On the eve of July 4, which is an obviously appropriate time, the D.C. Council announced a search to find the citys missing Liberty Bell.

It is only a replica of the original Liberty Bell, which is an icon of American independence and is on display in Philadelphia.

But it is a big bell, it is or at least it was our bell, and it is lost. It is equal in size to the original, the council said, and it weighs a ton. Literally.

According to the council, the 2,000-pound bell was given to the city by the federal government on July 20, 67 years ago.

It was presented in recognition of exceeding the sales goals for U.S. savings bonds. Apparently every state, every U.S. territory and the U.S. Treasury Department were given one of the bells.

At first, the D.C. bell was on display at the top of the steps of what was then the District Building, now the Wilson Building.

Later it was moved to a small park in front of the building.

Then, as beautification work on Pennsylvania Avenue got underway, it became necessary to move the bell. Several other small monuments also required temporary relocation.

The other monuments were all eventually returned to their original sites, according to the council.

But not the bell. On Monday, atop its announcement, the council urged: Help Us Find the Liberty Bell.

The bell was at its site on April2, 1979. But, the council said, by July 30, 1981, it had been declared missing.

Meanwhile, it can not be concluded that the bell was hidden in plain sight. The council said the Liberty Bell it seeks is NOT the double-sized replica in front of Union Station. Nor is it the replica between the Treasury Building and the White House.

No tip is too small, the council said. Those with information can contact Josh Gibson at 202-741-0897 or jgibson@dccouncil.us.

As to where the bell might be, the value of the metal in it probably ought not to be ignored. Current prices for scrap brass or bronze are about a dollar per pound. At such prices, the bell, at least in theory, could bring about $2,000 in cash.

However, melting away the inscription on the bell would seem almost sacrelegious. The words come from the book of Leviticus, and read:

Proclaim Liberty throughout all the Land unto all the Inhabitants thereof.

Excerpt from:

Missing: The District's Liberty Bell, lost since the early 1980s - The ... - Washington Post

Peggy Garner had a deeper and different understanding of liberty than Patrick Henry he who famously shouted Give me liberty or give me death. Peggy Garner had no liberty. She was a slave.

Patrick Henry detested taxation without representation by a distant British Parliament. Peggy Garner paid no taxes and had no liberty. Imprisoned on a plantation and a black female, she had perhaps the least liberty of all.

But when Peggy Garner escaped across a frozen river to Ohio with her four children perhaps she faintly heard Patrick Henry when hunted down by slave catchers. Give me liberty or give me death? Peggy chose death, wanting to kill her children and herself rather than be returned to slavery. She had killed just one child, slitting her throat, before being restrained.

Opposites help define each other, much as the meaning of light resides in total darkness. Peggy Garners act of desperation tells us what liberty means in a deeper and different way than even Jeffersons majestic claim that we are endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

We get a deeper sense of the gradual, grinding progression of actualizing Jeffersons bold claim for all Americans when two centuries elapsed between a colonial editors shutting down his paper rather than pay the Stamp Act tax of 1764 and Martin Luther King, Jr.s soaring words on the national mall in 1963. Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!

And while black females were perhaps last in line for liberty and white males, particularly wealthy ones, first in line our liberty largely started with wealthy white males claiming those rights and then, with commoner whites and free blacks and some courageous women, fighting with guns, guts, and French help to secure freedom from British rule.

Two people illustrate the gradual trickle down progression of liberty over the next several centuries.

David Acheson immigrated to America from northern Ireland in 1788 with the clothes on his back and a letter of introduction from his minister. Nine years later, he was a successful banker, businessman, and politician who was invited to dine with President George Washington. The vast expanse of our new country soon from sea to shining sea opened up opportunities for those with ambition and talent to pursue their dreams, the American dream.

No one really wanted war. But Lincoln knew it was coming, perhaps unavoidable due to historical circumstance and economic pressures. Julia Ward Howe awakened around dawn at her Washington hotel and peered out the window. Having watched Union troops parade the day before, new words came to her for the rhythmic music of John Browns Body.

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord, He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored; He hath loosed the fateful lightning of his terrible swift sword; His truth is marching on.

David Achesons grandson of like name marched to those stirring words on his way to Gettysburg. He fell in battle a few hours later, giving his life that others might be free to live theirs more fully. His blood sacrifice and that of thousands more fulfilled the last verse of The Battle Hymn of the Republic As he died to make men holy, let us die to make men free.

A fighting feminist

Julia Ward Howe fought for womens rights and emancipation from a paternalistic culture her own husband was something of a tyrant for the next 50 years, being a fighting feminist before the phrase existed. Deep in her heart, she knew that one eternal truth that was marching on was that none of us are truly free until we all are free free to fully develop our God-given talents as both an act of self-fulfillment and a contribution to our national welfare.

For, as Peggy Garner, David Acheson, Julia Ward Howe, and many others knew, the freedom we celebrate on the Fourth of July must be for all people and for as long as we are willing to sacrifice blood and treasure to preserve it. God bless America and let us not let our liberty slip away. Many paid a high price for us to have it.

James F. Burns is a retired professor at the University of Florida.

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Liberty: Its pursuit burns ever more intensely for some - Herald and News

Half of Americans in a new Rasmussen poll said they believe the lines found in the Pledge of Allegiance, that the United States is a nation where there is liberty and justice for all. But the poll showed a sharp partisan split.

Three-quarters of Republicans said they think the U.S. has liberty and justice for all, 76 percent, while fewer than one-third of Democrats 30 percent said they believethat statement to be true.

Of those who said they have no party affiliation, 46 percent said they think the U.S. has liberty and justice for all.

The national poll of 1,000 adults was conducted June 28-29 and has a margin of error of plus or minus3 percentage points with a 95 percent confidence level.

While 49 percent of all those polled said they thought the U.S. has liberty and justice for all, men were somewhat more likely to say this 52 percent with 46 percent of women saying so.

Most black Americans told the pollsters that they do not think the U.S. has liberty and justice for all.

But the greatest difference by far was in the divide between Republicans and Democrats: 76 versus 30 percent.

On what is Democrats' low number based?

One Twitter user noted that Rasmussen didn't ask people how they would define "liberty" and "justice," with another musing that justice to some might mean free stuff, like "being given a phone."

The "Freedom in the World 2017" report by Freedom House gave the U.S. an 89 out of 100 rating for freedom, and rated the country's status as "free." The U.S. got a perfect score from Freedom House for freedom of expression and belief combining First Amendment freedoms of speech and of religion.

The 49 percent who think the country has liberty and justice for all is down from last year, when 53 percent said it does, but it is higher than in 2014, when just 46 percent affirmed that statement.

The same poll asked Americans if they would still live in the U.S. if they had a choice to live anywhere in the world. Seventy-five percent said they would, and 15 percent said they would choose to live elsewhere. But among those who said they disagree that the U.S. is a place with liberty and justice for all, just 57 percent said they would still live here if given the choice, with 43 percent saying they weren't sure or would live in another country if they could.

It's a strikingly high number, and seems to show many Americans, most of them Democrats, losing a feeling of attachment to the country, or love for the country.

On the first day of the Democratic National Convention a year ago, Donald Trump tweeted there was "not one American flag" on the "massive stage" in the convention hall until people started complaining.

An American flag was displayed on the video screen behind the stage, but as Polifact noted, there was no physical American flag on the stage the first day of the convention. An American flag was brought onto the stage for the Pledge of Allegiance, but was carried off afterward.

A May 31 Rasmussen poll showed only 68 percent of American adults said they think Americans should be proud of the history of the United States, while 16 percent said Americans should be ashamed of U.S. history and another 15 percent were undecided.

Only 56 percent of blacks said U.S. history is something of which to be proud.

Americans over age 40 were more likely than younger people to think Americans should be proud of their history. Just 61 percent of those under 40 agreed, while 39 percent either disagreed or were undecided.

A Gallup survey released in July of 2016 showed that only 36 percent of liberals said they are extremely proud to be American. The number for all Americans in the survey was 52 percent, a big drop from the 70 percent recorded in 2003.

A Gallup poll from June 2017 showed that 4 percent of the world's population, 147 million people, would move to the U.S. if they could. More people said they would move to the U.S. than the next four countries of choice combined.

Originally posted here:

Just 30 Percent of Democrats Say US Has Liberty and Justice for All - LifeZette

The Liberty Bell replica was in place at least up until April 2, 1979, according to press reports; it was declared missing July 30, 1981. (Courtesy D.C. Council)

WASHINGTON It weighs 2,000 pounds, looks like the real thing (minus the crack) and has been missing for more than 35 years.

Now, the public is being asked to polish up their magnifying glasses and fuel up their mystery machines to help crack the case of D.C.s missing liberty bell.

It will be a real challenge to track it down, said Josh Gibson, director of communications for the D.C. Council. Gibson has made a name for himself solving historical mysteries at the Wilson Building.

Monday he released pictures he found of the commemorative bell during a news conference at the Wilson Building. He is appealing to the public in hopes of uncovering more images, memories or even information that could uncover its location.

The bell is one of three versions of the iconic symbol located in D.C. A replica thats twice the size of the real Liberty Bell sits in front of Union Station. Another replica lies between the White House and the Treasury Building. The atrium inside the Wilson Building also boasts a colorful bell that Gibson described as the Thai Grievance Bell.

Last year, Gibson solved the mystery of a plaque found in a broom closet at the Wilson Building. The plaque without a title turned out to list the names of D.C. government employees who served during World War II.

Gibsons next challenge is now locating the missing bell.

The story of the D.C. liberty bell begins in 1950, when the nation saw a good year for savings bonds. To celebrate, Gibson said the federal government had a foundry in France make replicas of the Liberty Bell the original still resides in Philadelphia. One replica was given to each state and U.S. territory plus the Treasury Department.

Soon, a glistening, crack-free bell was gifted to the District and was placed outside the Wilson Building. It greeted visitors atop the steps of the government building before it was moved to a nearby, triangular park, according to Gibson. It remained in that park until at least April 1979. But by July 1981, the bell had disappeared.

During that time, the Pennsylvania Avenue Development Corporation was in charge of monuments and statues along Pennsylvania Avenue. The PADC was established by Congress and was made up of oversight committees, city government and other civic groups.

It was like a bureaucracy made up of bureaucracies, Gibson said.

In 1980, the PADC decided to improve Pennsylvania Avenue and the project required that several statues, small monuments and the liberty bell be moved.

Gibson said that over the years, the statues of D.C.s first mayor, Alexander Boss Shepherd, eventually reappeared in front of the Wilson Building; the statue of Ben Franklin was placed in front of the Old Post Office Pavilion; and the Temperance Fountain moved back to the National Archives.

But D.C.s version of the liberty bell did not re-emerge.

Its still, I would assume, somewhere where it got stashed, Gibson said.

It could be in storage, sitting in a small park with little foot traffic, or in a backyard the possibilities are endless, he said.

Gibson said hed like to speak with anyone who knows anything about a company called G & C Construction, a contractor based out of Merrifield, Virginia, which held the PADC subcontract to rebuild the sidewalks outside the Wilson Building. The company, or anyone once affiliated with the business, might know something about the temporary relocation of the bell.

Hes also hoping to collect more photos of the bell. He knows of roughly a half dozen images that exist of the bell and more images could help fill out the historical record.

Additionally, Gibson wants to hear from anyone who remembers the bell. He said the bell was a common landmark and a frequent meeting spot downtown from the 1950s to the 1970s.

He said extensive communication with staff of the PADC and District staff who would have been involved in relocating the bell have yielded no clues about its whereabouts.

WTOPs Amanda Iacone contributed to this report.

Like WTOP on Facebook and follow @WTOP on Twitter to engage in conversation about this article and others.

2017 WTOP. All Rights Reserved.

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Can you crack the case of DC's missing liberty bell? - WTOP

CNSNews.com

Trump at Freedom Rally: 'America Always Affirms That Liberty Comes from Our Creator' CNSNews.com (CNSNews.com) -- During Saturday's Freedom Rally at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., President Donald Trump said that ever since 1776, America has always affirmed that liberty comes from Our Creator. He also told the evangelical community ... The Significance of LibertyHuffPost all 20 news articles »

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Trump at Freedom Rally: 'America Always Affirms That Liberty Comes from Our Creator' - CNSNews.com

An injured bald eagle in the District likely Liberty or Justice, who have made their home at the D.C. police academy in Southwest for more than a decade was treated at City Wildlife on Monday after being found Saturday following a thunderstorm.

Based on its weight and talon size, the injured bird is likely Justice, the male of the beloved pair, said Dan Rauch, a wildlife biologist with the Districts Department of Energy and Environment.

It is not possible to definitively determine the injured birds identity because neither eagle is tagged, but the location where it was found near Eighth and Xenia streets SE, approximately 1.5 miles from the police academy means it is likely that the injured bird is Justice, Rauch said.

The bird has no obvious fractures or other signs of trauma, said Kristy Jacobus, the clinic director at City Wildlife, after she completed an examination Monday morning. It was alert during the examination, yellow eyes bright and pink tongue out as it panted from the stress of human contact, and let out a few squeals as Jacobus felt along its wings and feet for injuries.

The eagle was found around 4:45 p.m. Saturday, following intense rain that came with an afternoon thunderstorm. It will be taken to a center in Delaware for further examination and a full X-ray and returned to the District once it has been cleared, Jacobus said.

In 1972, when the insecticide DDT was banned, there were 600 bald eagles in the Lower 48 states. Today, there are more than 16,000 eagles in the United States, Rauch said, but only two known nests in the District. The other, at National Arboretum, is home to a pair of birds named Mr. President and First Lady, who welcomed the births of eaglets Honor and Glory in March.

Liberty and Justices eaglet, which hatched March 15 and is named Spirit, took its first flight in early June and is likely living and hunting on its own, Rauch said. If Spirit had still been in the nest and one of the baby eagles parents had been injured, it would have been in danger.

It takes two parents to care for a nest, so we could have had a failed nest, Rauch said. The injury could have been worse, timing-wise.

Adult eagles can survive on their own, so if Justice is the injured eagle, Liberty will be safe until his return, Rauch said.

The bird is the first bald eagle that City Wildlife has treated in the four years since it opened. It is also the largest avian weighing in at nine pounds that the center has handled. The next largest bird was a snowy owl that was treated in January after being hit by a bus.

Before City Wildlife opened its doors in 2013, injured animals were taken to Second Chance Wildlife Center in Gaithersburg, Md. Now, City Wildlife treats everything from orphaned opossums to injured squirrels to snakes a corn snake was brought in as the eagle was being prepared for examination in its center on Oglethorpe Street NW.

During intense storms, water can get under the feathers of bald eagles, weighing them down and making it likely theyll be grounded, where birds are most vulnerable.

Every spring when there is a thunderstorm, we put our heads under our pillow and go, let us not get our first eagle, said Paula Goldberg, the centers executive director. Theres a mixture of excitement and dread.

See the article here:

Injured bald eagle, likely Liberty or Justice, gets treated a day before July 4 - Washington Post

An 11-foot Statue of Liberty in the Summit Hill Neighborhood tumbled over coincidentally, the day before Independence Day.

About 11 years ago, Mary Louise Klas commissioned a chain saw artist to carve a larger-than-human-size Statue of Liberty in a dead Elm tree in front of her house on Fairmount Avenue.

When Klas woke Monday morning, she noticed the toppled statue.

Police told her it was most likely because of insect damage to the base and strong winds Sunday night. Klas thought it would have taken a push to knock over the statue.

The statue was a reminder of what the country used to stand for, Klas said.

Klas formerly served on the Ramsey County District Court, the first woman judge to be appointed there. She previously told the Pioneer Press that she believed the Statue of Liberty epitomizes American patriotism.

Klas said she hopes to have the statue put back up, but doesnt know yet if thats possible.

After the statue was built, it became a bit of a neighbor attraction, even earning points for Pokemon fans, according to Klass daughter Mary Ellen Klas.

The statue cost Klas more than $5,000 and took the artist, Dennis Roghair, several months to carve.

View post:

St. Paul woman's 11-foot Statue of Liberty replica topples - TwinCities.com-Pioneer Press

Peggy Garner had a deeper and different understanding of liberty than Patrick Henry he who famously shouted Give me liberty or give me death. Peggy Garner had no liberty. She was a slave.

Patrick Henry detested taxation without representation by a distant British Parliament. Peggy Garner paid no taxes and had no liberty. Imprisoned on a plantation and a black female, she had perhaps the least liberty of all.

But when Peggy Garner escaped across a frozen river to Ohio with her four children perhaps she faintly heard Patrick Henry when hunted down by slave catchers. Give me liberty or give me death? Peggy chose death, wanting to kill her children and herself rather than be returned to slavery. She had killed just one child, slitting her throat, before being restrained.

Opposites help define each other, much as the meaning of light resides in total darkness. Peggy Garners act of desperation tells us what liberty means in a deeper and different way than even Jeffersons majestic claim that we are endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

We get a deeper sense of the gradual, grinding progression of actualizing Jeffersons bold claim for all Americans when two centuries elapsed between a colonial editors shutting down his paper rather than pay the Stamp Act tax of 1764 and Martin Luther King Jr.s soaring words on the national mall in 1963. Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!

And while black females were perhaps last in line for liberty and white males, particularly wealthy ones, first in line our liberty largely started with wealthy white males claiming those rights and then, with commoner whites and free blacks and some courageous women, fighting with guns, guts, and French help to secure freedom from British rule.

Two people illustrate the gradual trickle down progression of liberty over the next several centuries. David Acheson immigrated to America from northern Ireland in 1788 with the clothes on his back and a letter of introduction from his minister. Nine years later he was a successful banker, businessman, and politician who was invited to dine with President George Washington. The vast expanse of our new country soon from sea to shining sea opened up opportunities for those with ambition and talent to pursue their dreams, the American dream.

No one really wanted war. But Lincoln knew it was coming, perhaps unavoidable due to historical circumstance and economic pressures. Julia Ward Howe awakened around dawn at her Washington hotel and peered out the window. Having watched Union troops parade the day before, new words came to her for the rhythmic music of John Browns Body.

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord, He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored; He hath loosed the fateful lightning of his terrible swift sword; His truth is marching on.

David Achesons grandson of like name marched to those stirring words on his way to Gettysburg. He fell in battle a few hours later, giving his life that others might be free to live theirs more fully. His blood sacrifice and that of thousands more fulfilled the last verse of The Battle Hymn of the Republic As he died to make men holy, let us die to make men free.

Julia Ward Howe fought for womens rights and emancipation from a paternalistic culture her own husband was something of a tyrant for the next 50 years, being a fighting feminist before the phrase existed. Deep in her heart, she knew that one eternal truth that was marching on was that none of us are truly free until we all are free free to fully develop our God-given talents as both an act of self-fulfillment and a contribution to our national welfare.

For, as Peggy Garner, David Acheson, Julia Ward Howe, and many others knew, the freedom we celebrate on the Fourth of July must be for all people and for as long as we are willing to sacrifice blood and treasure to preserve it. God bless America and let us not let our liberty slip away. Many paid a high price for us to have it.

James F. Burns is a retired professor at the University of Florida.

See the original post here:

Give me liberty or give me death - Ledger Independent

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

TRAFFIC: Boulevard of the Allies, Liberty Bridge ramps reopen ... Pittsburgh Post-Gazette The Boulevard of the Allies between Grant Street and the Liberty Bridge and the Liberty Bridge ramps to and from the boulevard have reopened to traffic. ... Liberty Bridge ramps back open downtown - WTAE-TVWTAE Pittsburgh PennDOT: Liberty Bridge, Boulevard of the Allies reopen to traffic ...WPXI Pittsburgh all 3 news articles »

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TRAFFIC: Boulevard of the Allies, Liberty Bridge ramps reopen ... - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Liberty is a department store on Great Marlborough Street in the West End of London which sells luxury goods including women's, men's and children's fashion, cosmetics and fragrances, jewellery, accessories, homeware, furniture, stationery and gifts, and is known for its floral and graphic prints.

Turnover for 2015 was forecasted to be 145million, up from 132million in 2014.[1]

Arthur Lasenby Liberty was born in Chesham, Buckinghamshire in 1843. He was employed by Messrs Farmer and Rogers in Regent Street in 1862, the year of the International Exhibition at Kensington in London. By 1874, inspired by his 10 years of service, Arthur decided to start a business of his own, which he did the next year.

With a 2,000 loan from his future father-in-law, Arthur Liberty accepted the lease of half a shop at 218a Regent Street with three staff members.

The shop opened during 1875 selling ornaments, fabric and objets d'art from Japan and the East. Within eighteen months Arthur Liberty had repaid the loan and acquired the second half of 218 Regent Street. As the business grew, neighbouring properties were bought and added.

In 1884, Liberty introduced the costume department into the Regent Street store, directed by Edward William Godwin (183386). Godwin was a distinguished architect. He was a founding member of the Costume Society in 1882. He and Arthur Liberty created in-house apparel to challenge the fashions of Paris.

In 1885, 142144 Regent Street was acquired and housed the ever-increasing demand for carpets and furniture. The basement was named the Eastern Bazaar, and was the vending place for what was described as "decorative furnishing objects". He named the property Chesham House after the place in which he grew up. The store became the most fashionable place to shop in London and Liberty fabrics were used for both clothing and furnishings. Some of its clientele was exotic,[clarification needed] and included famous Pre-Raphaelite artists.

In November 1885, Liberty brought forty-two villagers from India to stage a living village of Indian artisans. Liberty's specialized in Oriental goods, in particular imported Indian silks, and the aim of the display was to generate both publicity and sales for the store. However, it was a disaster commercially and publicly, with concern about the way the villagers were put on display.

During the 1890s, Arthur Lasenby Liberty built strong relationships with many English designers. Many of these designers, including Archibald Knox, practised the artistic styles known as Arts and Crafts and Art Nouveau, and Liberty helped develop Art Nouveau through his encouragement of such designers. The company became associated with this new style, to the extent that in Italy, Art Nouveau became known as the Stile Liberty, after the London shop.

The Tudor revival building was built so that trading could continue while renovations were being completed on the other premises and in 1924 this store was constructed from the timbers of two ships: HMS Impregnable (formerly HMS Howe) and HMS Hindustan. The frontage on Great Marlborough Street is the same length as the Hindustan. It is a Grade II* listed building.

The emporium was designed by Edwin Thomas Hall and his son Edwin Stanley Hall. They designed the building at the height of the 1920s fashion for Tudor revival. The shop was engineered around three light wells that formed the main focus of the building. Each of these wells was surrounded by smaller rooms to create a homely feel. Many of the rooms had fireplaces and some still exist.

The architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner was very critical of the building's architecture, saying: "The scale is wrong, the symmetry is wrong. The proximity to a classical faade put up by the same firm at the same time is wrong, and the goings-on of a store behind such a faade (and below those twisted Tudor chimneys) are wrongest of all".[2]

Arthur Lasenby Liberty died in 1917, seven years before the completion of his shops.

Liberty, during the 1950s, continued its tradition for fashionable and eclectic design. All departments in the shop had a collection of both contemporary and traditional designs. New designers were promoted and often included those still representing the Liberty tradition for handcrafted work.

In 1955, Liberty began opening several regional stores in other UK cities; the first of these was in Manchester.[3] Subsequent shops opened in Bath, Brighton, Chester, York and Norwich.

During the 1960s, extravagant and Eastern influences once again became fashionable, as well as the Art Deco style, and Liberty adapted its furnishing designs from its archive.

In 1996, Liberty announced the closure of all of its department stores outside London, and instead focused on small shops at airports.[3]

Since 1988, Liberty has had a subsidiary in Japan which sells Liberty-branded products in major Japanese shops. It also sells Liberty fabrics to international and local fashion stores with bases in Japan.

Liberty's London store was sold for 41.5million and then leased back by the firm in 2009, to pay off debts ahead of a sale.[4] Subsequently, in 2010, Liberty was taken over by private equity firm BlueGem Capital in a deal worth 32million.[5]

In 2016 Libery's started selling Pure Elixir skin care tablets.

From 2 December 2013, Liberty was the focus of a three-part hour-long episode documentary series titled "Liberty of London", airing on Channel 4.[6][7] The documentary follows Ed Burstell (Managing Director) and the department's retail team in the busy lead up to Christmas 2013.[6][8]

Channel 4 further commissioned a second series of said documentary on 28 October 2014. This series featured four, one hour-long episodes based on six months worth of unprecedented footage. Series two commenced on 12 November 2014.[9]

Liberty has a history of collaborative projects from William Morris and Gabriel Dante Rossetti in the nineteenth century to Yves Saint Laurent and Dame Vivienne Westwood in the twentieth. Recent collaborations include brands such as Nike, Dr. Martens, Hello Kitty, Barbour, House of Hackney, Vans, Onia, Manolo Blahnik, Uniqlo and Superga.

Alison Adburgham, Liberty's A biography of a shop, George Allen and Unwin (1975)

Coordinates: 513050N 00825W / 51.5139N 0.1402W / 51.5139; -0.1402

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Liberty (department store) - Wikipedia

Josh Gottheimer Published 6:00 a.m. ET July 2, 2017 | Updated 6:00 a.m. ET July 2, 2017

Fireworks explode in the sky above the Washington Monument and the U.S. Capitol as the nation celebrates July 4 in this file photo.(Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Over the first six months of my term, my staff and I visited all 79 towns of the 5th Congressional District, concluding our tour of businesses this week in the towns of Liberty and Hope.

As we celebrate Independence Day, it is the ideals of liberty and hope that speak to the core of who we are as a nation.

Im honored to serve North Jersey in the U.S. House of Representatives. In this role, Ive been lucky enough to see the best of New Jersey and the best of the United States: brave law enforcement officers and service members putting themselves in harms way to keep our families safe; communities coming together to support innovative small businesses and important causes; moms and dads celebrating milestones like graduations and retirements; citizens connecting with their elected officials and making their voices heard.

Even with all the challenges we face and trust me, I know that list runs long we live in the greatest country in the world.

My grandparents immigrated here from Russia and Germany; my wifes grandparents came to the States after surviving the Holocaust. Our families werent here that fateful day 241 years ago when a brave group of colonists declared themselves to be independent and truths to be self-evident. Yetthe promises contained in that declaration ring through our family and all our families to this day:that America remains the land of opportunity.

Im the son of a man who started a small business in the basement of his house. He has lived the American dream. Like me, he still believes deeply in that dream that we all are created equal, endowed with the unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Rep. Josh Gottheimer(Photo: Amy Newman/NorthJersey.com)

Because of the wisdom and forethought of those Founders who took a stand in Philadelphia, Im still optimistic that Americas best days lie ahead. Our Founders never thought running our country would be easy. After all, the preamble of our Constitution opens with in order to form a more perfect Union. In other words, America would be a work in progress. They designed it that way. Our Founders feared that, in the wrong moment, their work building the greatest democracy in history could be undone.

So they intentionally put a series of checks and balances in our Constitution, giving distinct roles to Congress and the president, including making it difficult to pass legislation. They were thinking about the long game.After all, they had fought hard risking their liberty and lives for Americas freedom from an oppressive and autocratic England; they didnt want the same outcome here.

My point is that what we are living through now may be difficult, but its not the first time. We've had plenty of ups and downs in our nations history. Fortunately, Americas trend line has consistently pointed upward, and even in todays environment thats still the case.

Theres even the hit Broadway musical featuring our nations first Treasury secretary, who was shot and killed by the sitting vice president in a duel here in the Garden State that makes our current cable news duels seem tame by comparison.

While we've always had different points of view, there is a real difference between disagreeing on policy and pure obstructionism.There is a need to reach back to the collective good that we should be rowing together instead of fighting against one another.

Moving past the partisan arguments will take a commitment from all of us to actually reach across the lines that divide us and start talking with rather than at each other.

Thats what Im trying to do in Congress. I am proud to serve as the co-chairman of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus, a group of 21 Democrats and 21 Republicans who come together on a regular basis to look for areas of common ground and get things done. There are some areas where we may not ever agree, but on issues like cutting taxes, fixing our roads and bridges, and standing up for our veterans and first responders, theres plenty of room to work together. After all, a broken bridge isnt a Democratic or Republican issue; veterans live in rural and urban areas; and we all know we pay too much in taxes. These are just plain good for America issues.

I will continue to look for opportunities to reach across the aisle to get things done. This Independence Day, I ask you to join me. Reach out to your friends and neighbors, even those with whom you think you have little in common. Because we all share one important thing in common: We are American. And we all believe in liberty and hope.

Josh Gottheimer, D-Wyckoff, is a first-term congressman representing the 5th Congressional District.

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Liberty and hope: They're what bind us together - NorthJersey.com

UPDATED: Sun., July 2, 2017, 8:14 p.m.

A 21-year-old hiker who was missing overnight has been located, the Spokane County Sheriffs Office said Sunday evening.

Jacob B. Caravalho apparently walked 27 miles from Liberty Lake Regional Park to a house south of Coeur dAlene near U.S. Highway 95, where he asked for help.

Kootenai County sheriffs deputies were contacting him Sunday evening to check on his condition.

Caravalho was reported missing at around 9 p.m. Saturday, according to a Sheriffs Office news release. His vehicle was found in the Off Road Vehicle Park, 2110 S. Idaho Road, but the search was suspended at about 11 p.m. due to terrain and lack of light, deputies said.

The search resumed at about 7 a.m. Sunday, with help from the Liberty Lake Police Department, Spokane County Parks rangers and sheriffs air support.

Caravalho was hiking alone. He reportedly had a backpack with him.

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Hiker who went missing in the area of Liberty Lake Regional Park ... - The Spokesman-Review

When preparing our bi-monthly issues, I am invariably delighted by the insights offered by our writers. For instance, in this issue, while introducing some background for the early 19th century Cherokee removal, Gary Wade takes the time to walk us through a showdown between Andrew Jackson and the Supreme Court. Its this kind of generous writing that makes me proud to edit Cityview.

Justice Wade introduces us to Hamiltons Federalist #78, the letter most famously used by the Supreme Court to establish the idea of checks and balances. Id like to head in a slightly different direction and write about Madisons Federalist #10, the one most often taught in introductory college courses.

The Federalist papers were written when it was unsure if the people of New York would approve the Constitution, a time of extraordinary strife in our young country as the population split over the strength of the federal government and over our ties with European governmentsconflicts that certainly have their parallels in contemporary society. We find ourselves divided, again, over these same issues. Currently, political tempers are running hot. It may be helpful, therefore, to look back and understand what the man who wrote the first draft of our constitution had to say about factional strife amongst the population, and about the worry of its heading toward violent confrontation.

In the years immediately preceding the constitutional convention, the country had seen Shays Rebellion shake the governing principles of the new nation. Since the end of the Revolutionary War, the country had functioned as a confederation of states without a strong central government. Over the course of four years, we had proven a need to either revise the Articles of Confederation or form a more perfect union through the establishment of a federal constitution. And thats just what we did.

One of the primary arguments for a strong federal government was to control the violence of faction, what had been seen in Shays Rebellion. In order to do this, Madison offered a number of possible solutions, only one of which would work if we were to maintain liberty as a controlling and foundational concept for our free nation. Briefly, Madison says there are several ways to control the mischief of violence that can happen when citizens are in opposition to one another: you can either remove its cause by removing liberty, which is a bad idea because its the very thing youre trying to preserve in the first placeits a cure worse than the disease, Madison writes; or you can try to make everyone have the same opinions, which leads to the kind of tyranny our revolution opposed.

We can also try to control the results of faction and differing opinions. First, we could try to keep folks from having bad ideas. But that wont workideas are often subjective, and whos to judge good from bad? Finally, we can elect a representative democracy, one which incorporates a large number of representatives. Not so big as to be unwieldly, and not so small as to threaten that a small faction will take over.

Thus the importance of whom we elect to be our representatives. They must be true to us and not to large corporate interests. They must be of the people rather than of the government. We have a responsibility to go to the polls and elect those who will work with a diverse Congress to make laws that ensure our liberty.

Our liberty is in our hands, which pull the levers that elect the representatives who speak for us. Thats what I embrace and celebrate in this our legal issue.

Correction: In the article A Home for the Ages in our May/June issue, we misspoke about the coverages provided by Medicare and TennCare CHOICES. We should have written that people who have Medicare do not necessarily qualify for TennCare CHOICES. Medicare has strict limitations on providing in-home care and does not pay for home modifications. If you have questions, please consult an attorney to discuss these issues or contact Monica Franklin & Associates, Elder Law at 865-588-3700.

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On Liberty and Responsibility - Knoxville City View

A flurry of Supreme Court cases is putting religious liberty debates and state-church conflicts in the spotlight. In recent days, the court ruled that hospital systems with church affiliations are exempted from some provisions of federal pension law. The court also found that Trinity Lutheran Church in Missouri is eligible for a state grant to resurface its playground despite the state constitutions ban on government funding of churches. In the fall, the justices will hear an appeal from a Colorado baker who violated a state anti-discrimination law for refusing to prepare a cake for a same-sex wedding. And the court will also make a final decision on President Trumps ban on refugees traveling from some Muslim-majority countries.

Religious liberty is a foundational principle of a democratic society. Sadly, what could unite left and right is increasingly the latest battle in the culture wars. Finding a better path forward requires seeking common ground and rejecting false choices. We can affirm respect for religious conscience while also striving to protect the human rights of all people. Religious appeals were once used to justify slavery and baptize racial discrimination.

Some Christians today seek to deny gay, lesbian and transgender people basic rights in the name of religion. Discrimination under the guise of faith does a disservice to upholding authentic religious freedom. At the same time, some on the left who would reduce religious liberty to the sphere of private worship and limit the role of faith in the public square are also mistaken. Individual believers and religious institutions have served the common good and animated social justice movements since the founding of our nation. Liberal intolerance and animus toward the rights and responsibilities of faithful citizens and religious institutions are also an affront to democratic virtues and values.

Language and framing matters. Some Christians including President Donald Trump embrace an overheated rhetoric of persecution by claiming that people of faith are under attack. This siege mentality breeds a hunkered-down posture that does not reflect the liberating spirit of the gospel. It also does not reflect reality. Christians in the Middle East and other volatile areas are confronted with violent persecution. In contrast, the myriad legal and policy debates that arise in the United States over religious liberty questions concern the balancing of social goods in a pluralistic society. These challenges are significant and often complex, but they do not constitute an existential or apocalyptic threat to fundamental freedoms.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is right to speak up in defense of religious liberty, but often inflames the debate. The conferences annual Fortnight for Freedom campaign, which culminates on July 4, began in large part as a response to the Affordable Care Acts contraception coverage requirements. While reasonable people including religious liberty attorneys disagree over whether exemptions provided to religious institutions are expansive enough, bishops framed the fight with breathless historical allusions. Less than a year before the 2012 presidential election, the Fortnight campaign kicked off when the liturgical calendar honored St. Thomas More and St. John Fischer, who suffered political persecution because of their faith and were executed by King Henry VIII. Evoking these Christian martyrs, the bishops argued that religious liberty was under attack and warned Catholics to be on guard. The diocese of Brooklyn, New York featured a front-page image of the Blessed Mother wrapped in the American flag.

Bishop Daniel Jenky of Peoria, Illinois, even made comparisons between President Barack Obama and some of the worse dictators of the 20th century. Hitler and Stalin, at their better moments, would just barely tolerate some churches remaining open, but would not tolerate any competition with the state in education, social services, and health care, the bishop said. In clear violation of our First Amendment rights, Barack Obama with his radical, pro-abortion and extreme secularist agenda now seems intent on following a similar path. At risk of stating the painfully obvious, this kind of offensive, false and reckless language poisons the well in ways that make it impossible to find common ground.

Some Catholic bishops deserve credit. In Georgia, many religious leaders spoke out against that states efforts to roll back civil rights under religious liberty legislation, and the states Catholic bishops were clear in their opposition. While we and the other Catholic bishops in the United States support the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, the bishops wrote, we do not support any implementation of RFRA in a way that will discriminate against any individual. Republican Gov. Nathan Deal, a conservative Southern Baptist, vetoed the proposed legislation and argued Jesus would not support the bills intent.

In other cases, Catholic schools and universities have also damaged the cause of religious liberty. Adjunct professors often make poverty wages and lack health insurance benefits. Unionization efforts have been forcefully resisted by some Catholic university leaders who claim religious liberty exemptions. In National Catholic Reporter last year, Gerald Beyer, an associate professor of Christian ethics at Villanova University and Donald Carroll, president of the Law Offices of Carroll & Scully Inc., argued in an extensive essay that blocking adjunct unions fails both legal and moral tests. When a Catholic university abridges the right to unionize of its adjunct faculty, it violates its own traditions teaching, they wrote.

If any religious group faces persecution in the United States today, it is our Muslim brothers and sisters who are demonized in the media and the halls of power. Catholics faced bigotry and vile stereotypes as late as John F. Kennedys 1960 presidential campaign. Given our history, Catholics have a particular responsibility to challenge Islamophobia, which is a well-funded industry of pseudo-academics and activists who have been emboldened since Donald Trumps election. The Bridge Initiative at Georgetown University has detailed how much work needs to be done. Only 14 percent of Catholics have a favorable impression of Muslims. Perhaps most troubling, according to the research, is that Catholics who read, watch, or listen to Catholic media have more unfavorable views of Muslims than those who dont. What San Diego Bishop Robert McElroy has called the scourge of anti-Islamic prejudice requires more attention from our Catholic leaders. We are witnessing in the United States a new nativism, which the American Catholic community must reject and label for the religious bigotry which it is, Bishop McElroy said in a speech at the first national Catholic-Muslim dialogue. The urgency to act is clear.

Its time to rescue religious liberty from the culture wars, reject false choices and put renewed energy into protecting Muslims who are living under a cloud of suspicion. In the end, this effort shouldn't be about serving liberal or conservative agendas, but defending core American values.

[John Gehring is Catholic program director at Faith in Public Life, and author of The Francis Effect: A Radical Popes Challenge to the American Catholic Church.]

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Religious liberty should unite us, not divide us - National Catholic Reporter (blog)

The New York Liberty are in the midst of the toughest stretch of their schedule. And its taking a toll.

The Liberty, losers of three of four, will try to turn things around against the Atlanta Dream on Sunday at McCamish Pavilion in Atlanta. Its the second of a four-game road trip for New York, which will head west to take on Seattle and Phoenix next week.

Its a long road trip, Liberty coach Bill Laimbeer told the teams website. But sometimes that can be a positive. It gives the chance for players to bond on the road and a good comraderie can develop.

The Dream just returned from a difficult road trip of their own and were hoping to turn things around at home. But theyve dropped back-to-back home games and have lost six of seven overall.

Atlanta gave up an 18-2 run to open the third quarter in Fridays 85-76 loss to the defending champion Los Angeles Sparks.

One thing I tell my team is you cant give up these home games, Dream coach Michael Cooper said after the loss to the Sparks. Its tough playing on the road, weve already experienced that. But home court, youve got to take care of that and make those changes out there on the road. But well get better.

Like the Dream, New York struggled coming out of halftime in its most recent game, a 67-54 loss at the Washington Mystics. The Liberty scored just seven points in the third quarter against the Mystics and committed 19 turnovers.

On the road you have to more focus, Laimbeer said. You cant turn the ball over; you cant make as many mistakes.

The Liberty pounded the Dream on the backboards in a 76-61 win on June 7. Tina Charles dominated with 18 points and 15 rebounds, and Kiah Stokes pulled down a career-high 17 boards against Atlanta. New York outrebounded the Dream 48-35 and pestered Atlanta into 27.6 percent shooting.

The Liberty are leading the WNBA in rebounding this season and have won five of the last six meetings with the Dream.

Tiffany Hayes leads Atlanta in scoring, averaging 17.4 points per game. Rookie guard Brittney Sykes has been a spark plug and got the start against Los Angeles on Friday.

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Liberty continue road trip at Dream (Jul 1, 2017) - FOXSports.com

The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.

John Adams in a July 3, 1776, letter to his wife, Abigail Adams

Another Independence Day has arrived and, like most anniversaries, it is a natural time to take stock. The review is not good. The American experiment in self-government has largely disappeared. The America my children will inherit is bleak from a classical liberal perspective.

I fear my generation will be the last to enjoy the blessings of a free nation. Upon further consideration, though, that is not exactly accurate. The American experiment has been dying for decades. President Abraham Lincoln delivered the first blow followed by President Theodore Roosevelt and President Woodrow Wilson with President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivering the coup de grce. All under the false guise of progressivism, which is just a code word for authoritarian statism.

Despite Adams exuberance, Independence Day is no longer a day to be celebrated. It is just a sad reminder of what we as a people have so callously squandered.

The Founders gave us the greatest of gifts, an island of liberty in a world of monarchs. There were, of course, problems with the implementation slavery and other inequalities that seemed so normal in an 18th century world but the perfect framework was there.

A government was established that allowed the people to govern themselves while still protecting the rights of the individual. Americans understood that the proper role of government was to protect individual rights and nothing more.

But to the leftists that was not good enough. With visions of statism dancing in their misguided heads, they set about to destroy American and fundamentally transform it into a government paradise where the people do not govern themselves but are told by the elite what is best for them. Using bizarre interpretations of the Constitution they have essentially rendered our founding charter pointless.

In 1860, the Democratic Party was the party of slavery. That has not changed. They have merely expanded their scope from a race-based servitude to the enslavement of all people to the whims of the state. This is not hyperbole. Either you have a right to your own life, liberty and property or you are property.

Just look at the goals of the leftists. Everything they advocate for involves the use of government force.

Take health care for just one example.

Leftists think it is OK to take at the point of a government gun that for which one worked hard to earn and give it to someone else who did nothing to earn it.

Yes, I get it. They think they are doing good. They think they are helping people, but that belief demonstrates a profound lack of a fundamental understanding of many things, the least of which are basic economics and the concept of liberty.

Take that leftist idiot in Arkansas who destroyed a Ten Commandments monument Wednesday just hours after it was erected while shouting, Freedom.

The monument was paid for by private funds. All he did was destroy personal property. That is not freedom. You dont have a right to be free from someone elses public display of religion.

But the left has shown it has no tolerance for opposing viewpoints and things such as religious liberty. To your typical leftist, religious liberty means telling people of faith to shut up and keep it indoors.

Yet, they have no trouble FORCING the baker to make a cake for a same-sex couple or FORCING the doctor to provide health care or FORCING the hardworking middle class to pay for the looters and moochers or FORCING Christians to pay for abortions or FORCING others to pay for birth control and on and on and on.

The leftist story arc is one of forcing others to do their bidding.

That is not the promise of America. That is not why millions of Americans in the last two centuries have taken the oath to defend our borders and our way of life.

The Founders did not intend for us to supplant a tyrannical monarchy with the tyranny of the majority.

As Adams wrote later in the same letter quoted above, I am well aware of the Toil and Blood and Treasure, that it will cost Us to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States. Yet through all the Gloom I can see the Rays of ravishing Light and Glory. I can see that the End is more than worth all the Means. And that Posterity will tryumph in that Days Transaction, even altho We should rue it, which I trust in God We shall not.

How would this man and his colleagues judge us today?

Not very well, I daresay. Indeed, I am embarrassed for us and thankful there were no time machines in 1776.

As a people we should resolve to take a few moments and consider what we should value as a society and then strive to get the American freedom train back on track. Give it a hard thought this weekend as you enjoy your fireworks, barbecues and beer because our current course is a one-way ticket to totalitarianism.

http://limaohio.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/web1_LUCENTE-Thomas-Web-.jpg

Thomas J. Lucente Jr. is an attorney with the Hearn Law Office in Wapakoneta (419-738-8171) and night editor of The Lima News. Reach him by telephone at 567-242-0398, by email at [emailprotected], or on Twitter @ThomasLucente.

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Thomas Lucente: Fourth of July holiday a reminder of liberty lost - Lima Ohio

On this upcoming Independence Day, we celebrate our rights of liberty and democracy. As Americans we do not take kindly to the government or anyone else trying to manipulate or control our movements, choices, or thoughts.

On that particular note, I feel compelled to speak out against what is happening to our liberty through the manipulation of the national press by those in our federal government.

In mid-June, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer began restricting members of the national press from using video cameras and from live broadcasting (audio or video) at White House news briefings.

What is the reasoning or justification for this restriction? Is this a way to try to control and shape what is being reported by a free and independent press?

This comes at a time when only hand-picked reporters are called on at the news briefings and our president chooses to use Twitter to communicate rather than taking questions directly from reporters.

Does the American public understand how dangerous this precedent is to our free flow of information and holding governmental officials accountable? Do you even care?

Today its cameras; tomorrow its audio recorders; next its pen and paper? No matter which political party you side with, I hope you understand this is a threat to OUR democracy.

As professional journalists, accessibility to ask questions of elected officials is crucial in the function of our duties to inform and watchdog for the citizens of our republic. Governmental transparency in the workings of elected officials is also paramount to our job.

So what can you do as a citizen?

On a LOCAL LEVEL:

Demand that your local governmental officials stay transparent. This means proper advance notification be given to the public for any meetings, and that they continue to be required to publish legal notices of all proceedings in the local hard copy newspaper.

The official record of proceedings should not be kept online on some obscure governmental website, susceptible to hacking or changes. You have a right to know what they have done as reported by an independent third-party newspaper that is accountable for every word we produce.

This may sound self-serving, but its true: Stay informed, buy a subscription to your local newspaper, and read it. Thats how local journalism gets financed and thats how you have the power of solid factual information that impacts you.

Watch local news on TV and listen to local news on the radio you should always have several sources to make sure youre getting the whole story.

STATE LEVEL:

Tell your state legislators that open government is important to you. Contact them to show your support for open government legislation anytime the chance arises.

Executive sessions and meetings, which shut out the public and the media, should be the rare exception.

NATIONALLY:

On a national level, send your congressional delegation an email or letter. In the subject line, make sure it says Voter from (your district). Explain to them why you think restricting media access is bad practice, bad government, and bad for our democracy.

The media is here for YOU, but we cannot fight this fight alone. Government officials need to know you are watching and that you are counting on professional journalists to report information in a fair and accurate manner and they can not do that if they are unnecessarily restricted by the White House or any other governmental body.

This is a country still governed by the people for the people, and none of us can afford to have apathy towards what is happening. Its time for all of us to take a stance in the defense of liberty and democracy.

This quote by the American writer Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919) sums it up well for me: To sin by silence, when we should protest, makes cowards out of men.

To read all of today's stories, Click here or call 642-2761 to subscribe to our e-edition or home delivery.

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In defense of our liberty - Black Hills Pioneer

Imagine if Abraham Lincoln were alive today and presented his Gettysburg Address before a gathered audience.

Imagine the response to his opening line: Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, upon this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Of course, most of the reporters in the audience would immediately fact check to find his dates are all wrong, this being 2017, and they would lead with that.

Some activists would cringe at the offensive nature of saying the USA was a new nation given there were American Indian nations already living throughout the land. Pro-choice advocates would rail against his insertion of conceived, as though creating a life was worth caring about.

And his assertion humanity was created clearly a religious, anti-scientific notion would headline several articles declaring Mr. Lincoln too radical in his religious beliefs.

But the greatest outcry would be against his insensitive, insulting, and discriminatory use of men as if women were not as equal as men. How dare he!

Across the nation, those who are ever vigilant to spot microaggressions those imperceptible offenses only they can define would leap to the forefront of the supposed battle for equality. Honest Abe would become the newest enemy to those convinced the greatest freedom we have in America is the right never to be offended.

And they would miss the whole point of the speech. They would be clueless to the fact that meaning in every treatise or speech begins with understanding what the speaker intended the audience to understand from the words he used.

They would interpret his verbiage through the grid of their own bias and be so fixated on using the speech to further their own agenda that they would hardly hear the rest of his words.

They would miss the stirring rhetoric that has stood through the years as one of the greatest tributes to those who don the uniform and bear arms in defense of true freedom.

I bring this up as we look forward to Independence Day because I believe our nation is being hijacked by those who insist no one is free to think, believe, or express their views if there is any chance someone will be offended.

They are bold in declaring the fight is against discrimination of any kind, and yet they are practicing the greatest form of discrimination possible a prejudice against individual thought and expression unless it aligns with their ideology.

Since when do other people get to decide what I can think and say? And since when do they have the right to define what opinions I can have based on my age, sex, race or religious affiliation?

Since when is it right to lambast a Christian for holding Christian views in a nation that has some level of Christian roots? Since when can you tell an African-American, or a bald, Caucasian pastor, or a female college freshman, what he or she must think?

Believing a persons sex, race, orientation or religious commitment defines the acceptable limits of opinions he or she may hold is both prejudicial and reductionist. This may be the worst kind of discrimination.

Of course, it is never right to intentionally offend or demean others. And certainly, a good ethical foundation puts civility at the top of the list.

But the coin has two sides. It seems impossible not to offend those who walk around hoping to be offended no matter how hard we try.

When President Lincoln stood in the Gettysburg cemetery, he was championing real freedoms worth dying to protect. Mark this down. The right to go through life and never be offended is neither a right nor a rational expectation.

No soldier would die for that, but many have died for the foundational belief that God has endowed each of us with basic human rights.

We would do well not to let identity politics and the thought police expand those rights to include making sure everyone thinks the same thing. If we do, you can be sure well never see another Abraham Lincoln. He would simply be too offensive.

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David Hegg: With liberty and justice for all - Santa Clarita Valley Signal

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USA TODAY Published 7:17 p.m. ET June 30, 2017 | Updated 7:42 p.m. ET June 30, 2017

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The Statue of Liberty in New York.(Photo: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The Statue of Liberty or "Liberty Enlightening the World," as it is officially named towers over New York Harbor, measuring 151 feet from the base to the tip of the torch. Click through the gallery above to seebeautiful photos of this iconic symbol of freedom and the United States.

See more of New York's famous landmarks:

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Beautiful photos of the Statue of Liberty - USA TODAY

We hold these truths to be self-evident, 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 U.S. Declaration of Independence Preamble, 1776

More than 240 years later, the Negro still is not free. Not free to live without fear of being shot. Not free to live without being murdered by a cop.

Not free to live life the way you can when you are American in white not black skin. This is my American sin.

As sure as my American flag flutters in the summer wind, I am cognizant of this truth. Always painfully aware of the skin Im in.

OPINION

Mindful of the glass house of liberty always susceptible to being suddenly shattered by bricks of hate hurled sometimes seemingly at every turn in this psychosocial maze. By the insults, innuendo and racial realities that pelt or painfully graze.

By the hard truth that will not allow me to forget that for blacks in America justice surely has been too long delayed. That it aint right. It just is. And that this unholy matrimony of racial inequality was perhaps sealed long ago with this nations kiss.

I am aware of the prevailing pre-narrative about black folks in America. About every black male slain by thug or cop. That he must have had coming what he eventually got.

It is a demented tale about who we are and whence we came. That perceives our worth and existence as inconsequential and counts us as Americas bane.

The justification for the killing of us, therefore, is still simple and plain. Whether Philando Castile. Eric Garner or Tamir Rice. Sandra Bland. Or Trayvon Martin There is still no justice for black life.

This great hate is pervasive even among my own. Brothers slaying brothers, perpetuating hatreds song aware that black life still means less. That the names of slain black children we soon forget.

That you can get away with murder because the powers that be dont really care. As long as we keep it in the hood and it doesnt spill over there.

Here lately, amid this perennial bloodshed, I am at a loss for words. As Independence Day approaches, I find it absurd that freedoms bell still does not ring for us. After all these years, and great strides: from the 13th Amendment to Civil Rights to the end of segregation on the bus.

Liberty is still a game of cat and mouse. Racism remains at the foundation of this American house.

This is my story, my lament, my song as a black man in America continuing to sojourn

I awake to the fire of anxiety coursing through my veins. To news of the latest black homicide and the reality that the common denominator in the murder and destruction of us whether by police or by my own brothers is us.

My soul is singed by the fires of hate: Our own self-hate. By Americas hypocrisy of hate that kisses the flag but spits in the face of citizens of color who are denied life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That embraces some sons and daughters more, and others less.

By one nation under God that praises a loving, righteous Creator on Sunday. But, come Monday, is devoid of compassion for people of all races and creeds. That sees the transgressions and faults of others. But is blind to its own misdeeds.

Acquittal after acquittal, murder after murder, I am reminded that absent from testimony are the words of my sisters and brothers who were slain. How I wish they could speak their piece from their graves.

How I wish this flag I love waved boldly for them and me. How I hope that someday it will come to symbolize we are all finally free.

Email: Author@johnwfountain.com

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Liberty is still a game of cat and mouse - Chicago Sun-Times