The Reading[s] Of The Declaration of Independence

George Washington Reads The Declaration of Independence

The VOLOKH CONSPIRACY has a must read post!

Senator John F. Kennedy Reading Declaration of Independence, 4 July 1957

Sound recording of Senator John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts reading the Declaration of Independence. A recording of Senator Kennedy’s reading was broadcast on WQXR Radio in New York, on July 4, 1957, as part of the station’s observance of the Fourth of July.

This is with a hat-tip to RED HEADED LIBERTARIAN passing along MICHAEL W. SMITH’S post:

Happy July 4 to everyone here in America. Just a reminder of the price that was paid for our freedom. I honestly just did not know the great sacrifices that these men paidMakes me love this country even more.

What happened to the signers of the Declaration of Independence?

This is the Price They Paid

Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence?

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 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.

Thomas 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 or both, looted the properties of Ellery, Clymer, Hall, 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. The owner 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.”

Should we celebrate the Fourth of July?

Yeonmi Park: My Terrifying Escape from North Korea (#Merica)

  • I am most grateful for two things: that I was born in North Korea and that I escaped from North Korea. Both of these events shaped me, and I would not trade them for an ordinary and peaceful life. Yeonmi Park

UPDATED VIDEO INTERVIEW: exactly one year from original posting

Yeonmi Park, North Korea defector and author on her defection from North Korea and how Columbia University has echoes of her past on ‘Kudlow.’

  • Kudlow: “somehow God was looking after you”
  • Park: “Yes”
  • Kudlow: “Really.”
  • Park: “He did.”
  • Kudlow: And, it’s a great story” [….] “It’s a blessing you made it through.”

Amen. (Concordia has a good posting on Yeonmi)

One commenter on the Fox Business’ YT channel says it all:

  • I feel so embarrassed for our country when a foreign warrior comes here for freedom and still can’t escape the war.

Her accent is hard to follow, but you get a rhythm going as you listen to understand here | GOD and North korea – Why the North Korean Christians Face the Most Extreme Persecution” (YouTube). She mentions the “real God” in the video speaking of the Judeo-Christian faith.

ORIGINAL POSTING

Born in North Korea, Yeonmi Park shares her harrowing journey to escape the hunger, thought control, and violence she experienced living under authoritarian regimes. Grateful to have found acceptance and justice in the United States, she cautions Americans to see the early warning signs—here in America—of the communist nightmares she fled in North Korea and China.

I Love America Too Much to Stay Silent (Prager U)

Nestride Yumga experienced real corruption and civil rights abuses in Africa. Then she came to America, the land of opportunity, education, and freedom. So when Black Lives Matter protests declared America guilty of systemic racism and injustice, she knew she had to defend her adoptive country.

“Black Lives Matter is a joke. You are the racists,” said Nestride Yumga, an American citizen originally from Africa. “Go to Chicago. They don’t have schools, and they die every day. They don’t matter [to you] because you can’t get attention from that,” she told protesters. (BREITBART)

The 1980 “Miracle On Ice”

DAILY WIRE notes the attempted shaming by the Leftist rag WaPo:

The Washington Post on Tuesday attempted to shame the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team that defeated the Russian team in what is known as the “Miracle on Ice” because some appeared with President Donald Trump.

To briefly recap: The men responsible for defeating Russia at hockey during the Cold War are now being harassed by Democrats and the Left for appearing with the president of the United States.

The Post spoke to exactly one player from the team, Mike Eruzione, in order to get him to suggest he regretted wearing one of Trump’s “Keep America Great” hats when he appeared on stage with the president Friday night in Las Vegas, Nevada. Eruzione has been getting harassed by people who despise Trump, yet the Post spun the story as if the team deserved the harassment because some of them dared to wear hats that Trump’s political opponents have deemed racist. Many people simply refuse to allow the media or the Left the ability to determine what is and isn’t considered a hate symbol. For the record, the media and the Left would have deemed campaign gear from any Republican candidate as hateful.

But now the media has turned its attention to hockey players. It also should be noted that the media does this to any recognizable person who appears on stage with Trump. When asked about the Left-led “backlash,” Eruzione told the post: “You going to light into me, too? We’re getting killed!”…..

Dan Bongino posted this on his TWITTER:

(More of this “miracle on ice” can be found HERE)

Some of the comments that followed Bongino’s post are pretty funny:

  • It is nearly as heart-warming as the recap video of the 2016 election night results.
  • I saw @BernieSanders in the stands with his USSR jersey on…sad day for him
  • Can you imagine the look on Bernie’s face?
  • Thanks for that Toxic masculinity at it’s finest.
  • Definitely! But after Trump beat Hillery it became the 2nd greatest upset ever.
  • Between this and Ronald Reagan becoming President, these are the 2 events that gave America its spine and swagger back. Jimmy Carter almost took us down the drain. The miracle on ice showed us we could still win. Reagan showed us how to do it consistently.
  • The USA as a country was in a malaise. WNEW played Even it up by Heart horns were honking people hugged it still is a one of a kind feeling.