Gird yer loins, this is twisted!
Caught in a weather zone today so this is the only post for the day; besides … reading it, I think I need a drink. The only bar in town in called The Mule Lip …
you can only imagine; still, I think I need it. You will too.
Jude
Constitution Day and Citizenship Day, Constitution Week, 2007
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/08/20070822-5.html
A Proclamation by the President of the United States
White House News
On Constitution Day and Citizenship Day and during Constitution Week, we celebrate the anniversary of our Nation’s Constitution and honor the Framers who created the landmark document that continues to guide our Nation.
In the summer of 1787, delegates convened in Philadelphia to create “a more perfect Union” and craft the document that is the foundation of our country. With great diligence, they worked to develop a framework that would balance authority and inherent freedoms, Federal interests and State powers, individual rights and national unity. On September 17th of the same year, the delegates signed the Constitution of the United States.
Today, every American shares in this legacy of liberty, and we are grateful for the courage, conviction, and sacrifice of all those who have helped preserve and uphold the principles of a free society. As we remember the enduring importance of the Constitution, we also recognize our responsibility as citizens to respect and defend the values of our founding and participate in the unfolding story of freedom.
In celebration of the signing of the Constitution and in recognition of the Americans who strive to uphold the duties and responsibilities of citizenship, the Congress, by joint resolution of February 29, 1952 (36 U.S.C. 106, as amended), designated September 17 as “Constitution Day and Citizenship Day,” and by joint resolution of August 2, 1956 (36 U.S.C. 108, as amended), requested that the President proclaim the week beginning September 17 and ending September 23 of each year as “Constitution Week.”
NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim September 17, 2007, as Constitution Day and Citizenship Day, and September 17 through September 23, 2007, as Constitution Week. I encourage Federal, State, and local officials, as well as leaders of civic, social, and educational organizations, to conduct ceremonies and programs that celebrate our Constitution and reaffirm our rights and responsibilities as citizens of our great Nation.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-first day of August, in the year of our Lord two thousand seven, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-second.
GEORGE W. BUSH ++
Celebrating Our Rights by Taking Them Away
Texas Observer Editorial
August 22nd, 2007
The White House today released the president’s proclamation in honor of Constitution Day. As all you Constitution Day lovers out there know well, the holiday isn’t until September 17. You may be wondering why the White House celebrated Constitution Day three weeks early. We can’t say for sure. The answer is probably stamped “highly sensitive” and locked in Cheney’s walk-in safe. Maybe it’s hereditary, the first president Bush once celebrated Pearl Harbor Day a month early.
Officially known as Constitution Day and Citizenship Day, the holiday marks the date that the Constitution was signed, on September 17, 1787. You can read the history of the holiday here and the actual document here.
Ironically, what’s clearer than ever today is that the Bushies would do well to spend some time with that document. A Washington Post story tells the story of a White House manual that instructs event staff on how to muzzle dissent at presidential events. You can read the manual for yourself here. The document was obtained as part of a lawsuit filed by the ACLU on behalf of people ejected from Bush’s speeches, including one couple who were arrested and detained in West Virginia in 2004 simply for wearing anti-Bush t-shirts. (You can read about this First Amendment case here.)
The goal of the White House manual is to ensure that the president never has to witness dissent. The document advises event planners and advance teams to “work with the Secret Service and have them ask the local police department to designate a protest area where demonstrators can be placed, preferably not in view of the event site or motorcade route.”
The manual instructs organizers to form roving “rally squads” to drown out or remove nonviolent protesters at presidential events. “If the demonstrators are yelling, rally squads can begin and lead supportive chants to drown out the protestors [sic] (USA!,USA!,USA!). As a last resort, security should remove the demonstrators from the event site. The rally squads can include, but are not limited to, college/young republican organizations, local athletic teams, and fraternities/sororities….If the group is carrying signs, trying to shout down the President or has the potential to cause some greater disruption to the event, action needs to be taken immediately to minimize the demonstrator’s effect.”
Happy Constitution Day everybody! ++
“So keep fightin’ for freedom and justice, beloveds, but don’t you forget to have fun doin’ it. Lord, let your laughter ring forth. Be outrageous, ridicule the fraidy-cats, rejoice in all the oddities that freedom can produce. And when you get through kickin’ ass and celebratin’ the sheer joy of a good fight, be sure to tell those who come after how much fun it was.”
~ Molly Ivins, 1944 - 2007
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Add comment August 24th, 2007