US Govt. muzzles John Adams in name of political correctness

[OldCannon]

So sad. John Adams said it so well in a letter to his wife on July 3rd, 1776 regarding the Declaration of Independence:
"It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward for evermore."

No better words could have summarized the momentous, and somewhat terrifying, step of telling the King of England that he has just lost several million miles of lush colonial lands. None of them could have seen the future, but the possibility that every single signer would hang from a yardarm was VERY real.

Now let's look at John Adam's quote on the OFFICIAL website of the US (http://www.america.gov/st/diversity-eng ... 45434.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ):
In the words of Founding Father John Adams, the holiday would be “the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance.… It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more.”

I don't know about you folks, but the elision on that quote could only serve one purpose, and I find it heartbreaking that the government of my country would edit such an innocuous phrase in order to avoid affronting people. I'm insulted, actually. Striking John Adam's words like that does a discredit to the spirit in which he was writing his wife. He was a very religious man and was never ashamed to express his faithfulness, but in all the readings I have done of him, it was always in a way that would set a positive example to others.

[Liberty]

I'm more surprised they left in the part about the guns.

[baldeagle]

Because of my respect for the Forum Rules, I cannot respond appropriately to this.

[Kythas]

None of them could have seen the future, but the possibility that every single signer would hang from a yardarm was VERY real.

Many of the men who signed the Declaration of Independence had much more to lose from a rebellion against the crown than they had to gain. John Hancock was possibly the richest man in the colonies and already had a 500 pound price on his head from the Crown. He signed his name extra large "so His Majesty can now read my name without glasses and double my reward."

Remember when they signed this document there was already a large British fleet in New York harbor. Every man knew the penalty for treason was death by hanging.

When Ben Franklin remarked "We must all hang together or we shall surely hang separately", fat Benjamin Harrison remarked to very skinny Elbridge Gerry "For me it will be over in a minute but you, you will be dancing on air an hour after I'm gone."

Richard Henry Lee, of Virginia, made this remark on July 4, 1776, just before the Declaration was put to a vote:

Why then sir, why do we longer delay? Why still deliberate? Let this happy day give birth to an American Republic. Let her arise not to devastate and to conquer but to reestablish the reign of peace and law. The eyes of Europe are fixed upon us. She demands of us a living example of freedom that may exhibit a contrast in the felicity of the citizen to the ever increasing tyranny which desolates her polluted shores. She invites us to prepare an asylum where the unhappy may find solace, and the persecuted repose. If we are not this day wanting in our duty, the names of the American legislators of 1776 will be placed by posterity at the side of all of those whose memory has been and ever will be dear to virtuous men and good citizens.

From http://usff.com/usff/sacredhonor.html:

Of those 56 who signed the Declaration of Independence, nine died of wounds or hardships during the war. Five were captured and imprisoned, in each case with brutal treatment. Several lost wives, sons or entire families. One lost his 13 children. Two wives were brutally treated. All were at one time or another the victims of manhunts and driven from their homes. Twelve signers had their homes completely burned. Seventeen lost everything they owned. Yet not one defected or went back on his pledged word. Their honor, and the nation they sacrificed so much to create, is still intact.

And, finally, there is the New Jersey signer, Abraham Clark. He gave two sons to the officer corps in the Revolutionary Army. They were captured and sent to the infamous British prison hulk afloat in New York harbor known as the hell ship "Jersey," where 11,000 American captives were to die. The younger Clarks were treated with a special brutality because of their father. One was put in solitary and given no food. With the end almost in sight, with the war almost won, no one could have blamed Abraham Clark for acceding to the British request when they offered him his sons' lives if he would recant and come out for the King and parliament. The utter despair in this man's heart, the anguish in his very soul, must reach out to each one of us down through 200 years with his answer: "No."

The 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence proved by their every deed that they made no idle boast when they composed the most magnificent curtain line in history. "And for the support of this Declaration with a firm reliance on the protection of divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor."

How many of us would risk all as these men did? What would they think of the Republic today?