THE WISDOM OF JOHN ADAMS

The second president of the United States, one of the founding fathers of the country, was a smart and accomplished man. He was the first vice president of the United States and was an accomplished diplomat, serving as ambassador to the Dutch Republic, Great Britain, and helped negotiate the Treaty of Paris that ended the Revolutionary War. 
Adams was a member of the Continental Congress, where he met and worked with his future rival for the Presidency- Thomas Jefferson. When Jefferson defeated Adams, Adams sent him a note wishing him a successful term in office, to which Jefferson did not respond, starting a feud that lasted twelve years.
Although their feud eventually ended, their correspondence was infrequent and their rivalry continued. When Adams died on July 4, 1826, some of his last words were "Jefferson Lives". Adams was unaware that his friend and rival had passed away a few hours before him. Two of the most important founding fathers died on July 4- 50 years to the day they signed one of the most important documents in the history of the world. 

Adams knew the power of the written word, and knowing that Jefferson was a far better writer than he was, Adams predicted that he would fade from memory over time, while Jefferson's legacy through the written word would endure. 
Of course Adams was wrong, and one of his most enduring statements was:
"We are a nation of laws, not men."  which he embodied in the constitution of Massachusetts in which he authored the phrase  that the Commonwealth was a "Government of Laws not Men."

Which brings us to the most repugnant iteration of Adams and Jefferson- our current president who said over the weekend that immigrants seeking asylum in our country should be deported without a hearing before a judge:

“We cannot allow all of these people to invade our Country. When somebody comes in, we must immediately, with no Judges or Court Cases, bring them back from where they came,”  The president then said our system was a "mockery" to "good immigration law."

It is true our system may be a "mockery" to some. But it is a beacon of the principle that we are a nation of laws not men, and that we were founded on the principle that all men are created equal. 

It's just that when comparing our current president to Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Lincoln, Reagan, Bush I, and Obama, et.al, some men are more equal in terms of intelligence than others. 

From Occupied America, where the President is now calling to close our immigration courts- and this is one more step on the path to book burning, imprisonment for espousing opposing ideas ("lock her up!") and finally a dictatorship, Fight The Power!

At various times we have received comments and emails questioning what we mean by "Occupied America" and "Fight the Power!"
Now that we have a president who is trying to shut down a court system and create a nation of men not laws, you know what we mean by Occupied America- we are occupied by a narcissistic man of limited intelligence and his followers who are equally self obsessed and lacking self esteem and poorly educated.  
And the "Power" we fight is nothing less than evil ignorance seeking to end our democracy.

But fear not. In the word of elder sages, "We shall overcome!"