"The Sometimes Painful Realities of American Life"

Here is a profound quote enunciated by Morgan Freeman in a Hollywood production on the Declaration of Independence:

The real glory of the Declaration of Independence has been our nation's epic struggle throughout history to close the gap between the ideals of this remarkable document and the sometimes painful realities of American life.

These painful realities were present in the beginning with slavery and later with racism. Today the gap manifests itself most overtly with the modern preventive war doctrines, but there is an even more profound painful reality that is all too obvious that it is often ignored, abortion. A whole generation of Americans have been eliminated with the judicial backing and financial support of the modern American state. While African Americans now largely enjoy the equal protection of the law, the same cannot be said for their unborn or any unborn in America. And while Thomas Jefferson's reputation suffers from his self-acknowledged hypocrisy to slavery, Martin Luther King's hypocrisy to the life of the unborn should be recognized as well. While there is no evidence King overtly supported abortion, he was a recipient of he Sanger Award by Planned Parenthood for his support of its "family planning" initiatives. Both Jefferson and King, two of America's greatest champions of natural rights and equality, personify the beautiful, yet sometimes tragic struggle that is America.

The gap which desperately needs to be closed today respects the life of the unborn of which I believe Ron Paul is a champion. Paul reminds us of the obvious, without life, there is no liberty. Further, as the great Phoenix Bishop Thomas Olmstead exhorts us, we must notice the text of the Declaration stating that the endowed inalienable rights come to us upon our creation. We are created equal in rights by "the Lord the Giver of Life", not born equal in rights. Of course, one need not be Catholics to know when and how human creation occurs. Thus, the unborn are created equal as enunciated in our founding charter. Paul continually seeks to statutorily overrule Roe v. Wade, Griswold v. Connecticut, Planned Parenthood v. Casey, and all their ilk with the "We the People Act." While he would remand the abortion question back to the states, it is an incremental strategy which will result in real restrictions on abortion. Further, I think he would do what he could to eliminate abortion in areas under Federal jurisdiction, like the District of Colombia.

Finally, under a Paul administration, I think a good strategy for cutting government spending would be to place a hierarchy among programs and their effect on life. After dealing with the most direct and immediate unjust Federal action, the Iraq war, at the top of the chop block should be Federal abortion and family planning financing during a Paul versus Congress budget battle. All other Federal budget cuts should be subordinate. I think he should bring the government to a shut-down over the issue, particularly since it is the extremely painful reality of this American age.

Here is the Morgan Freeman video on the Declaration of Independence: