Saturday, September 17, 2011
Birthday of the U.S. Constitution
Happy (224th) Constitution Day!
Constitution Day, formally known as Citizenship Day, is the holiday that marks the formal adoption of the the U.S. Constitution.and recognizes those who have become citizens. With a political climate hostile to both constitutional principles and new citizens, it’s worth a moment to reflect on what we should be celebrating.
The Constitution is more than a governing document. It’s an expression of cultural and political values and ideals that help define what it means to be an American. Taken out of the vacuum of political ideology, the Constitution embraces the belief that individuals should have a check, and a remedy, against the abuse of police power, that all persons have a unique and equally worthy humanity that the law should respect and that the essential function of the government is to provide for the common good.
It established three co-equal branches of government to divide power and force compromise in order to govern. It allows for a balance between accountability to the electorate and the flexibility necessary to govern and disperses influence, albeit imperfectly, across a nation vast in geography and differing opinions.
As good as it is, the Constitution is not perfect. Indeed, until amended it failed to recognize the humanity of African-Americans, women, and anyone not a white male property owner. It still does not explicitly provide for a recognition of women as equal rights holders as men and is vague enough to pluck out corporate personhood from its meaning.
Yes, it remains a work in progress. But in the meantime let’s celebrate the fact that it guarantees citizens full due process and equal protection under the law, free speech, privacy and liberty rights and remains, to this day, a model of how one of the greatest political experiments in mankind’s history got it mostly right.
This is the "birthday" of our marvelous Constitution of the United States of America! Let us give thanks for it!
There have been countless forms of government throughout the history of mankind. But the Constitution has proved to be far superior to any other charter of human government in promoting what the Declaration of Independence labeled as our "unalienable rights" of "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."
It was almost miraculous that on this date Sept. 17 in the year 1787, an assembly of men in Philadelphia managed to come to agreement on the Constitution, which the states would later ratify.
The Constitution is the basis of the liberty and justice that we enjoy in the United States. It is a brilliant balance of powers -- and restrictions on power -- and it promotes the best interests of our free people in this blessed nation.
Despite our individual imperfections and despite occasional challenges, violations and stresses in war and peace throughout centuries, the Constitution has survived.
Is it perfect?
Times change. Challenges vary. But among the Constitution's virtues is the orderly, cautious process that it provides to amend it, if we feel a need to do so. The prescribed process prevents us from falling victim to sudden passions and partisan whims, which might otherwise allow us to undermine our cherished freedoms in pursuit of an unwise or short-term goal.
We, the people, by our Constitution, have delegated specific powers to the federal government -- with the 10th Amendment reserving all others to the states or the people. That important provision has helped us to preserve liberties that most people outside the United States do not enjoy.
What if we didn't have the Constitution? Can you imagine what we might do, today, if we "started from scratch," to attempt to write a new Constitution?
Do you believe we could do as well as the men who gathered at the Constitutional Convention in 1787? We doubt it!
But if you're not sure, just sit down and try to write the kind of Constitution you think might be better. Could you devise surer guarantees of personal freedom? Could you provide better means for our nation to exercise needed governmental power -- but not too much power?
Whatever the Constitution's imperfections may be, the real danger in government today is not that we will adhere "too closely" to it, but that we will not adhere to it as carefully and specifically as we should!
We should resolve, therefore, to defend and uphold the Constitution, to treasure it and honor it -- and to preserve it for ourselves and future generations.
Today, on the birthday of the Constitution, all of us Americans should be humbly grateful for that enduring document -- and for the "blessings of liberty" that it secures for us.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
On This Day.........
The original Star-Spangled Banner, the flag that inspired Francis Scott Key to write the song that would become our national anthem, is among the most treasured artifacts in the collections of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C.
Check out more of what happen on this day and check out the Smithsonian website, click link below:
http://www.si.edu/Encyclopedia_SI/nmah/starflag.htm
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Happy Memorial Day to ALL!
Please watch this video dedicated for all U.S. soldiers, who have and are serving currently:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q65KZIqay4E&feature=player_embedded
GOD BLESS THE USA!
Monday, December 6, 2010
December 7th - A Day for Remembrance
December 7th 1941 : Japanese Surprise Attack On Pearl Harbor
The carefully planned raid by sea and air deals a severe blow to US Navy, sinking many battleships, destroyers, and auxiliary ships as well as destroying many aircrafts. The raid is a success, but the prize target, the US aircraft carriers are not present and would later take part in the battles of the Coral Sea and Midway.
In the aftermath of the battle the commander Admiral Yamamoto said "We have awaken a terrible giant".
Here are movies :
Attack On Pearl Harbor, part of a documentary using most footage from the movie "Tora! Tora! Tora!"
To watch click on the links:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nt13c3olXkU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAnOtWm5OrM
Here is President Franklin Delano Roosevelt - Pearl Harbor Address, click on the link below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VqQA f74fsE
Here is a video clip I found about Pearl Harbor attack. It's pretty good and it uses clips from the movie "Pearl Harbor" (2001).
The movie is based around love, friendship, honor, courage, and the historical accounts of the attack on Pearl Harbor. In the movie near the end shows the depiction of the surprise Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. It's very real and feels like you are there experiencing it. Even some Pearl Harbor veterans of that infamous day saw the film had to leave or left the movie in tears. So, I recommend this video for people over the age of 18 years old. I get emotional watching these video clips from America's past. Let me know what you think of it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAF2GgiduvM
Links to some sites that dedicate the facts, pictures, and stories of December 7, 1941:
http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2004/Dec/08/ln/ln10p.html
http://www.rivervet.com/pearl_harbor.htm
http://www.coolcrack.com/2009/12/incredible-pictures-of-pearl-harbor.html
http://www.veteran.com/content/pearl-harbor-memorial-2007
http://www.december7.com/1941/Ewa_Field_2010/index.html
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/pearlharbor/
http://www.pitt.edu/~goldy/library.html
http://groverandgoni.blogspot.com/2009/09/hawaii-adventures-3-pearl-harbor.html
http://www.buglerusn.us/ww2_quotes.htm
http://www.uss-pollack.org/ss180.html
FYI: Just click on pictures to enlarge the photos. Enjoy!
Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number:(USS Arizona afire, NPS) Reuse only by permission.
The USS Arizona, December 7, 1941, afire at Pearl Harbor. The ship sank with 1,102 sailors entombed that day. An additional 75 crew members died and a mere 334 men survived the attack by the Japanese. The death toll on the USS Arizona was nearly half of all personnel killed at Pearl Harbor (1177 of 2402).
Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number:(USS Arizona Memorial, NPS) Reuse only by permission.
USS Arizona Memorial, dedicated in 1962 at Pearl Harbor welcomes over a million visitors every year.
This post is dedicated to all who either died or survived this day 69 years ago at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.