Obama's inaugural address praises the "…noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness."

Jefferson's words were not a noble idea; they were a brilliant but objective acknowledgment of the logically-deduced truth that without the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, no other rights are possible. (A "right to property" is, for example, useless without a right to life.)

Obama scripted a poorly worded re-phrasing of the Declaration of Independence's defense of "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." It was unnecessary… unless one recognizes that Obama consciously and intentionally omitted the "right to life" as a signal to his pro-abortion supporters that he would follow their agenda. To Obama, we are all equal (actually we are not, although we have - or should have - equal rights under the law). And while we all have the right to pursue happiness, Obama is willing only to give us a chance for that pursuit. Thomas Jefferson perhaps assumed too much…

Of course, these Obama rights and chances are conferred on us only if we can get past the part where a doctor might stick a scissors in our skull and suck out our brains with a vacuum.

As for me, I'll take "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" over "equal, free, and deserving of a chance to pursue my full measure of happiness."

Words have meanings... as do their omission.

Don Fredrick

January 28, 2009

Copyright 2009 Don Fredrick