..during an Independence Day speech:
President Obama marked the Fourth of July on Sunday at a South Lawn barbecue honoring service members and their families.
"We celebrate the principles that are timeless, tenets first declared by men of property and wealth but which gave rise to what Lincoln called a new birth of freedom in America — civil rights and voting rights, workers' rights and women's rights, and the rights of every American," Obama said from a White House balcony with first lady Michelle Obama at his side.
Men of property and wealth, said with a sneer, with the word "white" unspoken but clearly implied.
Again, the anti-American American, Barack Obama, gleefully wallows in his ignorance of his nation's history like a elderly shut-in wallows in their feces. Obviously, without these men of "wealth and property", Obama certainly would not have been free to become president of this great nation. Is it too hard for Obama to wrap his head around the fact that not all revolutions are products of the downtrodden? Or is his ideology so rigid that rather than accept the brilliant exception that was the American revolution, he must smear it and belittle it in order to fit his childishly preconceived notions?
But more importantly - does Barack Obama even remotely understand the sacrifice made by these men of "wealth and property"? Obviously not, he is not only ignorant of the facts surrounding his nation's birth, but oblivious to the spirit it takes to make a true "sacrifice", a word Barack is often heard saying but an action he is rarely seen engaging in.
In the hopes of educating our dimwitted president, let's review the fates of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence, these white men of wealth and property:
Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died. Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army, another had two sons captured.
Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War. They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.
What kind of men were they? Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists. Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantation owners; men of means, well educated. But they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured.
Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts, and died in rags. T homas McKeam was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his reward.
Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton. At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson, Jr., noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters. He quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt.
Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months. John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying. Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished. A few weeks later he died from exhaustion and a broken heart. Norris and Livingston suffered similar fates.
Such were the stories and sacrifices of the American Revolution. These were not wild eyed, rabble-rousing ruffians. They were soft-spoken men of means and education. They had security, but they valued liberty more. Standing tall, straight, and unwavering, they pledged:"For the support of this declaration, with firm reliance on the protection of the divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other, our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor"
Or, as Barack Obama would simply call them, with disgust: "Men of wealth and property...."
Maybe we need more men like them, and less redistributers of wealth, like Barack Obama.
Of course, this reminds me of my favorite movie, Clint Eastwood's "Unforgiven", in which Big Whiskey's sheriff - Little Bill Dagget - says just prior to kicking the sh*t out of would-be assassin English Bob:
"You been talking about the Queen again? On Independence Day?!"
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