"In the name of the most holy and undivided Trinity ...

Article 1: His Brittanic Majesty acknowledges the said United States ... to be free sovereign and independent states, that he treats them as such, ... relinquishes all claims to the government, propriety, and territorial rights of the same and every part thereof.

[...]

Article 7: There shall be a firm and perpetual peace between his Brittanic Majesty and the said states, and between the subjects of one and the citizens of the other."

These words are the words that differentiated the citizens of the US from most of the rest of the world in the eyes of international law; US citizens were sovereigns on the same level as royalty.

"We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights, that these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

"WE the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

Quaint isn't it?

But were there antecedents? Or did these ideas for a just government fly into their heads? Did they just decide one day to have a violent revolution and establish their own government just for kicks? It may have seemed like an entropic decision? Was there "stare decisis"?

"You give me credit to which I have no claim," wrote James Madison to a correspondent in 1834, "in calling me the writer of the Constitution of the US, this was not like the fabled goddess of wisdom the offspring of a single brain. It ought to be regarded as the work of many heads and many hands."

But were there antecedents? Or did these ideas of liberty and sovereignty just pop into their heads.

On June 15, 1215, on the plains of Runnymede, King John was forced to accede to the nobles, rights and privileges, i.e. the Magna Carta; which would last some 800 years.

There was a long history of precedence in the law, the rights of freeborn Englishman to which the founding fathers believed (rightly so) that were expected.

The Petition of Right, 1628

The Agreement of the People, 1649

The founding fathers were following in the footsteps of people like John Lilburne, who may have been the inspiration for Patrick Henry.

Edward Coke

And a name you've probably heard of: John Locke, who theorized on the consent of the governed, and the natural rights of life, liberty and estate.

The point of all this is - there's a rich history of rights and privileges that are about to be destroyed by the cabalists known as the Bush administration. The Patriot Act takes away many of these rights.

What can you do?

A tentative deal has been reached on the Patriot Act reauthorization. Please contact your Senator's Boxer and Feinstein, and tell them to (1) Vote NO on a motion for cloture; (2) NO on the conference report; and (3) Yes on a motion for continuing resolution.

There is a very good overview at truthout.

More info at the Bill of Rights Defense Committee

More here

Don't let them trash 800 years of precedence and your sovereign rights.