Our Declaration of Independence - the founding document of our nation, did mention "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, among them life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

However, for a very long time, we didn't live up to those ideals. Jefferson, the very same man who wrote those words in the Declaration, was himself a slave owner, as were many of the men who went on to craft the Constitution.

Some have called slavery "America's Original Sin", and perhaps that's true. At the time when the Constitution was written - over a decade after the Declaration of Independence - many compromises were necessary in order to reach a consensus. One of the most misunderstood was the "3/5ths compromise" you mentioned. Basically, it was an agreement to reduce the representation of the slave holding states by reducing their population. The slave holding states (not all southern, BTW) wanted to count slaves as a full person while denying them their freedom. Those states that opposed slavery didn't want to count slaves at all. The "3/5ths compromise" meant that each slave counted as 60% of free people. Since representation in the House of Representatives is based on each state's population, this compromise didn't allow slave holding states to get the full benefit of extra seats in the House.

There were other things that were accepted at the time of the Constitution that we strongly disagree with today. In addition to slavery, these include the treatment of the Native Americans and denying women the vote*.

Just because our nation has not always lived up to our ideals, it doesn't mean that they're nothing more than platitudes. Inauguration speeches are meant to inspire us to higher things, whether they were FDR's "We have nothing to fear but fear itself" (tell that to the black people across America who had to fear lynching) or JFK's inauguration where he began,

We observe today not a victory of party but a celebration of freedom--symbolizing an end as well as a beginning--signifying renewal as well as change. For I have sworn before you and Almighty God the same solemn oath our forbears prescribed nearly a century and three-quarters ago.

The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life. And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe--the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state but from the hand of God.

We dare not forget today that we are the heirs of that first revolution. Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans--born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage--and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world.

Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty.

This much we pledge--and more.

Those of us who have studied history can see many similarities between JFK's speech and Bush's. Was JKF also just spouting "lies and platitudes", as you called them. Personally, I don't think so. But then, JFK might not have been a Democrat by today's standards. You, on the other hand, come off pretty poorly by comparison.

*As a historical footnote, not all American women had to wait until 1920 to get the right to vote. Several western states granted women the vote much earlier. The Wyoming terroritory was the first, in 1869. When Wyoming became a state in 1889, they refused statehood if it meant denying women the vote. Following their admission, other western states enacted women's sufferage, including Colorado in 1893, Utah in 1896, and Idaho in 1896. Perhaps they did this in an attempt to lure more women to move out West or perhaps in recognition to their vast contributions in settling the territories.