Happy Birthday, America

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.
The Declaration of Independance

On this, our nation's birthday, I like to remember what an amazing document the DoI is. It's revolutionary on two fronts: there is the overt declaration of war against King George III, and the more radical notion that God has given us the right of happiness. Think about that. Common religious thinking at the time said (ok, still says) that humans were meant to suffer in this life. God's will rarely included something so trivial as happiness. God's will only included narrow rules to follow, and following these rules made God happy, but not necessary you. But here was a country predicated on the idea that God wanted us to find our own way, our own place in the world. God actually wanted us to be happy. So, King George W., fuck you and your "Defense of Marriage" Act. Fuck your stripping of our civil liberties, one by one, like an onion, so that the masses won't even miss what they've lost. What has made America such a special place is the hope that tomorrow will be better, that hard work can over come prejudice. This is a country founded by second sons that had nothing to lose, and everything to gain. This is why I'm so angry. The right wing has stolen my country, and I want it back.