WASHINGTON — When Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Robert Livingston and Roger Sherman sat down to draft the Declaration of Independence, they began with a "Bill of Particulars" against King George III. They accused the monarch of "repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States." Now, 236 years later, "We the People" are about to decide whom we should hire as our chief executive and commander in chief. It's an appropriate time to review the grievances of our Founding Fathers — and examine the offenses committed by our present head of state.
Jefferson and his colleagues determined that the king had "refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public Good." That's certainly relevant to the incumbent administration, which repeatedly has rejected all efforts by Congress to pass a budget as required by our Constitution.
The drafters found that the British monarch had "forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing Importance, unless suspended in their Operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he (had) utterly neglected to attend to them." That sounds a lot like what happened when Gov. Jan Brewer and the Arizona Legislature passed a law to protect the citizens of said state from the depredations of illegal aliens crossing our borders.
Our nation's founders were likewise offended by the imperious manner in which the king had "obstructed the Administration of Justice." That charge is relevant to the Obama administration's willful decision in ordering firearms shipped to violent Mexican drug cartels in Operation Fast and Furious and then claiming executive privilege to withhold information about the activity from Congress.
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