Editorial:

The Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4, 1776, declaring our emancipation from the bonds of tyranny and an allegiance to the British Crown. The Declaration of Independence was crafted as a living document that set forth human and natural rights by which this country is governed and we aspire to live by, day to day.

   It was this document that laid the groundwork for this great nation. The Declaration of Independence wisely proclaims “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.”

   July 4th is a day we celebrate these freedoms in the comfort of home, family, and friends. We enjoy the outdoors, we picnic, barbecue, and ooh and ahh at the glorious fireworks bursting overhead. This special holiday reminds us of our freedom and the fight our new nation endured to attain such freedom. We revel in all that is good about the USA on the Fourth of July.

   At the same time some of our rights, as afforded us under the Constitution of the United States, are under attack. Most recently there was the Patriot Act that allowed for tapping phone conversations, the reading of emails, and heightened security searches, all in the name of security.

   Now the right to vote has come under attack in the form of Voter ID Laws, with Wisconsin, recently, passing the nation’s most restrictive voter ID law. At least 22 other states are looking to pass similar laws. The voter ID laws will have the affect of deterring youth, immigrants and low-income people from voting if they have to go to the DMV and wait in long lines during business hours to obtain and renew photo identification.

   The 15th Amendment ensures the right to vote and The Voting Rights Act of 1965 outlawed discriminatory voting practices that had been responsible for the widespread disenfranchisement of African Americans in the U.S.

   The voter ID laws have been called for by the Republican Party and much like the attacks on the Union’s collective bargaining rights being stripped in Wisconsin, are an attempt to undermine the underpinnings of the Democratic Party by making it harder for traditional Democratic voters from voting, the youth and minority communities and the working poor.

   On July 4th we celebrate our freedoms, but these are not freedoms that we can take for granted. It is not only the freedom and right to vote, but there are human rights and immigration rights that me must stand together and fight for the self-evident rights established in the Declaration of Independence of Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.