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Produced & Maintained by Idaho Mountain Express, Box 1013, Ketchum, ID 83340-1013 
208.726.8065 Voice
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Copyright © 2001 Express Publishing Inc.
All Rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of Express Publishing Inc. is prohibited. 

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For the week of July 4 - July 10, 2001

  Editorials

America’s 
go-to-hell letter


The Declaration of Independence lies encased under inches of light-filtering green glass in a climate controlled vault at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C.

It’s a fragile document on parchment speckled with age. It’s amazing the old document wasn’t destroyed long ago by the explosive words laid upon it.

It is history’s most eloquent go-to-hell letter, a litany of murderous mistreatment. Its words were lofty, but its message from the American Colonies to Great Britain was simple.

If written today, the Declaration might read something like this:

Dear King George III,

You’ve used us, abused us, trashed our laws, dismissed our legislators, stolen our jobs, corrupted our judges, taxed us unfairly, burned our homes and lands, deprived us of fair trials, made us slaves and sent your armies to kill us.

You have taken us for granted and clearly hate us.

You’re a cruel man. You have a lying, cheating heart¾ if you have any heart at all¾ and are unworthy to be the head of a civilized nation.

We’ve had it with you.

You’re fired. Get lost. We quit. We’re forming our own nation. We think we’re all equal and should be free.

If you don’t like it, come and get us.

Signed, John Hancock and 55 others

It was a dare the king and Britain couldn’t ignore.

No wonder Benjamin Franklin said at the signing, "We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately."

Franklin wasn’t talking about hanging out at the mall. If America had not prevailed in the Revolutionary War that ensued, the signers would have been hung by the neck until dead.

It’s a sobering thought. As the parade marches by in Hailey today and throngs of people pursue happiness—or just a good hot dog—it’s one everyone should consider.

Let’s not forget the audacity and daring of the Declaration of Independence. Let’s honor freedom by not taking it for granted.


The Idaho Mountain Express is distributed free to residents and guests throughout the Sun Valley, Idaho resort area community. Subscribers to the Idaho Mountain Express will read these stories and others in this week's issue.