...happened to to tell King John:
No free man shall be seized or imprisoned, or stripped of his rights or possessions, or outlawed or exiled . nor will we proceed with force against him . except by the lawful judgement of his equals or by the law of the land. To no one will we sell, to no one deny or delay right or justice.
Most of us colonials would -- as a matter of courtesy -- not demand that rulers now resident LondonTown pay more attention to this document. None of our business.
But since we've been shedding blood off and on since 1775 in defense of its principles, (or at least so we claim), we allowed to tell our own rulers that they're getting awfully damned John-like lately and, if necessary, we are capable of doing a little Runnymeading of our own.
Happy Magna Carta Day -- one day late.
3 comments:
or by the law of the land.
That's the phrase the dead white guys snuck in there. It's not practically possible to break the laws, if you make the laws.
Oh yeah. It took 572 years, the crossing of an ocean, and a colonial revolt to get the idea about right. And, yes, things have degenerated since then, which is why I suggested we keep another Runnymeade in reserve.
While an idea should stand or fall on its own merits, the situation John found himself in does not fit neatly into today's tableau. That "bunch of dead white guys" who laid the Manga Charta on John were not exactly La Raza Unida. They were barons and earls and other similarly situated po folks. They were just tired of John taking what they jealously regarded as theirs by right. Give them credit for planting the seed, but it took years for "Oh, yeah, this applies to the peasants also." JAGSC
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