So far 350 individuals and organizations have signed on and contributed about $14,000 of the $30,000 we need to pay for the ad.  We hope to double the number of signers by our deadline of Sunday, June 29, 2008, at midnight Eastern Daylight Time.

To sign on, go to http://www.constitutioncampaign.org/ad/.  We ask individual signers to donate $25 or more, and organizations to donate $50-$500 to help us cover the $30,000 cost for the half-page ad.  You may contribute online or by mailing a check.  If you like the declaration but don't want your name to appear, we welcome your support for this initiative.  Go to the same page and check I would like to contribute without having my name printed in the Independence Day ad.

Now is the time to send a message to the public and our government about the importance of protecting our Constitution.  Signing your name to this declaration will help inspire other Americans to work to defend our civil liberties by joining the People's Campaign for the Constitution.

All donors will receive a complimentary copy of the ad with our thanks!

To see the ad as it will appear in the Times, go to . http://constitutioncampaign.org/ad/ad.pdf.

Thank you for all you do. 

The Bill of Rights Defense Committee
8 Bridge Street, Suite A
Northampton, MA 01060

www.bordc.org

When in the course of human events the government becomes destructive of the ends for which it was established, it is the Right of the People to alter it and demand restoration of those Constitutional Principles that have so long assured their Liberty, Safety, and Happiness. 

Therefore, on the anniversary of our Independence, we offer this new declaration for our times.

The history of this president is one of arbitrary usurpations of power, the effect of which is to establish tyranny through false promises of greater security.

He has created a multitude of new programs and sent swarms of petty officers to spy on Americans in a misguided effort to combat foreign terrorism.  He has invested these agents with sweeping new powers to monitor our conversations and ransack our personal papers and effects without judicial supervision or any reason to believe - as the Constitution requires - that a crime has been committed.

He has further claimed the power to disregard legislation that Congress has passed.

He has suspended the laws and treaties against torture, authorized the kidnapping of mere suspects, and transported hundreds of prisoners beyond seas so that no independent judiciary could question the legality of their mistreatment.

He and his supporters in Congress have granted amnesty to the officials who unleashed torture and humiliation upon helpless prisoners, to the disgrace of our nation.

He has denied these prisoners access to attorneys, family, and friends, and has claimed the right to try them before military tribunals specifically designed to disregard the most basic principles of law.

He has imprisoned thousands of lawful immigrants for months without charges, under brutal conditions, until his agents, rather than independent courts, decided that they posed no threat.

He has wrapped his usurpations of power and his deprivations of liberty in thick cloaks of secrecy, thereby showing contempt for the rule of law and the proper functions of Congress, the courts, and the press.  

At every stage of these oppressions we have sought redress, but our petitions have been answered only by repeated injury.  

We, therefore, resolve to resist these usurpations by all lawful means at our disposal. To this end, we insist that the powers of our national government be shared by all branches of government and not concentrated in one alone.  And we call upon Congress, the courts, and the press to reassert their constitutional functions vigorously and restore the promise that is America.

To these ends, we mutually pledge our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.

By Christopher Pyle, with apologies to Thomas Jefferson

3.25 Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."