Memorial Day in Laguna Beach

This morning I had the distinct honor to be the keynote speaker for a Memorial Day observance in Laguna Beach.  American Legion Post 222 and Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 5868 ran the event.  About 100 people attended the ceremony.  The Marines provided a color guard and a rifle team who gave the traditional 21-gun salute, with seven Marines firing three times over the sunny Pacific.  A strong contingent of at least a dozen Boy Scouts participated as well. 

Here then are my remarks for the occasion.

It is altogether fitting and appropriate that we gather together all across the nation to remember those who have fallen in defense of liberty today on Memorial Day. 

When you think about what makes America unique, we of course sometimes look at the size of the country – its continental mass. Some of us consider America and its diversity or its strength. 

When you really get down to it the thing that makes America unique and different from other nations is the document that started it all, the Declaration of Independence.  For it is in the Declaration of Independence that you find the animating spirit of America. 

And in the Preamble to the Declaration of Independence there is a phrase that many of us will find quite familiar:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men…”

The Declaration of Independence ends with a key phrase, invoking the protection of the Almighty in the success of the effort to forge a free nation:

“And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.”

Note that the signers of the Declaration pledged their lives to see it succeed. 

On Memorial Day, we honor those men and women who have served in uniform who not only pledged their lives, but gave their lives that others might live free. 

I know that Memorial Day is often thought of as the unofficial start of summer, with barbeques, the Indianapolis 500, and other activities.  These fine American traditions are all good.  But, it is important to remember the reason behind the holiday – remembering those who died to make us free in defense of the Constitution.  When you swear allegiance as a member of the armed forces or even as an elected official, you don’t swear allegiance to king or country, you swear an oath to defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.  And, what is the Constitution but a framework for government organized as a democratic republic with rule of law.  As such, the Constitution provides a means for us to enjoy the promise of the Declaration of Independence. 

In the 1860s we fought a great Civil War so that America could live truer to the promise of the Declaration, that all men, black and white, might live free.  In this bloodiest war we have ever fought some 600,000 Americans died.  In a population of about 30 million people, this would be the equivalent today of losing some 6 million soldiers in battle.  It was amidst this terrible war that President Abraham Lincoln dedicated a cemetery in 1863 on the site of the battle of Gettysburg.  President Lincoln gave what many consider the most memorable speech in American history.  This speech was less than 3 minutes long, less than 300 words in length. 

It is instructive to note that the speech was heavily criticized at the time by the press and, although this was well before the relentless 24-hour news cycle and non-stop cable news programs we have today, the nation was worn down by war.  Some in the press called the speech wholly inadequate and uninspiring.  One of the speakers before President Lincoln spoke for two hours.

But listen carefully to Lincoln’s words, knowing what you know about the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence and their importance they impart to Memorial Day:

"Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

“Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

“But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead who struggled here have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us--that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion--that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth."

In Lincoln’s words you hear the promise of America and why men and women are willing to fight for our liberty today.  And, as in Lincoln’s time, we are engaged in war.  Our fight in Afghanistan and Iraq and other places is not entirely popular just as the Civil War was not universally supported.  You may disagree with the war and with the way it is being fought.  But, know this: those we are fighting seek to spread their benighted medieval beliefs over the globe, denying basic human rights such a women’s rights, freedom, and democracy...  We must stop them.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to address this wonderful ceremony.

Comments

[Dan Chmielewski]

Nice speech. Really. But if you truly believe this paragraph from the Declaration:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men…”

...then why not support the right for Gay men and women to marry the person of their choice.

This isn't a pitch for special rights, but the same rights you and I have. I find it interesting that you will rail at the Islamic terrorists as ones denying basic human rights when you continue to support a denial of basic human rights to gays and lesbians in our own country.

[Chuck DeVore]

Because, Dan, only one man should marry one woman. There is no natural right for one man to marry four women, or one woman to marry her son, or two brothers to marry each other. There is a huge difference between actively persecuting homosexuals, including death by stoning, as al-Qaeda would justify under their form of Islam, and redefining the institution of marriage as you seek to do.

Ask yourself, what is the purpose of marriage? The answer will dictate whether or not you believe that marriage should be open to any number of relationships for any reason or whether marriage should retain its traditional definition. After all, once you open the definition, why not go all the way?

All the best,

Chuck DeVore
State Assemblyman, 70th District
www.ChuckDeVore.com

[Dan Chmielewski]

The definition of marriage has been refined before. There was a time when interacial marriage was illegal. Perez vs Sharp, California Supreme Court, 1948, overturned this prohibition.

The purpose of marriage is to make an emotional and legal committment to the person you love Chuck. If you think its to have children and raise a family, then let's start banning those nursing home marriages of the elderly.

The Declaration states all men are equal with the rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. I don't see a big "Except if you're gay and want to marry your sweetheart."

[stan Frymann]

Mr. DeVore,
I read in the LA Times that "LA county issues about 75,000 marriage licenses anualy. In fiscal 2006-07, there were 108,554 filings countywide for dissolution, annulments and legal separations." The idea that that's somehow because of gays, and that excluding gays from marriage somehow "protects" the institution of marriage is absurd. If you really want to "protect" marriage, require pre-marital counseling before the issuance of a marriage license, and do away with "no fault" divorce.

Mr. DeVore, you say "there is no natural right for one man to marry four women. People used to do that all the time back in biblical times, and there was no religious objection. A Saudi man can come here with his four wives and it's recognized. The Saudi man certainly thinks he has a natural right to marry four women.
The state defines what the state recognizes. Each religion can then decide what it will recognize. Unitarians can recognize gay marriage, and catholics not. But the state is in the business of maximizing freedom. Granted, it's the French, but the Declaration of the Rights of Man states that liberty is the right to do that which harms no one else. Show me the "harm" in letting gay people marry each other? It offends you? Well, shall we ban everything you do that offends me? You can't possibly believe that letting gays marry will somehow damage your marriage can you? Surely it's more solid than that.

[Chuck DeVore]

stan, re: "If you really want to "protect" marriage, require pre-marital counseling before the issuance of a marriage license, and do away with "no fault" divorce."

I tried both in 2005 and was blocked in the Judiciary Committee by majority Democrats.

As for the rest of your post, I am not offended by alternative arragements, rather, I find them far less than optimal for the raising of children to be successful adults. Statistics would tend to bear out my thoughts -- i.e., nothing beats a home with one mother and one father. My main argument with same-sex marriage is that once that restriction is breached, then anything goes, including polygamy and incestuous marriage since both, by your definition, "harm" no one.

All the best,

Chuck DeVore
California State Assemblyman, 70th District
www.ChuckDeVore.com