As to the position taken by the lady you encountered in chat ...
"We hold these truths to be self-evident ... " We all recognize these words that begin the 2d paragraph of the Declaration of Independence. What followed was a series of five "That"'s (if we were writing the document today, we'd use bullet points).
Each "that" is something the Founders considered "self-evident". That means that for the purposes of the document, each phrase that follows isn't argued for or proven, it's taken as a given, serving the same role in the document as axioms serve in geometry. Understood this way (as a very philosophically informed political document containing not one ill-considered or superfluous word) it reads very differently than most of us were ever taught to read it (alas).
Technically, WE don't have to argue for Liberty or Equality (with those terms properly understood) since our foundational social contract acknowleges that those things have been conferred on us by God or nature and place the burden on anyone who would diminish them. Seeing things clearly, this way, is producing exceptional progress in Texas and I expect a bill to pass in 2007 that solves our problems.
All the best!