Today we celebrate when our founding fathers said no to unconstrained executive power.
Today we celebrate when our founding fathers said no to the idea that any one man could decide the law for himself, or could decide another man’s fate with the mere stroke of a pen.
Today we celebrate when our founding fathers said no to a king whose authority to deny the people their rights was so vast that it could not be checked by the judiciary.
Today we celebrate when our founding fathers said no to a king who sent out swarms of armed soldiers to harass the people.
Today we celebrate when our founding fathers said no to a king who sent the military to do the job of civilian law enforcement.
Today we celebrate when our founding fathers said no to a king who deprived them of the due process right to trial.
Today we celebrate when our founding fathers said no to a king who cut off foreign trade at his own whim.
Today we celebrate when our founding fathers said no to a king who transported people across the sea to be imprisoned for petty crimes.
Our founding was certainly flawed, as any nation’s founding necessarily must be. Our founders believed that certain people had the rights to liberty and the pursuit of happiness, but not all people. It is my earnest hope that we can now see the horrors wrought by the making of such wicked distinctions.
So…
May we celebrate the greatness of our founding, while we strive to earnestly learn the lessons of our history.
May we continue to reject a system that benefits “the approved” or “the worthy” at the expense of the undeserving, the poor, or the “other.”
May we continue to demand a system which guarantees the rights of all, without exception for certain disfavored groups.
May we continue to demand that our executive be bound by the law and not be a law unto himself.
Today, may we continue to say no to any such king.