime in our cities. Many of these people have no idea why they’re doing this, but some know what they are doing. They think the American people are weak and soft and submissive, but no, the American people are strong and proud and they will not allow our country and all of its values, history, and culture to be taken from them.

What "values, history, and culture" does he think is being taken away? The one where the Confederacy is honored as a noble cause unjustly put down by an unscrupulous Federal government? The one where slavery was abolished by a Congress that didn't understand the South's need for slaves? Or the one that Melanie Hamilton was raisin' money for: Association for the Beautification of the Graves of Our Glorious Dead? Or how about the part where some of our elected officials encouraged racist behavior?

Feckless Leader went on to say, later in the speech:

We are the culture that put up the Hoover Dam, laid down the highways, and sculpted the skyline of Manhattan. We are the people who dreamed the spectacular dream, it was called Las Vegas in the Nevada desert, who built up Miami from the Florida marsh, and who carved our heroes into the face of Mount Rushmore. Americans harnessed electricity, split the atom, and gave the world the telephone and the internet. We settled the Wild West, won two World Wars, landed American astronauts on the moon.

This was one of the most insane things he said: almost every one of the items mentioned (except for the moon landing) happened because the Indigenous Peoples of this continent were forcibly removed from their lands. But they don't count, do they? They are even less visible to the jackass running this country than other POC. 

And then there was this bit of ...of...of...who the hell knows what to call it? Fantasy Camp?

One of their political weapons is cancel culture, driving people from their jobs, shaming dissenters, and demanding total submission from anyone who disagrees. This is the very definition of totalitarianism, and it is completely alien to our culture and to our values and it has absolutely no place in the United States of America.

Cancel culture? Who us? The Artsy-Fartsy Liberal Left? I DON'T THINK SO. We're not the ones cutting funding to arts, education, and media. If anyone wants to cancel culture, it's the whacko base over at the White House. This made me apoplectic all by itself. My head is still doing a 360 from this one. 

But let's go back to The Declaration for a moment.  I am certain Feckless Leader has his legal eagles scouring this and The Constitution for ways to suppress votes and, if necessary, prevent or overturn the election. If you don't that his cabal is looking at that, you are delusional. What the hell do you think Barr and his cadre are doing over at the DoJ? Having coffee?

Meanwhile....back at the ranch:

This is today's post from FiveThirtyEight. 

Keep in mind that people are gradually becoming less likely to believe his trash talk on COVID-19, that 99% of the cases are harmless. They are seeing the spike with younger people and links to gatherings. It's hard to miss the increase in hospitalizations while at the same Europe has effectively barred all travelers from the US. Please think of those people who are claiming it's their G-d given right not to wear masks as basically too stupid to live, because they are busy significantly decreasing their odds of their own survival by exposing themselves to a deadly disease. 

Then there's that time-honored game of chicken: "Hey, kids! Let's go play with the kid who has [insert communicable disease here] to see who gets it first!"  Those rocket scientist teen-agers are in Alabama. Their parents must be so proud.

The pandemic in the US could be better managed, and we could be on the road to real recovery, but we are not because we do not have effective leadership in this country; any progress is undermined every time the Great Orange Herring opens that garbage-spewing trap of his. Instead of moving us toward containment, it's becoming increasingly clear this asshole wants certain communities to just die. Seriously. Cut the testing. Tell insurers they no longer have to cover COVID costs. Don't wear a mask at your own rallies o'death. Let personal freedom and corona virus ring!

One day, when all those "undesirables" are dead, buried, or barred from the US, there will be no one to mow the lawns, pick the produce, change the bed pans, or bury the dead. Those low-level jobs, the ones Americans are too superior to do, will be left undone. 

Who you gonna call?

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

Watching HAMILTON? 

Don't be afraid to use closed captions on the TV.

The lyrics are lightning fast, and this will really help.