In the course of trying to be inspirational with his inaugural speech, Obama referenced the principles of our Declaration of Independence, which is fine and fitting.
What's not fitting is to re-arrange and/or delete some of them. Thomas Jefferson would not be amused.
Via Lifenews [3]:
Obama referred to the Declaration of Independence when he said, "The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness."
Notice anything missing in that list? If not, you don't know your Declaration, which states:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
Ah, yes, "life". Of course he's got the wincy little problem there with his pro-choice friends. You know, the ones he made happy by changing the WhiteHouse.gov website for at 12:01 pm yesterday to advocate "choice", (ie. abortion).
So "life" gets kinda sticky when referrincing it in such high-minded rhetoric...especially if you're not really always "for" it.
Of course, when addressing those "unalienable rights", Jefferson went a step further in the Declaration, stating:
...to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, - That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
In the world of today's upside-down politically-correct, mainstream-media dominated world, I suppose that would make Jefferson a "pro-life" radical.
