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City Tries To Ban Distribution Of Declaration Of Independence….. On The Fourth Of July!

Yes, you read that right:

This Fourth of July, families at the City of Madera’s fireworks celebration at the Municipal Golf Course will have a bounce house, face painting and kettle corn available. But not annotated copies of the Declaration of Independence.

At issue is not U.S. political history, but contemporary politics at what is intended to be a family event, according to the city. Taking a different view is the Madera Tea Party, a protest organization that opposes fiscal irresponsibility by the government. It had hoped to discuss the nation’s founding principles.

Apparently, city officials are quoted as saying that passing out the Declaration Of Independence would be “offensive“. There’s a bit more to the story than meets the eye (isn’t there always). What city officials are bothered about are the contents on the back of the DOI the Tea Party guys want to pass out. It contains a “Did You Know” facts sheet. They should have stressed that that was what they disagreed with, and said the DOI on its own would be fine. We have to be very careful here. Any group, supporting who-knows-what agenda, could use the same tactic and pass out something that, unlike the Tea Party, has no connection to United States politics at all. Or, what if someone passed out a DOI with lathering praise of President Obama on the back. Thee are a few Republicans who would go completely ballistic over that.

Keep in mind too that folks in Madera, like much of the San Joaquin Valley are typically conservative and the governments tend to reflect that. So this is probably not a “liberal” thing.

Still, some one in the public relations department has really dropped the ball on this one.