Surprised/not surprised...

Just a few quick notes regarding recent developments here at home and around the world…all worth paying attention to…

A report in the Wall Street Journal details the further deterioration of the situation in Afghanistan. In a story that seems more farcical than real, officials have revealed that “U.S. Support for Power Plant in Afghanistan Benefits the Taliban.” It goes on to say that, “Since U.S.-funded repairs of a turbine at an Afghanistan power plant doubled its capacity in October, nearly half of the total electrical output has flowed to districts where the Taliban administer the grid, Afghan officials say.” Apparently, the Taliban doesn’t have to win this fight – we just have to keep shooting ourselves in the foot.

And you thought your utility company was tough...

From close behind to edging ahead: According to Taegan Goddard’s Political Wire, “A new SurveyUSA poll in California finds Carly Fiorina (R) edging Sen. Barbara Boxer (D) in the U.S. Senate race, 47% to 45%, a lead which is within the poll's four point margin of error. Key finding: The poll found twice as many Democrats cross-over to vote Republican as Republicans who cross-over to vote Democrat in the race.” Likewise, Goddard adds, “A new SurveyUSA poll in California finds Meg Whitman (R) leading Jerry Brown (D) by seven points among likely voters in the race for governor, 46% to 39%. Key finding: Whitman gets 77% of Republican voters, while Brown gets the support of 64% of Democrats. Independents break by a 5-4 margin for Whitman.” Suddenly, a whole bunch of folks are sitting up and paying attention…

Leading ladies...

Out of touch? Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) had an, um, “interesting” reply when asked about illegal immigrants working in his home state by a reporter from the Las Vegas CBS affiliate. "When you go to the unemployment office there's many U.S. citizens who are unemployed construction workers and they don't have jobs because right now, some of those construction companies find it easier to hire undocumented workers," said Reporter Nathan Baca. "I think that any information you have in that regard is absolutely without foundation," responded Reid. "That may be someplace, but it is not here in Nevada." You can see the report here.

Losing touch...

RIP: George Steinbrenner, the bête noire of every Red Sox fan (and decent human being) passed away today. He was 80. We won’t bother with an obit – that’s what print guys get paid to do. Instead, here’s the one great thing he did:

Some thoughts on "the Beautiful Game"...and America

The '94 World Cup that is...

I've been looking for this piece written for the World Cup the U.S. hosted in 1994. More15 years later (especially after watching the final match on Sunday), the op-ed seems to have stood the test of time...

June 30, 1994

Why Americans Will Never Love Soccer

By Jeff Bliss

THE TRUTH IS, we Americans will never go crazy about the game of soccer. And without sounding too much like Joe McCarthy, I have to say soccer is un-American.

Let me explain. Soccer is not about anything Americans appreciate. The very fact that it's called football elsewhere enrages enough red meat gridiron fans to keep soccer from ever being popular here.

First, real football players must weigh as much as an Army tank and wear twice as much protective armor. Soccer players run around in little more than their underwear. Americans like equipment: first-baseman's mitts, helmets, Kareem's eye goggles. Soccer has precious little of this.

Second, we didn't invent the game. OK, you think you're smart because you know about baseball's ties to cricket and American football's ties to rugby. The truth is we took these games and improved upon them. Soccer, on the other hand, belongs to the world (like the metric system).

Suggestions from the United States to modify soccer, such as allowing eye gouging and body slams, have been largely ignored. If it ain't ours and if it can't hurt you, we don't want it. (Suggestions to return the game to its pre-Columbian roots, with the losing team facing execution, have also been dismissed.)

Third, and most importantly, sports symbolize a people. As an example, let us compare baseball and soccer. Soccer is the perfect metaphor for the rest of the world. Now forget about calling me on my xenophobia. Baseball, our national pastime, is the story of individuals banding together for a common goal. Everyone has the same chance to be a hero or a goat, and every player has a specialized skill used for the good of the team. The examples, like baseball statistics, go on ad nauseam. Believe me.

Soccer, on the other hand, is about a bunch of guys who wander around a field chasing a ball. It is a game of turnovers. I've got the ball. No, now you've got the ball. No, I have the ball. No, you have . . . well, you get the idea. We don't like that in a sport or anything else in our lives. We want stability.

The rest of the world, however, thrives on guessing games. Three past winners of the World Cup -- Italy, Germany and Argentina -- are good examples of this. Since World War II, Italy has had how many governments? A bizillion? (I may be undershooting.) Germany can't decide if it loves or hates itself, and Argentina's national sport, after futbol (as they call it), is the coup d'etat.

One more thing. Soccer, played on a field only slightly smaller than the continent of Asia, is ridiculously low scoring, and tie games are not unusual (I bet those guys would hustle a little more if their necks were really on the line). We like scoring. We like it so much, we made touchdowns worth six points! A total of six points in a soccer game is usually regarded as scandalous (no one ever worries about a juiced-up ball in soccer). I know what I'm talking about. During my short-lived career as a high school and college soccer player, I scored a total of one goal -- just a few short of what most pro players score during their entire careers. (OK, so it was against my own team . . .)

And please don't mention youth soccer. I know all about its overwhelming popularity -- I played it. But the secret is that youth soccer is a conspiracy of parents across the nation. Get those youngsters out there running their heads off for an hour or more on Saturday mornings and they're less likely to raise hell around the house on Saturday afternoons. I know all about it -- I'm going to make my kids play it.

All kidding aside, soccer is a great game.

It's just not our game.

The Week Ahead®

A look at some of the people and events making news this week…

Question: Who said this? - “I’m not going to rest or be satisfied until the leak is stopped at the source, the oil in the Gulf is contained and cleaned up, and the people in the Gulf are able to go back to their lives and their livelihoods.” Question: Who is about to embark on his third vacation since the leak began?

Thank goodness that's been taken care of...now he can take that break he so richly deserves!

Add oil: With the Obama Administration’s ban on offshore drilling, companies are closing down operations in U.S. waters…and moving them to international locations…where rules aren’t as stringent…oh, and taking thousands of American jobs with them.

Add “break time!”: I think this makes it 39 rounds of golf since taking office – Hope & Change & Tee Times.

Just making sure to plug all the holes...

According to The Washington Post, “In an effort to replicate the tea party's success, 170 liberal and civil rights groups are forming a coalition that they hope will match the movement's political energy and influence. They promise to ‘counter the tea party narrative’ and help the progressive movement find its voice again after 18 months of floundering.” They’re calling it the “One Nation” movement. Previously, it was known as the “Democratic Party.”

What is Jerry Brown’s plan to fix the budget mess in California if he should be elected governor? It’s a secret, of course…

Another '60s-'70s politician had a "secret plan"...

Of course they’re not the only ones: “California Republicans seek to unravel Obama's health care law”

Did you hear the one about the Veep who flies into LA for an appearance on “The Jay Leno Show” and causes hours of delays at Los Angeles International Airport? Yeah, real funny.

This is what happens when Al Gore moves into the neighborhood: “ What summer? Record cold at LAX as July gloom continues”

Speaking of global warming: How did actor/activist Leonardo DiCaprio balance concerns over “warming” with his desire to see the World Cup in-person? Why, fly on a private jet to South Africa, of course…

News item: “PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Former President Bill Clinton says he's frustrated that international donors aren't making good on a lot of the earthquake aid they promised for Haiti. In an interview with The Associated Press ahead of the six-month anniversary of the quake, Clinton says donors have given only 10 percent of the aid they promised. Clinton is co-chairman of the commission overseeing reconstruction aid.” Somewhat related news item: “Clintons Eyeing $10.9 Million Home In Bedford Hills”

Irony thy name is "Clinton"...

So explain the argument for bigger government…again: “Inflated Federal Pay: How Americans Are Overtaxed to Overpay the Civil Service”

I know we promised to never mention LeBron James but this bears mentioning – why did LeBron choose Miami (Florida) over Cleveland (and Ohio)? Well, one reason is that the high cost of living in the latter, particularly when it comes to taxes, can be punishing. Just ask Tiger Woods and a host of other big-time athletes and celebs why they’ve moved to Florida and the reason most cited: no state tax. In LeBron’s case, signing with Miami stands to make him millions more in the long run.

Perfect storms...

Right now, if you’re an incumbent (and part of the party in power, to boot); you’re probably not sleeping very well. If you’ve got the sympathetic ear of a spouse, friend or therapist, you’re probably telling that person that there’s a perfect storm out there…a collection of storms coming together, descending like fire and brimstone from the heavens…just waiting out over the horizon for you and your kind.

Problem 1: The economy. Nuf said? The markets are troubled, the banks are teetering, confidence is faltering, housing is a mess, and jobs are disappearing. What more do you want to know?

A good place to start is with jobs (or should we say the lack thereof?): Noted economy watcher the CEO and co-CIO of Pimco, Mohamed El-Erian, told CNBC that unemployment is no longer a lagging indicator. According to the report, “Unemployment has shifted from a lagging indicator to a leading one and is warning government policymakers to confront problems in an economy mired in slow growth. The consideration of unemployment as a lagging indicator is a favorite mantra among economists who believe the rate primarily looks at the past rather than what is to come. But the internal details of current trends paint a different picture: More than half the labor force out of work for more than 26 weeks, the average length of unemployment at greater than 35 weeks, and the unemployment rate of 25.7 percent for 16- to 19-year olds.” El-Erian said, “These are structural aspects which cannot be solved overnight, cannot be solved with a cyclical mindset. And they are worrisome because they make the unemployment rate not only a lagging indicator but also a leading indicator."

Add unemployment: When it comes to employment, recent federal data reflected the worst June for the private sector in decades. In a piece for the San Francisco Examiner by Tom Blumer, the results justified “total depression.” According to Blumer, “The Seasonally Adjusted number for June is bad enough. In fact, June's seasonally adjusted workforce shrinkage is the largest for any June since 1963. But the Not Seasonally Adjusted number representing what really happened is even worse. In a normal June, the workforce increases significantly, because lots of people occupied with other things during the rest of the year typically test the waters in the seasonal and summer-job market. But whereas an average of about 1.75 million did so during the past seven Junes, including almost 1.6 million last year during the recession, only 901,000 did so in June of 2010. You have to go all the way back to 1954 to find a lower workforce change during June in the private sector than the June we just experienced. On a population-adjusted basis, the June 2010 figure is the worst June performance in the 63 years BLS has been tracking the data.” He took a swipe at the president, writing, “President Obama claimed that, ‘We are headed in the right direction.’ I'm not buying it, nor are hundreds of thousands of people who figuratively sat on the couch in June because they know how bad the prospects for gainful employment in the real world actually are.”

Last add jobs: John Batchelor Show colleague, Joseph Brusuelas (director at Moody's Economy.com, where he covers the U.S. and global economies for the Dismal Scientist web site; formerly, chief economist at Merk Investments L.L.C. and chief U.S. economist at IDEAglobal), provides the following: “The [chart below] is the Economic Cycle Research Institute’s weekly job growth index. It flattened out the week of April 30 and started contracting the week of June 1. [Another chart – not included - shows] the cumulative number of individuals exhausting benefits by week based on Department of Labor Estimates. This is the near term policy issue that the Congress will have to address when the return from recess. If they do not, 3.3 million individuals will exhaust benefits by the end of July. This is a major problem.”

And that, as Joe will tell you, is an understatement.

Let’s look at housing and mortgages: Diana Olick, CNBC’s Real Estate Reporter, reports that “New Loan Delinquencies on the Rise Again.” The bad news on the housing front goes like this: “Just when you thought things might be turning around, the mortgage crisis takes yet another little dip to the downside. Lender Processing Services just put out its May Mortgage Monitor, and some promising trends aren't so promising anymore, specifically new delinquencies and cure rates.” She adds, “While the total delinquency rate rose 2.3 percent, which is not surprising given how much is in the pipeline, the 30-day delinquent bucket jumped 10 percent. That is surprising because the number had been coming down of late. The LPS data report says that's because the ‘seasonal improvement period has expired,’ but I'm not sure normal seasonal patterns really apply to this market anymore. More likely is that home prices are not rebounding at the expected/hoped for pace, prompting more borrowers who are underwater on their loans to choose not to pay. And while the job market isn't bleeding so much anymore, it's not adding jobs back at the rate we need, nor is it re-instituting those full time jobs that were slashed to part-time, leaving many borrowers still "underemployed." So the delinquency rate nationwide now stands at 9.2 percent from this particular data set, and with the rise in new delinquencies, it won't be coming down any time soon.”

Add housing: Despite “rock-bottom rates,” many experts believe the housing sector is in perhaps its most precarious position – ever. In an ABC News report, the government-backed financial institutions - Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac – (not to mention most of the mortgage market) are “on “government life support.” In the story, Rich Blake reports, “Interest rates for homebuyers are lower than at any time since the Eisenhower era and home prices in many regions have fallen drastically. Buyers who qualified for the federal tax credit program that ended in April, meanwhile, were given extra time, through the end of September, to close on their homes.” Rich goes on to report, “And yet, home sales are in decline. Existing home sales fell 2.2 percent in May compared to the prior month, the National Association of Realtors said in June. Pending home sales -- contracts signed but not closed -- dropped 30 percent in May, the NAR said July 1. As perplexing and disturbing as this economic brainteaser may seem, the housing sector would be in even worse shape if not for those twin government sponsored enterprises, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, both in government conservatorship and bleeding assets. Such a scenario, a housing market propped up by Fannie and Freddie, several economic experts admit glumly, is akin to running a power plant on an auxiliary generator that is jumper-cabled to a car running on fumes.”

Problem 2: The majority party can’t help themselves. Despite all of the signs, warnings and public anger, many of its stalwarts are determined to repeat history and further drive the economy into the ground.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the current finance reform legislation – aka: The Dodd-Frank bill – is so chock-full of problems that it will damage the American economy…perhaps irreparably. “Remaking American finance hasn't yet become law, but corporate treasurers are already bracing for its impact. In the days surrounding this fall's election—after the close of the September 30 quarter—expect a series of warnings on liquidity from companies that had nothing to do with the credit panic and are not even in the finance business. It could be an eerie replay of ObamaCare, whose passage triggered a series of charges by public companies facing higher retiree health-care costs. If Dodd-Frank passes the Senate, U.S. companies could be forced to put up an additional $1 trillion in collateral.”

What’s more, it’s expected to send tens of thousands of American jobs (and maybe more) overseas. Nice work there, boys.

The culprits...

Problem 3: Your Dear Leader is not leading. A year-and-a-half ago, the twin promises of Hope and Change™ were supposed to be a positive thing. Now look: landmark legislation that promises to Change© America – perhaps for the worse – for decades to come was enacted, but only after being pushed through by majority votes…over the will of the people. The people are now pulling back and the support that was once there for the Dear Leader is beginning to dry up.

According to the Gallup Poll, “Obama Job Approval Rating Down to 38% Among Independents - Overall job ratings for the president continue to be below majority level.” The venerable survey company now says that “Thirty-eight percent of independents approve of the job Barack Obama is doing as president, the first time independent approval of Obama has dropped below 40% in a Gallup Daily tracking weekly aggregate. Meanwhile, Obama maintains the support of 81% of Democrats, and his job approval among Republicans remains low, at 12%.”

If you’re someone who rode the Dear Leader’s coattails to victory or to a position of power, come November you should be afraid…be very afraid.

Dear, Happy Leader...

Problem 4: The minority party - thanks to the majority leadership’s overreach, incompetence, lack of vision and focus, as well as inexperience – has risen from the dead. Just a year or so ago, pundits predicted that the majority party would “rule for decades to come.” Take all of the negatives listed above and throw in a socio-political movement like the Tea Party, and it all changed in the blink of an eye. The minority party has now laid claim to key positions in New Jersey, Virginia, Massachusetts and numerous other state and municipal offices. The predictions are that come November, the minority will likely take back the House of Representatives, will challenge in the U.S. Senate and is “poised to win the most gubernatorial seats in 90 years. Republicans on pace to eclipse the 24 seats won in 1928, 1966, and the Republican Revolution of 1994; GOP could challenge 100+ year Party mark of 29 seats won in 1920. The question on the minds of officeholders, party leaders, and D.C prognosticators is not whether the GOP will gain seats in the midterm elections across state and federal legislative and executive offices, but how many.”

Problem 5: The war (in Afghanistan) was inherited, to be sure, and the current administration was saddled with the burdens left after the previous administration all but neglected the fight for years. The problem now – beyond the recent McChrystal dust-up – is at least two-pronged: a lack of vision and a corrupt partner. The theater’s new commander, Gen. David Petraeus, has said the allies are “…in it to win it,” but the longer it drags on without any vision from the Commander in Chief – beyond just issuing a quit/withdrawal date – the more the conflict will be viewed as a waste.

Problem 6: The BP oil leak/spill in the Gulf of Mexico. We’re now at Day 78…and counting. The problems continue to worsen, despite promises of Hope & Change®. Obviously, the blowout and disaster weren’t Obama’s fault (though his administration does share in some of the blame), but his team has woefully underperformed during the crisis. What’s more, it has shown that the administration’s energy policies, crisis management abilities and business sense are out of whack. The president and his supporters should not be surprised that disappointment now rules the day. When you promise that government has all the solutions to your problems – be they healthcare, banking, industry, etc. – don’t be surprised when folks get a little miffed at your inability to handle disasters…especially when you spent the last president’s term criticizing him for his lackluster performance in crisis situations.

Problem 7: Immigration - with 59 percent of the electorate against illegal immigration; states fighting cross-border crime; and a growing unemployment problem, this is the time to stand against illegal immigration...not champion a softening of enforcement or attitudes. Instead, the public has been treated to a lecture on tolerance and acceptance...not to mention a lawsuit against Arizona, which is trying to protect its citizenry at a time when the feds won't...

Signs of the times...

Sent by a friend...

Radio tonight (happy 4th!)...

Happy Fourth of July, 2010!

I want YOU to listen!

Tonight, it's another stint on The John Batchelor Show @ approx. 7:30 pm PT.

We'll be discussing the recently uncovered Russian spy ring, Gen. David Petraeus' new role in Afghanistan, the GOP's loss of confidence in RNC chair Michael Steele, and Calif. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's decision to move more than 200,000 state employees to minimum wage in an effort to move the budget along.

You can listen via KSFO-AM, WABC-AM, WMAL-AM and more than two dozen other radio stations or their websites.

Our shared celebration...

Happy Fourth of July!

Here at The Bliss Index®, we always enjoy celebrating our nation's birthday and some of the things that make it great...

America: Free and strong thanks to countless heroes. The battlefields, monuments, hospitals and cemeteries hold the stories of many heroes that we will never know. Thankfully, we know this hero’s name (and continued to be inspired by him).

This just in: “Thomas Jefferson made slip in Declaration: Preservation scientists at the Library of Congress have discovered that Thomas Jefferson, even in the act of declaring independence from England, had trouble breaking free from monarchial rule. In an early draft of the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson wrote the word "subjects," when he referred to the American public. He then erased that word and replaced it with "citizens," a term he used frequently throughout the final draft.” (Associated Press)

The signing...

The real story behind the Boston Tea Party…

“One hundred great things about America” - Well, it’s a start…

How fireworks pros make brilliant pyrotechnics: “There's no tradition quite like a Fourth of July fireworks display. Lawnchairs and blankets line the grassy viewing area as spectators wait for spellbinding colors, thrilling explosions and intriguing shapes to paint the sky. The event may be magical—especially for the kids—but of course, its all the product of meticulous chemistry and clever ballistics. Every step of this process is a complex, carefully crafted process. If one thing is off—too much black powder, misaligned stars or a misplaced trigger—everything can fail. Here's a look at how professionals pull it off every year while one-upping last year's pyrotechnic display.”

Add fireworks: Not everyone enjoys the 4^th – every night of the summer…

My sparkler display is always the envy of the neighborhood...

Last add fireworks: They don’t blow ‘em up like they used to (thank goodness). “Back in the summer of 1962, the U.S. blew up a hydrogen bomb in outer space, some 250 miles above the Pacific Ocean. It was a weapons test, but one that created a man-made light show that has never been equaled.”

What it’s all about: The Declaration of Independence:

In Congress, July 4, 1776

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new guards for their future security — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. — The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our People, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from Punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free system of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislature, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions we have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have we been wanting in attention to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do.

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.

---

John Hancock

Button Gwinnett
Lyman Hall
Geo. Walton

Wm. Hooper
Joseph Hewes
John Penn
Edward Rutledge
Thos. Heyward, Junr.
Thomas Lynch, Junr.
Arthur Middleton

Samuel Chase
Wm. Paca
Thos. Stone
Charles Carroll of Carrollton
George Wythe
Richard Henry Lee
Th. Jefferson
Benja. Harrison
Thos. Nelson, Jr.
Francis Lightfoot Lee
Carter Braxton

Robt. Morris
Benjamin Rush
Benja. Franklin
John Morton
Geo. Clymer
Jas. Smith
Geo. Taylor
James Wilson
Geo. Ross
Caesar Rodney
Geo. Read
Tho. Mckean

Wm. Floyd
Phil. Livingston
Frans. Lewis
Lewis Morris
Richd. Stockton
Jno. Witherspoon
Fras. Hopkinson
John Hart
Abra. Clark

Josiah Bartlett
Wm. Whipple
Saml. Adams
John Adams
Robt. Treat Paine
Elbridge Gerry
Step. Hopkins
William Ellery
Roger Sherman
Samuel Huntington
Wm. Williams
Oliver Wolcott
Matthew Thornton