MainStream wishes you a happy and safe Independence Day weekend.
Please commemorate our country's founding by celebrating our Freedom. Not the "freedom" proposed by the extremists here in Kansas and elsewhere, wherein they are "free" to impose their opinions on all Americans, but rather the freedom envisioned by the founders of this country, where each citizen is created equal, and endowed with the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Moderates of both parties understand, and agree, that freedom means that you can pursue your beliefs, without being hindered by others or the government. But the extremists do not understand, or willfully misunderstand, that these freedoms are ours to pursue only in a way that does not impose them upon others. State employees are free to believe gay marriage is wrong, yes, but they are not free to impose their opinion on others, or impede the freedom of others to believe marriage is marriage. They are not free to deny marriage licenses. It is, in fact, illegal.
On this weekend, we encourage a reading of the Declaration of Independence (read it here, at the Library of Congress). We all know how it begins, but how many of us have read through the list of objections laid at the feet of King George? Here is a selection that may resonate with Kansans:
- For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent
Tax plan passes Kansas House and Senate, Brownback set to sign - KC Star - He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries
Kansas Links Court Funding to Judicial Rulings - Wall Street Journal - For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments
Kansas State Senate Takes Away Local Control of City, County Budgetary Process - KC Infozine - 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
Brownback's Budget Moves - 4AM Vote Passes With Minimum - DailyKos
Unfortunately, in Kansas we do not have just a King George, but rather both Governor and Leadership in the Kansas Legislature, imposing their moral "freedoms" on all Kansans.
This weekend, we urge all moderates and supporters to practice our Freedoms: assemble, love, accept, understand, and make room for those who believe differently than you do.
And as always, don't stand by. Stand up when your heart tells you to, speak out when your voice is needed.
Have a happy Fourth of July.
