Happy 4th of July!

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Celebrate.

Take some time off.

Go for a ride...

...but remember why we
commemorate this day:

this country's escape from the
tyranny of the oppressive
government of Great Britain.

Some interesting information you may not know, from Archiving Early America, Wikipedia, and the following blog:

• Why They Asked Jefferson To Write The First Draft Of The Declaration of Independence
• How The Declaration of Independence Was Written
• Congress Deletes A Fourth of Jefferson's Text Of The Declaration of Independence
• Why The "Declaration of Independence" Is Not The Declaration of Independence
  
• The Real Declaration of Independence: The Lee Resolution

  

  "Resolved, 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.
  "That it is expedient forthwith to take the most effectual measures for forming foreign Alliances.
  "That a plan of confederation be prepared and transmitted to the respective Colonies for their consideration and approbation."

• God Bless America posting

Ironic, isn't it?  Our own federal government has now become our oppressor.

By the way, the oppression of the time, and how and why the founders escaped it, is described starting in the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence. 

It is well to reread this if your political science has become rusty.  A few changed words would make it applicable to today. 
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