"WalterM140" wrote in message
...

Today's NY Times:

"It would be silly, of course, to overstate the parallels between 1776 and
2004.

It certainly would.

The signers of the declaration were colonial subjects of a man they had
come to see as a foreign king. One of their major grievances had to do
with the
tax burden imposed on them to support the king's wars. In contrast, our
taxes
have been reduced - especially for those who need the money least - and
the
huge costs of war sloughed off to our children and grandchildren. Nor
would it
be tactful to press the analogy between our George II and their George
III, of
whom the British historian John Richard Green wrote: "He had a smaller
mind
than any English king before him save James II."


George III of course had no real control over foreign policy, that
was set by the Prime Minister, Lord North and Parliament had
the sole right to levy taxes.

http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/town/te.../pms/north.htm

But the parallels are there, and undeniable. "He has affected to render
the
Military independent of and superior to the Civil power," the declaration
said
of George III, and today the military is indulgently allowed to
investigate its
own crimes in Iraq. George III "obstructed the Administration of Justice."

George III was no military dictator, he was known at the time
as Farmer George as agriculture was his passion. The writers
of the declaration understood that blaming a king was more
satisfying than blaming an elected Parliament.

Our
George II has sought to evade judicial review by hiding detainees away in
Guantánamo, and has steadfastly resisted the use of the Alien Tort Claims
Act,
which allows non-U.S. citizens to bring charges of human rights violations
to
U.S. courts."


Mo

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/04/op...04EHRE.html?th

These sorry Republican *******s have got to go.

Walt

Thats a matter for you colonials but George III was no tyrant.
His sole fault in this matter was urging that the American
colonies pay for their own defence. Its noteworthy that
taxes after independence were far heavier than those levied
by the colonial administration.

Keith