Repost, 6pmMonday

To celebrate Independence Day, we're organizing a virtual public reading of the Declaration of Independence here on Sound Politics.

If you want to participate, send me an e-mail (theshark AT usefulwork DOT com) and I'll assign you a few lines from the Declaration. Make a digital recording of yourself reading the lines and e-mail me an MP3, WAV or WMA file. I'll splice everybody's lines into a single audio file and post it here on July 4. I'll also list everybody who participates (you may remain anonymous if you prefer). We're mostly done, but we still need a few more readers this evening in order to finish in time for tomorrow. Everybody at my house, ages 4 through 73, has read some lines! Ask you spouse, your kids and/or your visiting relatives to take part!

I was inspired to organize this after reading Rep. Toby Nixon's essay on the Declaration of Independence. I also give a tip of the hat for this idea to West Coast Live, a radio variety show in San Francisco, hosted by Sedge Thomson. Thomson has a live reading of Declaration of Independence on his show every year, with volunteers from the studio audience reading the lines. I was in the audience for the one back in 1991. It's really a wonderful way to commemorate The Fourth of July and I thought it would be cool to try to organize a similar event online.