1. Barfan, I truly admire you passion on the issue, but your understanding of history is flawed
2. ZTC, There is a difference in qualifying a person's opinion on a topic or characterization of facts as delusional, uninformed, etc. and calling a person a racist, homophobic, greedy etc.
3. Let's not criticize athletes (or anyone else, businessman, artist, inventor), who compete, achieve, and attain great wealth. The politics of envy is poison.
4. I am still waiting for someone to make the argument about what is wrong with the value sets normally categorized as Judaeo-Christian,i.e., those the founding fathers would assumed would be prevalent in our culture. These include, hard work, honesty, charity, integrity, respect of others rights, taking care of our parents, etc.
6. The notion that the founding fathers put rules in place and made the sacrifices they made to maintain their wealth is truly incredibly ill informed:

William Ellery, Rhode Island: His house and entire estate was burned to the ground. He survived the war and later became a vocal opponent of slavery.

William Floyd, New York: He and his family escaped the British invasion of Long Island to Connecticut, but left behind their home and his entire income. The home was a charred ruin when they returned, penniless, a full 7 years later. He went on to become a U.S. Senator and Congressman from New York.

Francis Lewis, New York: His home and estates on Long Island were destroyed by the British. Even worse, Mrs. Lewis was captured and imprisoned, dying from complications stemming from her incarceration.

Lewis Morris, New York: Far from being a "courteous abstainer" during the debate (as the musical 1776 tells us), Morris literally put his money where his mouth (and signatures) was; the entire Morris financial fortune was put at the service of the Continental Army. Loyalist neighbors confiscated his property, forcing him apart from his family for the duration of the war. His brother Gouverneur (of Constitution fame) also lost most of his wealth during the Revolution.

Phillip Livingston, New York: One of the wealthiest men in American in 1776, Livingston lost every shilling he had as a result of signing the Declaration. His family was driven from their house by the British and his estate plundered. Livingston died impoverished just two years later, while still serving in the Continental Congress.

John Hart, New Jersey: Hart's wife was dying as he signed the Declaration. He hurried home in time to say goodbye, only to be forced to flee as the British approached. His 13 children never saw their father again: they were all forced to flee for their lives as well. He died in 1779.

Richard Stockton, New Jersey: Judge Stockton was arrested by the British in 1776 and imprisoned in a military stockade. He was released 5 years later, his health crippled, and died a pauper in Princeton. Richard Stockton College in New Jersey is named in his honor.

John Witherspoon, New Jersey: A native of Scotland, he earned his Doctorate in Divinity from the University of St. Andrews before immigrating to the colonies to serve as President of the College of New Jersey (better known today as Princeton University). The British responded to his signing the Declaration by burning the College library to the ground when they occupied Princeton a few months later, and pillaged the rest of the campus. Witherspoon returned after the British were expelled from the area by the Continental Army, and lived to see the College rebuilt.

Robert Morris, Pennsylvania: Morris earned a massive fortune as a banker and commercial magnate - and gave it all away to finance the Revolution. The "blockade runners" that brought provisions from Europe to the colonies were entirely paid for and provisioned by Morris. He also loaned the then-enormous sum of $10,000 to the Continental Congress when it was on the verge of bankruptcy in 1776. Unlike the global bankers of today, Morris didn't set any preconditions on a loan that literally kept the nation afloat; also unlike today's CEOs, he never got his money back. He died impoverished in 1806, but not before becoming the nation's first effective Secretary of the Treasury (before 1789, that is).

John Morton, Pennsylvania: Despite living in a Loyalist-dominated part of the colony, and personally preferring reconciliation with Great Britain, Morton signed the Declaration. His neighbors turned on him, and he was forced to remain in Philadelphia. Just before his death in 1777, he submitted to Congress what became known as the "Articles of Confederation".

Thomas Nelson, Virginia: Nelson lived in Yorktown, which of course saw the final showdown of the Revolutionary War. As American guns shelled the British defenses, an anguished Nelson (now a General in the Continental Army) saw that they were sparing his house, which was General Cornwallis' headquarters. As the story goes, Nelson personally turned a cannon towards his home and blew it up, to show that he was no less willing to sacrifice than his fellow Virginians. He loaned over $2 million to the Continental Congress, none of which was repaid, and died impoverished.

The entire South Carolina delegation: All four Palmetto State signatories paid dearly for joining the cause for Independence. Edward Rutledge (the pro-slavery aristocrat in 1776), Arthur Middleton and Thomas Heyward, Jr. were all imprisoned by the British when Charleston was taken in 1780. They were beaten and humiliated in prison, then released to their plantations a year later - which of course had been burned to the ground and completely pillaged. They were more fortunate than co-signatory Thomas Lynch - he disappeared at sea while seeking medical help in the West Indies, together with his young wife, at some point in 1779.

Lyman Hall, Georgia: a physician who had earned his degree from Yale, Dr. Hall helped to supply food and provisions for the Continental Army throughout the war. Despite living the furthest away from Philadelphia of all the signers, he returned to Georgia just once between 1775 and 1780 (when his friend and co-signer Button Gwinnett was killed in a duel). The British burned his property when they seized Savannah in 1780, and after escaping the siege of Charleston found refuge in Connecticut.

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The National Anthem is pretty cool, and so is the NFL, sometimes. Too many hypocrites though complaining about who stands or salutes during anthem, yet they aren't saying shit about the ushers or concession stand operators, etc ... or themselves. Time to look in the mirror.

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THE 3/5th COMPROMISE

The Constitution’s drafters from the states with fewer slaves [northern] argued vociferously that Black slaves should NOT be counted as People in apportioning congressional seats; drafters from southern states wanted slaves counted as full-fledged People. Despicably they compromised: Black slaves would be counted as 3/5th of a man and this was boldly and directly written right into our Constitution. A handful refused to sign to Constitution; but none of these supposed Christian or abolitionist delegates refused because of its appalling treatment of Blacks. Then, Federalist 54 ludicrously doubled down on the intellectual dishonesty to try to justify this amoral crap.

This single issue typifies the Drafter’s core mendacious nature. It’s the Bizzaro World on steroids with “abolitionists” arguing slaves are NOT full-fledged men and the actual enslavers arguing otherwise. KRK, if someone says Blacks are equal, that belief will not flip-flop just because it means your northern state will have a little less say so. Your abolitionist Christians drafters were duplicitous racist weasels; it bore out in their actions at the Convention and in the G they created.

And you claim to read the Federalist as if it was a worthwhile endeavor of scholarship; t’s not! That’s Koch Bro propaganda, the Papers were pure propaganda published to justify the Constitutional’s ratification under the pseudonym "Publius" to dupe the average reader into believing the Papers emanated from independent scholarship. The Federalist’s scholarship value is no more than a 1943 NAZI writing “justifying” the Final Solution’s implementation.

KRK, here’s what you need to understand: the Drafter’s were oligarchs; they were robberbarons. What terrorizes the 1% most is the idea of one man/one vote. This means the other 99% can pass laws that put the 1% under the control of the 99%. Once you understand this, suddenly, all the contradictions with respect to invidious groups throughout US history makes perfect sense. “WE THE PEOPLE” was pure propaganda, designed to dupe the People into believing they have a say. King George was just defeated; the People spent years in misery as the War raged; they feared a revolt if the Constitution was truthfully stated, “WE THE ROBBERBARONS.”

Jump into the time machine with me. Imagine we had no say under the King, we invoke our inalienable rights, we grab our guns, and win a war. in 1787 our Constitution is passed beginning with “WE THE PEOPLE” and now WE get to pick our President. But, in 1788 only 43K voted of 3.6M People [3 states didn’t ratify the Constitution and couldn’t participate]. In 1792, 29K voted out of 3.9M [In 9 states only delegates voted; of the 6 that had a popular vote, 3 required one have property to vote. “WE THE PEOPLE” was propaganda!!!! This is the G our fore-fathers envisions and implemented.

Elbridge Gerry was one of three that signed the DOI, the Articles of Confederation and could have signed the Constitution but refused because there was no Bill of Rights [Ratified in 1791]. This is the two-face founding-robberbarron that invented gerrymandering. So outraged the Bill of rights was not attached to the Constitution; but then used his brilliant mind to manipulate the vote of the People.
Oligarch James Bowdoin was so unpopular as incumbent Massachusetts governor, he lost his 1787 reelection bid 91 to 9%. He was hated by the People of Massachusetts but the next year was appointed to represent them at the Constitutional Convection and his name today despicably rests on streets and colleges. When the seeds of revolution rumbled, Bowdoin remained a Loyalist arguing that it was bad for business. When he saw the handwriting on the wall he quietly switched allegiance to the rebels; but was too chicken-shyte to sign the DOI. When war broke out the history written by Bowdoin and his oligarchical friends indicates Bowdoin suddenly got really sick at the onset of war and 8 years later when the war ended he was instantly healed…It’s a miracle!...Thank you Je’sus!

To get the peasants to fight the Brits, the Continental Congress promised land. The Vets that survived got the land; but were hit with huge state taxes and most lost their land to foreclosure. Massachusetts veterans were situated worse than most thanks to Oligarch Bowdoin. After the war in 1983 Massachusetts’s currency was severely inflated, when Bowdoin became governor on 1785, acting in his own and his wealthy buddies’ interest, he declared that debts could not be paid with the state’s currency. The “WE THE PEOPLE” constitution allowed debtors to be imprisoned and Bowdoin saw to it. The Vets were foreclosed on in debtors court they lost their land, many were imprisoned, more faced imprisonment. The People did EXACTLY what Amendment 1 allowed, they protested. When that failed they did sit-ins around the court houses closing them down. Bowdoin’s response was to lawlessly suspend habeas corpus, passed the Riot Act and sent in militias. Sometimes the militias arrived and joined the protestors. Protesters were arrested and jailed without trial this led to many deciding to take up arms. Bowdoin and his wealthy buddies then used their money to create a private army. The Vets took up arms and rebellions happened in most states; the most famous was Massachusetts’ Shays’ Rebellion, which was put down by Bowdoin’s private army. Note: anyone understanding the affect this had on the elites’ thinking of the day understands the 2nd Amendment was NEVER written to guarantee the peasants the right to arm themselves.

Anyone thinking emulating our fore-fathers is a good thing, is either ignorant of TRUTHFUL and REAL US history or possesses an amorality driven by bigoted hate and/or financial self-interest that runs contrary to the most moral ideals written about in our founding documents. Moreover, one cannot be a Christian and support what our oligarchical fore-fathers did.

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