Court Of Impeachment And War Crimes: Why Should We Answer The Call To The Duty To Impeach George W. Bush And Richard B. Cheney?

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Thursday, January 17, 2008

Why Should We Answer The Call To The Duty To Impeach George W. Bush And Richard B. Cheney?


Impeaching Bush and Cheney Is The Legal Responsibility Of This Congress and It Is Our Duty To See To It That That Congress Upholds The Laws Of This Nation And That They Fulfill Their Sworn Duty Inherent In Their Oath Of Office. If They Do Not; Each And Every Member Of The House Who Does Support The Constitution By Their Inaction Or Refusal To Honor Their Sworn Oath Must Be Defeated In Their Re-Election Bid In 2008.


Political Definition Supplied By Friend Trent True, Kent, Ohio:


ELECTILE DYSFUNCTION :


The inability to become aroused over any of the choices for president put forth by either party in the 2008 election year.


Why Should We Answer The Call To The Duty To Impeach George W. Bush And Richard B. Cheney? Why Should We Give Up Pleasantries Of Our Everyday Lives And Lift A Finger Or Raise Our Voice, Or Give Of Our Time To Efforts To Remove These Men From Office And Bring Them To Justice As Required By Our Own Constitution?

Why should we participate in the efforts that immediately follow? If after review of the following material, feel that there has been an omission(s) please add them in the comments section.

“It’s The Judiciary Committee Stupid!” Campaign Lead Link
http://courtofimpeachmentandwarcrimes.blogspot.com/2007/12/impeach-bush-and-cheney-calling-all.html

Work With Wexler…

http://www.wexlerwantshearings.com


Wed. Jan 16, 2008, National Call-In Day for Impeachment (action alert)


PETITION TO REPLACE NANCY PELOSI AS SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FOR THE PURPOSES OF PURSUING IMPEACHMENT


The Reason in RESOLUTION format -2007-


Impeaching George W. Bush, President of the United States and Richard B. Cheney, Vice President Of The United States, of high crimes and misdemeanors, acts of misfeasance, malfeasance and nonfeasance in office, acts of war crimes violating the Third and Fourth Geneva Conventions and the U.S. War Crimes Act of 1996 , for failure to faithfully execute laws of this nation, willful disregard for and under mining of The Constitution Of These United States , and failure to fulfill their oaths of office .

Wherefore, George W. Bush, President of the United States and Richard B. Cheney, Vice President of the United States, by such conduct, warrants impeachment and trial, and removal from office.

Resolved, That George W. Bush, President of the United States and Richard B. Cheney, Vice President of The United States are impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors, acts of misfeasance, malfeasance and nonfeasance in office, acts of war crimes violating the Third and Fourth Geneva Conventions and the U.S. War Crimes Act, for failure to faithfully execute laws of this nation, willful disregard for and under mining of The Constitution Of These United States, and failure to fulfill their oaths of office, and that the following resolution of articles of impeachment be exhibited to the Senate:

Articles of impeachment exhibited by the House of Representatives of the United States of America in the name of itself and of all of the people of the United States of America, against George W. Bush, President of the United States of America and Richard B. Cheney, Vice President of The United States, in maintenance and support of its impeachment against them for high crimes, misdemeanors, acts of misfeasance, malfeasance and nonfeasance in office, acts of war crimes violating the Third and Fourth Geneva Conventions and the U.S. War Crimes Act, for failure to faithfully execute laws of this nation, willful disregard for and under mining of The Constitution Of These United States, and failure to fulfill their oaths of office.

WHEREAS, President George W. Bush, in his oath of office, swore to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States;” and

WHEREAS, Vice President Richard B. Cheney, in his oath of office, swore to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic;” and

WHEREAS, It is a fundamental principle of U.S. jurisprudence that no one is above the law and no one may operate outside of our constitutional system of checks and balances; and

WHEREAS, in the conduct of the office of President of the United States George W. Bush has admitted to ordering the National Security Agency to conduct electronic surveillance of American civilians without seeking warrants from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review, duly constituted by Congress in 1978, in violation of Title 50 United States Code, Section 1805; and

WHEREAS, in the conduct of the offices of President of the United States, and Vice President of The United States respectively, George W. Bush and ,George W. Bush and Richard B. Cheney conspired to commit the torture of prisoners in violation of the “Federal Torture Act” Title 18 United States Code, Section 113C, the UN Torture Convention and the Geneva Conventions, which under Article VI of the Constitution are part of the “supreme Law of the Land”; and

WHEREAS, In the conduct of the office of President of the United States, George W. Bush, and Richard B. Cheney in the conduct of the office of Vice President of the United States, in violation of their constitutional oaths faithfully to execute the office of President of the United States and Vice President of the United States respectively, to the best of their abilities, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, and in violation of his constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed have:

(1) Attempted to impose a police state and a military dictatorship upon the people and Republic of the United States of America by means of "a long Train of Abuses and Usurpations" against the Constitution since September 11, 2001.

This subversive conduct includes but is not limited to trying to suspend the constitutional Writ of Habeas Corpus ; coercing the totalitarian U.S.A. Patriot Act through Congress; the mass-round-up and incarceration of foreigners; constituting extraordinary mock courts; depriving at least two United States citizens of their constitutional rights by means of military incarceration; interference with the constitutional right of defendants in criminal cases to lawyers; violating and subverting the
Posse Comitatus Act ; unlawful and unreasonable searches and seizures; violating the First Amendments rights of the free exercise of religion, freedom of speech, peaceable assembly, and to petition the government for redress of grievances; packing the federal judiciary with hand-picked judges belonging to the totalitarian Federalist Society and undermining the judicial independence of the Constitution's Article III federal court system; violating the Third and Fourth Geneva Conventions and the U.S. War Crimes Act; violating The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination; reinstitution of the infamous "Cointelpro" Program ; violating the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, the Convention against Torture, and The Universal Declaration of Human Rights ; instituting the totalitarian Total Information Awareness Program; and establishing a totalitarian Northern Military Command for the United States of America itself, and

2) Violated The Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution .

U.S. soldiers in the Middle East are overwhelmingly poor White, Black, and Latino and their military service is based on the coercion of a system that has denied viable economic opportunities to these classes of citizens. Under the Constitution, all classes of citizens are guaranteed equal protection of the laws, and calling on the poor and minorities to fight a war for oil to preserve the lifestyles of the wealthy power elite of this country is a denial of the rights of these soldiers; and

3) Violated the U.S. Constitution, federal law, and the United Nations Charter by bribing, intimidating and threatening others, including the members of the United Nations Security Council, to support belligerent acts against Iraq; and

4) Prepared, planned, and conspired to engage in a massive war and catastrophic aggression against Iraq by employing methods of mass destruction that has resulted in the killing of hundreds of thousands of civilians, many of whom have been children. This planning included the threatened use of nuclear weapons, and the use of such indiscriminate weapons and massive killings by aerial bombardment, or otherwise, of civilians, violates the Hague Regulations on land warfare, the rules of customary international law set forth in the Hague Rules of Air Warfare , the Four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and Protocol I thereto, the Nuremberg Charter, Judgment, and Principles , the Genocide Convention, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and U.S. Army Field Manual 27-10 (1956) ; and

5) Committed the United States to acts of war without congressional consent and contrary to the United Nations Charter and international law.

From September, 2001 through January, 2003, the President and Vice President embarked on a course of action that systematically eliminated every option for peaceful resolution of the Persian Gulf crisis. Once they approached Congress for consent to war, tens of thousands of American soldiers' lives were in jeopardy - rendering any substantive debate by Congress meaningless. They have never received a Declaration of War by Congress, and in contravention of the written word, the spirit, and the intent of the U.S. Constitution has declared that they will, and did, go to war regardless of the views of the American people. In failing to seek and obtain a Declaration of War, George W. Bush and Richard B. Cheney, acting in tandem, have acted in a manner contrary to their trusts as President and Vice President respectively and subversive of constitutional government, to the great prejudice of the cause of law and justice and to the manifest injury of the people of the United States; and

6) Planned, prepared, and conspired to commit crimes against the peace by leading the United States into aggressive war against Iraq in violation of Article 2(4) of the United Nations Charter , the Nuremberg Charter, Judgment, and Principles, the Kellogg-Briand Pact , U.S. Army Field Manual 27-10 (1956), numerous other international treaties and agreements, and the Constitution of the United States; and

7) Purposely conspired with others to manipulate the intelligence process so as to defraud United States of America and intentionally mislead and deceive Congress and the American public regarding the threat posed by Iraq so as to justify the initiation of a war in violation of Title 18 United States Code, Section 371, by fabricating a threat of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction to justify the use of the United States Armed Forces against the nation of Iraq in a manner damaging to our national security interests; and

8) Subverted the national security interests of the United States by setting the stage for the loss of more than 3300 United States service members; the loss of 650,000 Iraqi citizens since the United States invasion; the loss of approximately $500 billion in war costs which has increased our Federal debt; the loss of military readiness within the United States Armed Services due to overextension, lack of training and lack of equipment; the loss of United States credibility in world affairs; and the decades of predictable catastrophe and destabilization of the mid east region created by the invasion of Iraq; and

9) In their conduct, purposely manipulated the intelligence process to deceive the citizens and Congress of the United States about an alleged relationship between Iraq and al Qaeda in order to justify the use of the United States Armed Forces against the nation of Iraq in a manner damaging to our national security interests, the reputation and integrity of the United States of America; and

10) Openly threatened aggression against the Republic of Iran absent any real threat to the United States, and done so with the United States proven capability to carry out such threats, thus undermining the national security of the United States.

11) In the last three years repeatedly threatened Iran. However, they/we are legally bound by the U.S. Constitution's adherence to international law that prohibits threats of use of force.

(A) Article VI of the United States Constitution states, “This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land.” Any provision of an international treaty ratified by the United States becomes the law of the United States.

(B) The United States is a signatory to the United Nations Charter, a treaty among the nations of the world. Article II, Section 4 of the United Nations Charter states, “All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations.” The threat of force is illegal.

(C) Article 51 lays out the only exception, “Nothing in the present Charter shall impair the inherent right of individual or collective self-defense if an armed attack occurs against a Member of the United Nations, until the Security Council has taken measures necessary to maintain international peace and security.” Iran has not attacked the United States; therefore any threat against Iran by the United States is illegal.

The President’s and the Vice President's deception upon the citizens and Congress of the United States that enabled the failed United States invasion of Iraq forcibly altered the rules of diplomacy such that their recent belligerent actions towards Iran are destabilizing and counterproductive to the national security of the United States; and

12) Acted to strip American citizens of their constitutional rights by ordering indefinite detention without access to legal counsel, without charge and without the opportunity to appear before a civil judicial officer to challenge the detention, based solely on the discretionary designation by the President of a U.S. citizen as an “enemy combatant”, all in subversion of law; and

13) Arrogated excessive power to the executive branch in violation of basic constitutional principles of the separation of powers while acting to undermine the authority of the legislative branch and the judiciary by issuing “signing statements” that claim that the executive branch may disregard laws enacted by Congress when the President or his subordinates deem it appropriate, and by the above referenced conduct.


(14) For the signing and assumption of the grant of powers authorized in The National Security and Homeland Security Presidential Directive (National Security Presidential Directive NSPD-51/Homeland Security Presidential Directive HSPD-20), signed by United States President George W. Bush on May 9, 2007, without “advise and consent” of The Congress, taking unto themselves dictatorial powers in said unilateral Presidential Directive which specifies the procedures for continuity of the federal government in the event of a "catastrophic emergency.", such an emergency construed as "any incident, regardless of location, that results in extraordinary levels of mass casualties, damage, or disruption severely affecting the U.S. population, infrastructure, environment, economy, or government functions."


In all of this George W. Bush and Richard B. Cheney have acted in a manner contrary to their trusts as President and Vice President respectively and subversive of constitutional government, to the great prejudice of the cause of law and justice and to the manifest injury of the people of the United States; and

Wherefore, George W. Bush, President of the United States and Richard B. Cheney, Vice President Of The United States, by such conduct, warrants impeachment and trial, and removal from office; and

WHEREAS, In all of this George W. Bush and Richard B. Cheney have acted in a manner contrary to their trust as President and Vice President, subversive of constitutional government to the great prejudice of the cause of law and justice, and to the manifest injury of the people of The United States of America; Said President and Vice President of this nation, must in accordance with The Constitution of these United States, the laws of this land developed subsequent to its’ adoption, applicable International Laws and agreements, and by every standard or morality, justice and a common sense acceptance of the most simple standards of right and wrong, must be Impeached.


SUMMARY OF CAUSE(S):

(1) For the commission of “High Crimes and Misdemeanors in Office”, acts of misfeasance, malfeasance, and nonfeasance in office, acts of “War Crimes” violating the Third and Fourth Geneva Conventions and the U.S. War Crimes Act of 1996, for failure to faithfully execute laws of this nation, willful disregard for and undermining of The Constitution Of These United States, and failure to fulfill their oaths of office; and

(2) For having violated the fundamental principle of American law, that: “no one is above the law” by acting in defiance of and outside of our constitutional system of checks and balances; and

(3) For ordering illegal electronic surveillance of American civilians without required warrants in clear violation of Title 50 United States Code, Section 1805; and

(4) For having authorized and conspired to commit acts of torture of prisoners in violation of both American and International law; and

(5) For having attempted to impose a police state and a military dictatorship upon the people and Republic of the United States by means of “a long Train of Abuses and Usurpations” against The Constitution since September 11, 2001; and

(6) For having attempted the suspension of the constitutional Writ of Habeas Corpus; and

(7) For coercing the totalitarian Patriot Act through the Congress of the United States; and

(8) For conspiring to commit torture in violation of The Federal Torture Act, Title 18 United States Code, Section 113C, the UN Torture Convention and The Geneva Conventions as applicable to the United States under Article VI of The Constitution; and

(9) For having conducted massive round ups and incarcerations of foreigners without legal authority; and

10) For having constituted extraordinary mock courts beyond the scope of American law; and

(11) For depriving at least two American citizens of their constitutional rights by military incarceration; and

(12) For subverting The Posse Comitatus Act; and

(13) For having violated First Amendment Rights by authorized illegal acts of transgression against the rights of protection from unlawful and unreasonable searches and seizures, free exercise of; religion, speech, peaceable assembly, and the right to petition the government for redress of grievances; and

(14) For having pursued a policy of “Court Packing” and undermining the judicial independence of The Constitution’s Article III “Federal Court System”; and

(15) For violating: the Third and Fourth Geneva Conventions, The U.S. War Crimes Act, The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination; and

(16) For reinstitution of “Cointelpro” Program in violation of The Geneva Convention on Consular Relations, the Convention Against Torture, and The Declaration of Human Rights; and

(17) For institution of the totalitarian Total Information Awareness Program and the establishment of the totalitarian Northern Military Command for The united State of America; and

(18) For violation of The Equal Protection Clause of The Constitution; and

(19) For violation of The United States Constitution, Federal Law and The United Nations Charter by numerous acts of bribery, intimidation and threats in support of belligerent acts against the state of Iraq; and

(20) For Preparing, planning, and conspiring to engage in a war of aggression against Iraq by employing methods of mass destruction resulting in the killing of hundreds of thousands of civilians, many of whom have been children. This planning included the threatened use of nuclear weapons, the use of such indiscriminate weapons and massive killings by aerial bombardment, or otherwise, of civilians, in violation of the Hague Regulations on land warfare, the rules of customary international law set forth in the Hague Rules of Air Warfare , The Four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and Protocol I thereto, The Nuremberg Charter, Judgment, and Principles, the Genocide Convention, The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and U.S. Army Field Manual 27-10 (1956) ; and

(21) For committing the United States to acts of war without congressional consent and contrary to The United Nations Charter and international law; and

(22) For planning, preparing, and conspiring to commit crimes against the peace by leading the United States into a war of aggression against Iraq in violation of Article 2(4) of the United Nations Charter, The Nuremberg Charter, Judgment, and Principles, the Kellogg-Briand Pact, U.S. Army Field Manual 27-10 (1956), numerous other international treaties and agreements, and The Constitution of the United States; and

(23) For purposely conspired with others to manipulate the intelligence process so as to defraud United States of America and intentionally mislead and deceive Congress and the American public regarding the threat posed by Iraq so as to justify the initiation of a war in violation of Title 18 United States Code, Section 371: and

(24) For fabricating a threat of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction to justify the use of the United States Armed Forces against the nation of Iraq: and

(25) For subverting the national security interests of the United States by setting the stage for the loss of more than: 3300 United States service members, 650,000 Iraqi citizens. approximately $500 billion in war costs, and the loss of United States credibility in world affairs; and causing the decades of predictable catastrophe and destabilization of the mid east region created by the invasion of Iraq; and

(26) For purposely manipulated the intelligence process to deceive the citizens and Congress of the United States about an alleged relationship between Iraq and al Qaeda in order to justify the use of the United States Armed Forces against the nation of Iraq; and

(27) For openly threatened aggression against the Republic of Iran absent any real threat to the United States; and

(28) For repeatedly threatened Iran, when we are legally bound by the U.S. Constitution's adherence, Article VI of the United States Constitution, to international law Article II, Section 4 of the United Nations Charter that prohibits threats of use of force; and

(29) For acting to strip American citizens of their constitutional rights by ordering indefinite detention without access to legal counsel, without charge and without the opportunity to appear before a civil judicial officer to challenge the detention, based solely on the discretionary designation by the President of a U.S. citizen as an “enemy combatant”, all in subversion of law; and

(30) For arrogating excessive power to the executive branch in violation of basic constitutional principles of the separation of powers while acting to undermine the authority of the legislative branch and the judiciary by issuing “signing statements” that claim that the executive branch may disregard laws enacted by Congress when the President or his subordinates deem it appropriate, and by the above referenced conduct; and

(31) For the signing and assumption of the grant of powers authorized in The National Security and Homeland Security Presidential Directive (National Security Presidential Directive NSPD-51/Homeland Security Presidential Directive HSPD-20), signed by United States President George W. Bush on May 9, 2007, without “advise and consent” of The Congress, taking unto themselves dictatorial powers in said unilateral Presidential Directive which specifies the procedures for continuity of the federal government in the event of a "catastrophic emergency.", such an emergency construed as "any incident, regardless of location, that results in extraordinary levels of mass casualties, damage, or disruption severely affecting the U.S. population, infrastructure, environment, economy, or government functions."


The Declaration of Independence

Action of Second Continental Congress, July 4, 1776

The Unanimous Declaration Of The Thirteen United States Of America

The Decla

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 the 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 the 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 Rules 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 and 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 British 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.


REASON ENOUGH?

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