Happy Fourth of July

As you gather today with friends and family to celebrate the Fourth of July, I hope you'll take some time to remember that what we're really meant to be celebrating is the signing of the Declaration of Independence, which says: 

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. 

Let us not forget that the men who wrote these words, the men who signed this document, and the men and women who fought to make it a reality, were fighting against tyranny in any form and for a government that listened to the will of the people so that those people might be allowed their inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.