July 4, 2013
FROM THE ARCHIVES: WHAT COMES FIRST :
True North : Setting the course by America's moral compass (George W. Bush, 12.03.01, Forbes ASAP)When Jefferson sat down to write, he was trying, he said, to place before mankind "the common sense of the subject." The common sense of the subject was that we should be free. And though great evils would linger, the world would never be the same after July 4, 1776. A wonderful country was born, and a revolutionary idea sent forth to all mankind: freedom, not only by the good graces of government but as the birthright of every individual. Equality, not as a theory of philosophers but by the design of our Creator. Natural rights, not for the few, not even for a fortunate many but for all people in all places, in all times. [...]Our nation has always been guided by a moral compass. In every generation, men and women have protested terrible wrongs and worked for justice, for the abolition of slavery, the triumph of civil rights, for the end of child labor, the equal treatment of women, and the protection of innocent life.
In this way we all become more responsible citizens. And by extending to all the promise of America, we show an important kind of patriotism. Seventy-five years ago, our 30th president, the only president born on Independence Day, spoke words that apply to our time. Calvin Coolidge said, "We live in an age of science and of abounding accumulation of material things. These did not create our Declaration. Our Declaration created them. The things of the spirit come first."
This is another selection from the Forbes ASAP on the "Pursuit of Happiness". Note how it sounds like something he'd have written this week to take advantage of the Pledge issue? But it is what he's been saying for years now. [originally posted: 2002-07-02]
Posted by oj at July 4, 2013 12:06 AM
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