Mountain Views News, Combined Edition Saturday, July 4, 2020

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WE THE PEOPLE!WE THE PEOPLE!

Mountain Views-News Saturday, July 4, 2020 

SUSAN HENDERSON, Editor/Publisher

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 the 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.

ANOTHER UNHAPPY 
BIRTHDAY 

Nothing’s Changed.....A Reprint from last year.

“We the People” .....that’s how our Consitution begins. It 
serves as a reminder that this government belongs to us, 
we, the people. Those words, along with those contained in 
the Declaration of Independence should be embraced and 
remembered every day, not just on the nation’s birthday. 
Unfortunately, most of us never seriously think about them 
until the 4th of July. 

 On the day this nation was ‘born’ Americans embrace 
the ‘birthday’ that we all share in common. Probelm is, it 
shouldn’t be a one day, celebration. We need to cherish this nation every single day and 
accept our responsibility to all work on making this a ‘more perfect union’. My dad 
taught me that birthdays are our own ‘personal’ holidays! That being said, as a nation, 
our own personal holiday - July 4, 2019 should be a great cause of celebration. After 
all we will be 243 years old and formerly the beacon of a free and democratic society to 
the world. Instead, regardless of which side of the argument you are on, this ‘birthday’ 
is one where we are divided by hate, fear, intolerance, alienation and ignorance. WQe 
have been so derelict in our duties that we have turned over our precious nation to the 
hands of the self serving, hateful and spineless whose interest is not in the well being 
of the nation as a whole, but rather their interest is in their own personal power and 
wealth. 

 On this birthday we are being scorned and ridiculed around the world. We have 
withdrawn from just about every effort to be a part of the world community. We are 
portraying ourselves as the victims of everything and everybody by an administration 
that needs to read and reread our great Constitution. If they would just read the 
preamble, perhaps with a tutor, they might get a clue. 

 “We the People”….not just this administration and their business associates.

 “..form a more perfect union:….” Most of us recognize that our country and its laws 
are not perfect and we need to strive to improve, not focus on destruction.

 “establish justice”…….and that means for everyone regardless or race, religion, creed 
or national origin.

 “Insure Domestic Tranquility”…….not poke the bear (my apologies to bears 
worldwide), not stir the pot of divisiveness and hate.

 “provide for the common defence” - defense of all, not some.

 “Promote the general welfare”…….this country was not founded on the ‘Friends and 
Family’ plan. The rest of us matter also

 “Secure the blessings of Liberty for ourselves and our Posterity”…. i.e., life, liberty 
and the pursuit of happiness now and for future generations.

 Just this morning I heard Donald J. Trump say, “My Government…” and therein lies 
a major part of the problem. It isn’t his government, it is OUR GOVERNMENT and we 
need to start acting like it. Right or Left, Independent or Green, it is OURS…..not one 
side or the other. 

 I used to be a proud American. I am not now. Nor would my father and grandfather, 
WWII and WWI Veterans respectively be, if they were alive today. Both risked their 
lives for a country that did not even respect them as men, yet they fought regardless in 
an effort to make things better for all. That is what we are all supposed to do, fight to 
make things better for all, together! 

 Our country has gone from a beacon of freedom and liberty to a cesspool of selfish 
and inhumane actions, and we have done so in just 890 days. Ironic isn’t it that this 
destructive administration has a leader who touts the slogan, “Make America Great 
Again”. Clearly what he refers to as great, based upon his 890 days of action, is something 
we have never been before.

 So as we prepare to pay homage to OUR COUNTRY on July 4th, let’s all, left and 
right, demand of all elected officials that they focus on upholding the tenets of the 
Constitution and restoring America back to being a true democracy, a system of 
government by the whole population. If we do that, then maybe our 244th birthday 
will truly be a joyous one.


Editor’s Note: Just to refresh your memory here is a synopsis of what is in the U.S. 
Constitution. At the end of this list you will find a website where you can read the 
entire document.)

The Constitution of the United States of America

Preamble 

Article I [The Legislative Branch] 

 Section 1. [Legislative Power Vested] 

 Section 2. [House of Representatives] 

 Section 3. [Senate] 

 Section 4. [Elections of Senators and Representatives] 

 Section 5. [Rules of House and Senate] 

 Section 6. [Compensation and Privileges of Members] 

 Section 7. [Passage of Bills] 

 Section 8. [Scope of Legislative Power] 

 Section 9. [Limits on Legislative Power] 

 Section 10. [Limits on States] 

Article II [The Presidency] 

 Section 1. [Election, Installation, Removal] 

 Section 2. [Presidential Power] 

 Section 3. [State of the Union, Receive Ambassadors, Laws 
Faithfully Executed, Commission Officers]

 Section 4. [Impeachment] 

Article III [The Judiciary] 

 Section 1. [Judicial Power Vested] 

 Section 2. [Scope of Judicial Power] 

 Section 3. [Treason] 

Article IV [The States] 

 Section 1. [Full Faith and Credit] 

 Section 2. [Privileges and Immunities, Extradiction, 
Fugitive Slaves] 

 Section 3. [Admission of States] 

 Section 4. [Guarantees to States] 

Article V [The Amendment Process] 

Article VI [Legal Status of the Constitution] 

Article VII [Ratification] 

 Signers (Listed on the left side of this page)

Amendment I [Religion, Speech, Press, Assembly, Petition (1791)] 

Amendment II [Right to Bear Arms (1791)] 

Amendment III [Quartering of Troops (1791)] 

Amendment IV [Search and Seizure (1791)] 

Amendment V [Grand Jury, Double Jeopardy, Self-Incrimination, 
Due Process (1791)] 

Amendment VI [Criminal Prosecutions - Jury Trial, Right to Confront 
and to Counsel (1791)] 

Amendment VII [Common Law Suits - Jury Trial (1791)] 

Amendment VIII [Excess Bail or Fines, Cruel and Unusual Punishment (1791)] 

Amendment IX [Non-Enumerated Rights (1791)] 

Amendment X [Rights Reserved to States or People (1791)] 

Amendment XI [Suits Against a State (1795)] 

Amendment XII [Election of President and Vice-President (1804)] 

Amendment XIII [Abolition of Slavery (1865)] 

Amendment XIV [Privileges and Immunities, Due Process, Equal Protection, 
Apportionment of Representatives, Civil War Disqualification 
and Debt (1868)] 

Amendment XV [Rights Not to Be Denied on Account of Race (1870)] 

Amendment XVI [Income Tax (1913)] 

Amendment XVII [Election of Senators (1913)] 

Amendment XVIII [Prohibition (1919)] 

Amendment XIX [Women's Right to Vote (1920)] 

Amendment XX [Presidential Term and Succession (1933)] 

Amendment XXI [Repeal of Prohibition (1933)] 

Amendment XXII [Two Term Limit on President (1951)] 

Amendment XXIII [Presidential Vote in D.C. (1961)] 

Amendment XXIV [Poll Tax (1964)] 

Amendment XXV [Presidential Succession (1967)] 

Amendment XXVI [Right to Vote at Age 18 (1971)] 

Amendment XXVII [Compensation of Members of Congress (1992)] 


FYI: WHO SIGNED THE U.S. CONSTITUTION?

 

The 38 signers of the U.S. Constitution were delegates from the original 
states who gathered several times and in several places, first drafting the 
Declaration of Independence, and then, after the colonists defeated the 
British army and won independence, writing the U.S. Constitution. The 
signers of the two documents have some overlap — Benjamin Franklin 
signed both, but John Hancock wrote large only on the Declaration 
of Independence. The delegates are here grouped by the states they 
represented:

Connecticut: William Samuel Johnson, Roger Sherman

Delaware: George Read, Gunning Bedford Jr., John Dickinson, Richard 
Bassett, Jacob Broom

Georgia: William Few, Abraham Baldwin

Maryland: James McHenry, Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer, Daniel Carroll

Massachusetts: Nathaniel Gorham, Rufus King

New Hampshire: John Langdon, Nicholas Gilman

New Jersey: William Livingston, David Brearley, William Paterson, 
Jonathan Dayton

New York: Alexander Hamilton

North Carolina: William Blount, Richard Dobbs Spaight, Hugh 
Williamson

Pennsylvania: Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Mifflin, Robert Morris, George 
Clymer, Thomas FitzSimons, Jared Ingersoll, James Wilson, Gouverneur 
Morris

South Carolina: John Rutledge, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, Pierce 
Butler

Virginia: George Washington (President and deputy), John Blair, James 
Madison Jr.

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