Such a good conversation I had to listen twice! I think it as the annual reading of the Declaration of Independence some years ago that NPR does that made me aware of the list of grievances in that document, but even then the relevance was nothing like it is today. And when you think back to when it was written, it was, well, revolutionary. To make such a strike against a king was to take your life into your own hands. But it was also a time of challenge to aristocracy. In Europe those foundations were starting to shake. Beaumarchais with his Figaro trilogy, Mozart with his Marriage of Figaro, where he makes Beaumarchais' most controversial themes subtext, with outright abandonment of direct confrontation with nobility, after all he needed the approval of Emperor Joseph II to be able to produce the opera at all!
Thank you Charlie, for having an incredible guest like Judge Luttig. He is such a calming voice in turbulent times. It is absolutely eye-opening, to see clear violations of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. I find it terrifying to watch what is happening to our southern neighbours, and it's been happening since 2016. It's hard to believe that a political party would succumb to such a vile man, forfeit their duty and violate their oath. I'm 66 years old, and to be very honest, I have never worried about Liberty and Democracy in my entire life. I guess, I too, have taken these things for granted. Thank goodness Canadian elections turned out the way they did. I have to say that I have definitely found a home on substack, where I find so many great minds that are speaking out and fighting for Democracy!
The results of the passage of this bill will be counted in the number of deaths that result from it. Morally, they will be held accountable - something they are collectively ignorant of. Ethically the dirt on their hands from the graves that result will never be removed.
With all due respect and appreciation for your sage interpretation of the declaration of independence, I would argue that we have not "strayed" away from our beginnings. We are now living with the calculated and orchastrated result of decades of the goal written down in Project 2025. From Reagan's 'trickle down' economics, citizens united, Federalist and heritage foundation's long term goals, the outdated electorial College, and now politicized SCOTUS and use of the military, and a congress that has been spinless and intimated into lock step, the country now has the "new world order' achieving their ultimate goal. Facism!
Today is the Fourth of July . A holiday that I used to enjoy, decorated fully and celebrated proudly.
I could not be more ashamed of our present government than I am in this moment.
This is the darkest moment in the history of our country as the Christian nationalist fascist 2025 plan architects are aggressively collapsing our democracy because they deemed that it and our constitution should no longer exist.
The alt right Republicans fascist authoritarians say they fly our flag upside down ( including at the home of one of our Supreme Court justices Samuel Alito ) to indicate “ crisis”. They think and believe
Humanity, empathy and compassion for all
Safety nets for people to live in dignity
Freedom of speech
Justice and equality for all
Fairness for all
Acceptance of all
Freedom for all
Having a “diverse fabric” in our society
No systemic misogyny
No racism
No antisemitism
No bigotry
Wanting reasonable gun control legislation
Wanting good healthcare for all
Having norms of decency, civility, honesty
prevents THEM from being free and means our country is in CRISIS thus they fly our flag upside down?!!!!!
All of us fighting to save our democracy and our constitution as intended by our founding fathers with
3 equal branches of government
All of our EQUAL rights
Freedom of speech
Absolute separation of church and state
The 14th amendment which was properly ratified and became part of our constitution ensuring birthright citizenship is now being ABOLISHED by the stroke of a pen by an individual president abusing the power of “executive orders”.
All of us standing together putting country before party standing up to unbridled lawlessness corruption and inhumane brutality in this fascist authoritarian takeover……..
Maybe WE should be the ones to fly our flags upside down on the Fourth of July as we are in a real huge constitutional crisis and our democracy rights and freedoms have never been more threatened in the history of the United States of America.
Justice and equality are two sides of the same coin.
What is there to celebrate?
We are NO LONGER the land of the FREE.
We are no longer the country that HELPS others or our own American people .
But we certainly are still home of the BRAVE as evidenced by the millions that came out for the “No Kings “ peaceful protests” . The power is still with the people
Charlie, I am so very grateful for your reflections on the meaning and relevance of the Declaration of Independence today with Judge Luttig. The profound dedication and commitment you both have for our founding principles and the rule of law are evident in this conversation.
Your opening message is vitally important: Yes, we may feel grief about losing our way on this Independence Day; yet, we must muster ourselves to reclaim these principles and recommit to instilling them at every level of governance in a renewed vision of our nation that works for all not just an elite few.
This Independence Day is a day for reaffirmation and recommitment to our founding principles. Many thanks to you both and this community for keeping the faith and the light of freedom glowing.
I love Michael Luttig! How generous of him to purchase and donate the rare copy of "Common Sense" to the National Constitution Center. Thank you for reminding us of our shared American values and how they came to be, and for enlightening us about the ingenious structures that underlie our democracy. Our forefathers were brilliant and inspired.
(I'll bet Judge Luttig loves dogs as much as we do, Charlie - I have a theory about these things!!!)
I will watch and read tomorrow- wish my young golden had the sangfroid that Moses demonstrates. Maybe in time….
Happy 4th of July, when it is incumbent on each of us to celebrate the true meaning of America, and have a glorious time with the French contingent and their dragons!
Such a good conversation I had to listen twice! I think it as the annual reading of the Declaration of Independence some years ago that NPR does that made me aware of the list of grievances in that document, but even then the relevance was nothing like it is today. And when you think back to when it was written, it was, well, revolutionary. To make such a strike against a king was to take your life into your own hands. But it was also a time of challenge to aristocracy. In Europe those foundations were starting to shake. Beaumarchais with his Figaro trilogy, Mozart with his Marriage of Figaro, where he makes Beaumarchais' most controversial themes subtext, with outright abandonment of direct confrontation with nobility, after all he needed the approval of Emperor Joseph II to be able to produce the opera at all!
https://stateopera.com.au/power-politics-and-perversion-in-the-marriage-of-figaro/
It was a time that shocked the world. We are living in such a time today.
Thank you Charlie, for having an incredible guest like Judge Luttig. He is such a calming voice in turbulent times. It is absolutely eye-opening, to see clear violations of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. I find it terrifying to watch what is happening to our southern neighbours, and it's been happening since 2016. It's hard to believe that a political party would succumb to such a vile man, forfeit their duty and violate their oath. I'm 66 years old, and to be very honest, I have never worried about Liberty and Democracy in my entire life. I guess, I too, have taken these things for granted. Thank goodness Canadian elections turned out the way they did. I have to say that I have definitely found a home on substack, where I find so many great minds that are speaking out and fighting for Democracy!
Thanks Charlie 🇨🇦 🙏 🇺🇸
How far we’ve strayed. Thanks, Charlie for bringing the Judges post to us!
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The results of the passage of this bill will be counted in the number of deaths that result from it. Morally, they will be held accountable - something they are collectively ignorant of. Ethically the dirt on their hands from the graves that result will never be removed.
With all due respect and appreciation for your sage interpretation of the declaration of independence, I would argue that we have not "strayed" away from our beginnings. We are now living with the calculated and orchastrated result of decades of the goal written down in Project 2025. From Reagan's 'trickle down' economics, citizens united, Federalist and heritage foundation's long term goals, the outdated electorial College, and now politicized SCOTUS and use of the military, and a congress that has been spinless and intimated into lock step, the country now has the "new world order' achieving their ultimate goal. Facism!
Thank you for this offering.
Today is the Fourth of July . A holiday that I used to enjoy, decorated fully and celebrated proudly.
I could not be more ashamed of our present government than I am in this moment.
This is the darkest moment in the history of our country as the Christian nationalist fascist 2025 plan architects are aggressively collapsing our democracy because they deemed that it and our constitution should no longer exist.
The alt right Republicans fascist authoritarians say they fly our flag upside down ( including at the home of one of our Supreme Court justices Samuel Alito ) to indicate “ crisis”. They think and believe
Humanity, empathy and compassion for all
Safety nets for people to live in dignity
Freedom of speech
Justice and equality for all
Fairness for all
Acceptance of all
Freedom for all
Having a “diverse fabric” in our society
No systemic misogyny
No racism
No antisemitism
No bigotry
Wanting reasonable gun control legislation
Wanting good healthcare for all
Having norms of decency, civility, honesty
prevents THEM from being free and means our country is in CRISIS thus they fly our flag upside down?!!!!!
All of us fighting to save our democracy and our constitution as intended by our founding fathers with
3 equal branches of government
All of our EQUAL rights
Freedom of speech
Absolute separation of church and state
The 14th amendment which was properly ratified and became part of our constitution ensuring birthright citizenship is now being ABOLISHED by the stroke of a pen by an individual president abusing the power of “executive orders”.
All of us standing together putting country before party standing up to unbridled lawlessness corruption and inhumane brutality in this fascist authoritarian takeover……..
Maybe WE should be the ones to fly our flags upside down on the Fourth of July as we are in a real huge constitutional crisis and our democracy rights and freedoms have never been more threatened in the history of the United States of America.
Justice and equality are two sides of the same coin.
What is there to celebrate?
We are NO LONGER the land of the FREE.
We are no longer the country that HELPS others or our own American people .
But we certainly are still home of the BRAVE as evidenced by the millions that came out for the “No Kings “ peaceful protests” . The power is still with the people
WE THE PEOPLE!!!
Charlie, I am so very grateful for your reflections on the meaning and relevance of the Declaration of Independence today with Judge Luttig. The profound dedication and commitment you both have for our founding principles and the rule of law are evident in this conversation.
Your opening message is vitally important: Yes, we may feel grief about losing our way on this Independence Day; yet, we must muster ourselves to reclaim these principles and recommit to instilling them at every level of governance in a renewed vision of our nation that works for all not just an elite few.
This Independence Day is a day for reaffirmation and recommitment to our founding principles. Many thanks to you both and this community for keeping the faith and the light of freedom glowing.
I love Michael Luttig! How generous of him to purchase and donate the rare copy of "Common Sense" to the National Constitution Center. Thank you for reminding us of our shared American values and how they came to be, and for enlightening us about the ingenious structures that underlie our democracy. Our forefathers were brilliant and inspired.
(I'll bet Judge Luttig loves dogs as much as we do, Charlie - I have a theory about these things!!!)
I will watch and read tomorrow- wish my young golden had the sangfroid that Moses demonstrates. Maybe in time….
Happy 4th of July, when it is incumbent on each of us to celebrate the true meaning of America, and have a glorious time with the French contingent and their dragons!
Read the essay on your site, Charlie. It is inspiring to listen to Judge Luttig speak about it. Thoroughly impressed by him and the essay
Thank you, Charlie and Judge Luttig. I can’t help but think our country has wandered so far off course that we are back where we started.
Charlie, Judge Luttig, thank you so much. I will share this.
Two of my favorite content creators! Yes!
Do Auggie or Eli howl at the parade sirens like Moses did??