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Abraham Lincoln, Arlington National Cemetery, B1 bomber, barack obama, Benjamin Franklin, D/S/Cs, Declaration of Independence, Donald Trump, Edward Everett, equality under law, equity, George Washington, Gettysburg Address, Here am I; send me, Independence Day, joe biden, Mt. Rushmore, Poor Richard's Almanac, racism, Renaissance Men, Ronald Reagan, Social justice, Star Spangled Banner, The Founders, Thomas Jefferson
credit: usageorge.com
I thank God I’m still here to update this article this Independence Day. Nothing is guaranteed; no one owes us anything, but those fortunate enough to be born American win the lottery of life.
I chose the photo of a B1 because I was fortunate enough to know a B1 instructor pilot who arranged for me to “fly” a B1 simulator. Not something on a computer in a bedroom, but a real, US Air Force simulator. It was a fascinating experience, all the more so because he told me the actual aircraft is easier to fly than the simulator. B1 pro tip: non-fatal aerial refueling requires a bit more than 45 minutes of simulator practice. I came away with a renewed appreciation for American technology, and for the dedication and skill of the men and women who design and produce our military aircraft, who maintain and fly them–-this is known as “merit,” absolutely not “equity”-–and for all the other implements with which we preserve liberty.
May our pilots have all the fuel and flight time they need. May our soldiers, sailors and Marines be spared racist, woke indoctrination and always go to war with equipment and training far, far better than that of the enemies of liberty.
That simulator experience also reminds me of my early days in the Air Force in the long ago Cold War. As our small group of security policemen stood outside at parade rest, preparing to go on duty, the roar of the eight engines of a B-52 on the nearby flight line rose as majestically as the giant bomber. One of my fellow airman exclaimed in shocked surprise: “what’s that?!” A young man from the inner city, he’d never heard or seen anything like it. Our Sgt. smiled and replied: “That’s the sound of freedom.”
As I update my observations of a year ago, I hope you find something to strengthen your pride in America, that encourages you to take up the fight to preserve liberty, just as so many before us have done.
Benjamin Franklin
If we do not hang together, we shall surely hang separately.
Thomas Jefferson
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.
George Washington
credit: bibleteacher.org
I hope I shall possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider the most enviable of all titles, the character of an honest man.
As we enjoy America’s bounty on this Independence Day, thinking back on the hopes and sacrifices of those that gave us liberty must humble us and compel us to not merely retain it, but to expand it. We tend to think of Ben Franklin’s aphorism as merely one of a great many he coined, many published in Poor Richard’s Almanacs, for Franklin made his fortune as a printer and author, only two of the innumerable talents of this Renaissance Man. But this brief saying expresses an essential truth known to the Founders: if they lost, they lost everything. For them, it truly was liberty or death. So too it is for us, though some don’t understand that.
Understanding this, the final sentence Thomas Jefferson wrote in The Declaration of Independence takes on new significance.
Among the Founders were an extraordinary number of great men, Renaissance Men influenced by great women. I do not hold either fact a coincidence. They pledged to each other their lives, their fortunes, and above all their sacred honor. If they could not trust each other, not only to keep their word, but to remain steadfast no matter the sacrifice, to fight to their last breath to secure freedom, not only for themselves but for the future, for an America they hoped and trusted would be worthy of their sacrifice, they would have hung separately.
We thank God they were men of integrity and honor. They established the greatest people and the greatest nation in history, a nation not of takers and despots, but of builders, thinkers, humanitarians and warriors for human dignity and liberty.
Then and now, we fight not for diversity and inclusion, not for equity—that’s racism and tribalism, evils that have infected mankind for millennia–but individual liberty, the sovereignty of the citizen over the State–-the unalienable natural rights of the individual, regardless of skin color.
We fight not for social justice, but for actual justice–-the rule of law, the equality of all men under the law. To Americans, all lives matter, equally, never equitably. Americans have liberated untold millions and asked no more than the small plots of foreign land necessary to bury Americans that gave the last full measure of devotion.
Nearly a century after the founding, men of integrity, honor and courage would be needed again. At Gettysburg, between July 1-3, 1863, more than 51,000 Americans were counted missing, wounded or dead. Go here for a sobering account of the battle.
It is a an equally sobering commentary on American “higher” education that recently, at the Cornell University library, a bust of Abraham Lincoln and a plaque commemorating the Gettysburg Address, were removed. According to biology professor Randy Wayne: “someone complained and it was gone.”
On November 19, 1863, a ceremony to dedicate the cemetery was held at Gettysburg. Edward Everett, a former Congressman, Massachusetts Governor, Emissary (we’d now say “Ambassador”) to England, Secretary of State and President of Harvard, then considered one of America’s greatest public speakers, delivered the main address. He spoke for more than two hours. Few remember his name; fewer remember his remarks.
credit: livinglincolnweb.unc.edu
Abraham Lincoln was invited to speak as a formality, as a matter of decorum. It was fitting the nation’s chief executive say a few words to dedicate the cemetery, but no one expected him to equal, let alone surpass Everett. Lincoln delivered his personally written speech in only two minutes. Many thought the speech a failure. Its greatness was not immediately apparent to all, but Everett understood, and to his credit, admitted to Lincoln those two minutes were superior to Everett’s two hours. Yet those two minutes, those few words, perfect in intent, context, time and place, will be read, spoken, and will inspire as long as honor lives in the hearts and minds of free American men and women.
Read these words aloud, and as you do, be transported to that field, that hallowed, bloody ground in 1863, as the spirits of the dead listened as they listen today, forever attentive and watchful, alive in America’s tumultuous past, sentinels for the future:
Four score 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 battle-field 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 can not dedicate — we can not consecrate — we can not 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.
“…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.”
Lincoln spoke of the fallen of Gettysburg, but his words apply to every American that has laid the ultimate sacrifice on the alter of liberty, that none of them shall have died, or ever shall die, in vain.
Temper this idiotic hatred against the knowledge that when America faced danger, when the world faced almost unimaginable darkness, Americans—men and women in the mold of Franklin, Jefferson, Lincoln and the Founders who pledged everything they had and ever would have—rose up. They said: “Here am I; send me.” They answered the call of liberty, fought tyrants, domestic and foreign. These are the women and men that have gladly and proudly stood for the playing of the national anthem, and have always held the Star Spangled Banner high until America, and all she represents, lit the world as the shining city on the hill, as the defender and beacon of liberty, mankind’s last, best hope.
America, under President Trump, experienced a new birth of hope, in contrast to Barack Obama, who in July of 2017, warned foreign audiences against patriotism:
The former US president said some countries had adopted ‘an aggressive kind of nationalism’ and ‘increased resentment of minority groups’…
‘What we will see is more and more people arguing against democracy, we will see more and more people who are looking to restrict freedom of the press, and we’ll see more intolerance, more tribal divisions, more ethnic divisions, and religious divisions and more violence.
Mr. Obama was speaking of America, the nation and people he was twice elected to represent. Under Temporary President Joe Biden, the presidency—whoever is actually ruling–has, once again, reverted to hating America and Americans, to enriching our enemies, damaging our allies and above all, putting America last.
Normal Americans understand Democrats/Socialists/Communists are not protecting liberty. They seek to destroy it, to abolish the Constitution and to wipe away the rule of law. They seek not to heal racial and ethnic divisions, but to widen them with identity politics, unhinged hatred and mob violence. They brand Americans white supremacists, and America, irredeemably racist.
Historians looking back on these crazy years—if they’re allowed honesty—will be convinced D/S/Cs no longer sought to represent America and Americans, but illegal aliens, criminals, and any and everyone, foreign or domestic, that wished America harm. Many of them believe Barack Obama, despite ignoring the American flag and honoring Che Guevara and the communist Cuban regime, was not sufficiently communist.
Today, many believe an increasingly demented and failed Joe Biden not sufficiently socialist/communist. They no longer even pretend he’s a “moderate.” They aim to make up for lost opportunities and time. Nothing restrains them, not honor, law nor decency, and certainly not the Constitution. They would destroy the constitutional republic that gave them the highest standard of living, and the greatest liberty the world has yet known.
But even as D/S/Cs conspire against liberty, normal Americans know a world without America, an America strong and vibrant, with the wisdom to see the right, confident in it, and willing to pay any price, to make any sacrifice, to bear any burden for the cause of liberty, is a terrible, ugly and doomed world.
Consider these words from President Donald Trump, speaking at the 2017 Celebrate Freedom Rally honoring our veterans. Consider, and decide who truly speaks for liberty:
Since the signing of the Declaration of Independence 241 years ago, America always affirmed that liberty comes from our creator. Our rights are given to us by God, and no earthly force can ever take those rights away. That is why my administration is transferring power out of Washington and returning that power back where it belongs to the people.
What Normal Americans wouldn’t give to hear, once again, an American president say that–-and act on it.
credit: commons.wikimedia.org
This July 4th, as many of our elected representatives scheme to circumvent the Constitution, As our DC rulers disdainNormal Americans honoring America at Mt. Rushmore, as the D/S/C Party incites violence against Americans, when partisan political advantage, power and money own D/S/Cs, when hate deranges them, when they threatened to murder Supreme Court Justices for obeying the Constitution, as the enemies of modernity, civilization and liberty plot, behead, rape and torture, as D/S/C mayors and governors not only praise fascist mobs, but encourage and support them, and as fundamentally dishonorable and destructive forces like Antifa and Black Lives Matter gleefully work to force freedom into retreat, take a moment to remember the words of Franklin, Jefferson and Lincoln.
Take a moment to remember all those Americans that sacrificed so much that we might enjoy not only the material, technological comforts American liberty has provided in such abundance, but that we too might hear the call, and accept the duties of honor. Resolve that we might, in this time of attack from within and without, in this time of potential final darkness, pledge our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the Earth.
It’s our time; it’s our turn. The battle has not been decided. Ronald Reagan sagely observed:
credit: patriotusa.com
Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.
May we teach our children well. Dear God, grant we may never have to take up arms to recover our republic, the republic Franklin worried we would not be able to keep, but if it be necessary, grant we answer the eternal call, and that we be worthy of the sacrifices of those who came before us that have given us so very much. May our children be the inheritors of a free, prosperous and generous America, comprised of Americans that honor the Constitution in fact and action rather than rhetoric, that recognize the difference between justice for all and social justice for a chosen few, and that always feel the pride of genuine patriotism, the pride of being an American. Grant that those preaching racist hatred may once again become Americans. May they too know as Thomas Jefferson knew that the tree of liberty must, from time to time, be refreshed with the blood of patriots and tyrants–freedom is never free–and may future generations one day speak well of us, remembering us as heroes and patriots, rather than curse us for our apathy and cowardice.
Standing watch at Arlington National Cemetery
A blessed Independence Day to you and yours gentle readers, and may God bless America, now and forever.
Stately McDaniel Manor 
Well said. Like last time the tyrants will rise when the west declines and then the fight begins.
You could have summed all this up much quicker with…
“If you are an American that doesn’t think and act like us then you’re obviously not a true patriot.. and maybe even you’re someone we need to destroy later on. Oh, and have a nice 4th of July.”
Otherwise, it was all wonderfully stated… accuracy aside.
I’m one of “them” that doesn’t think like you, (although we may act similar.. whatever that means). Yet I am an equal patriot
Here’s mine.. if you’re breathing and an American citizen… then have a safe 4th. We’re in this together so let this holiday allow everyone a time to reflect more on what “can be” rather than dwell on “what once was”. After all, that was the whole idea of the Declaration.. and the Constitution… way back in the beginning; their hope for a better future.
Unfortunately the nation hasn’t “hit bottom” yet, and I have no idea what “bottom” is, but I think we will all know it when we all get there (and it doesn’t necessarily mean warfare in the streets).
Sorry.. no “funny” politically biased memes to give meaning to my opinion.
Dear Doug:
If the D/S/Cs who hate America spoke the same way of their spouses, would you think they loved them? Patriots don’t hate their country, call it irredeemably racist, want to assassinate Supreme Court Justices for upholding the Constitution, or say and do the innumerable other things they’re saying and doing.
If, as you say, such people need to be destroyed later on, it will be by their choice. I, and other patriots are more than happy to leave them alone, asking only that they obey the rule of law and the Constitution.
Just what of your D/S/C’s who allegedly hate America have any sort of power to even suggest doing.. carrying out… what you seem to fear, Mike? I fear the same thing from Trumpian Right Wingers.. especially as it relates to the Big Lie and Conservative state legislatures playing with voting rights. The reversal of Roe reversed 50 years of established, and re-established along the way by other Courts, set law. In the meantime this reversal is going to be a moral mess, a huge burden to the taxpayer…. not to mention a surrendering of a personal freedom that is going to be extended to other issues regarding sexual identity just because of religious bias. In the end abortion will not go away.
Personally.. I have found SCOTUS to be appalling inept at making decisions according to the Constitution., from Heller through the recent conceal & carry issue.. to reversing abortion. Yet I will defend that institution as I do the other two.
Kinda ironic, isn’t it…. today we celebrate our nation’s independence and our Constitution.. including the Second Amendment… and people died celebrating it by some idiot with an assault weapon… who was likely very law abiding.. until he wasn’t.
Like I said, Mike.. the nation hasn’t hit bottom yet… and we have a few more months of all this national crap.. and whatever Trump tosses into the mix with his idiocy.. or indictments for Jan. 6… and it’s looking pretty bleak for any GOP majority in the mid-term or even in 2024.
Dear Doug:
What power do they have? You are aware Joe Biden is President, and we’re seeing increasing inflation worse than any time in the last 40 years? Have you missed we don’t have a southern border and all the problems resulting?
Expecting ID to vote, that voters actually be citizens, that they vote once only, and that there be no election fraud is hardly “playing with voting rights.”
It’s bleak for a GOP majority in the mid terms and 2024?! Which country are you living in, which reality?
“It’s bleak for a GOP majority in the mid terms and 2024?! Which country are you living in, which reality?”
I accept that actually.. given it’s all going to be a crap shoot unknown. Two months ago I actually surrendered to the idea that the GOP would take Congress. Now I am not so inclined to surrender to that concept. Lots of things have changed.. and can change, either way, before we get to the end.
You are thinking “Joe Biden” and I think a greater picture. At any given point in history there’s always differences in political opinion regarding a sitting president. That’s the nation of our democracy… and what influences our vote. Our national divide is not one bit about Joe Biden. We didn’t get this way because of Joe Biden. In fact.. do your own history lookup… all presidents generally become victims of their times. You say it often enough yourself in your posts… it’s all about your D/S/C’s.. which existed in your head before Biden and will be there as your scapegoat after Biden.
Also.. the voter ID “thing” is way beyond that.
Dear Doug:
Once again you’re reading into what I’ve written what isn’t there. No, Biden isn’t entirely responsible for what’s happening, but things have taken a bad downward turn under his–actually, his handler’s–watch. And it’s on purpose, as Joe said, we’re making a wonderful transition to a green future that doesn’t, and cannot, work.
And you keep denying the existence of Democrats, Socialists and Communists, all of which claim membership in the Democrat Party. As you well know, “D/S/C” is merely an acronym for brevity’s sake.
And what, specifically, are Republicans doing to deny anyone the vote?
Oh Mike…. Arizona, Michigan and Wisconsin, GOP lawmakers are introducing bills that would give partisan figures more power when it comes to certifying election results or choosing electors. GOP-lead states are considering bills that would allow regular citizens to launch election audits, impose sanctions on election officials and give partisan actors the authority to remove election officials from office. Many of the bills would increase the power of state legislatures or partisan actors to call for an audit of results. I’m not going state-by-state, bill-by-bill. You know this stuff as well as I do.
Conservatives seem to have the more radical Right Wing neo-(Nazi)whatevers on their side as well.. Proud Boys who wanted to overthrow Congress, whacko-self-proclaimed militias… c.mon (and no.. Antifa was never organized enough to be a threat to anyone, except Breitbart). Differing in policy is one thing.. but to assume a hatred for a segment of our society over ideology.. I always thought America is great.. even now with this idiotic divide. MAGA was, and is, total BS to me.
Let me toss this link out there for further digestion on what’s ahead regarding tinkering with our votes…. it’s not Breitbart, sorry.
https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/05/politics/independent-state-legislature-theory-what-matters/index.html
Dear Doug:
Really? You’re making my argument for me. The Constitution makes clear deciding the manner of federal elections is up to the state legislatures, not local/state judges. That could not be clearer. Upholding the Constitution is not depriving anyone of the vote.
Which is MY point. It’s all up to interpretation. Here’s a greater question to ask ourselves as Americans… how far do we continue to govern ourselves from a guide written 240 years ago by men, as noble as they were in their times, who had no understanding of our times to our current use of language, technology, social and economic constructs, international relations, unless they intended for what they wrote and affirmed to be a groundwork to adapt to change and evolutionary progress? For that matter, are we not defying the original intent of the Constitution to hold exempt from it precepts females, enslaved humans, and Native Americans? It seems “originalists” are selective on how “original” they want to be… as it fits their agenda.
For that matter, why does man elect to be spiritually “governed” by theology written a thousand or more years ago? It’s no wonder we have interpretation issues with the language of the Constitution… or the Bible. So we rely on a select few to interpret such things to us into our contemporary life.. and who are these select few? Simply other human beings… like us. We cast our fate to the winds, do we not?
Now watch… your followers will jump on this like flies to road apples and accuse me of all kinds of heresy. In the least someone will blather “patriotism”.. or lack thereof…. simply because I am the only one in here they can lash out to. But my entire point is to present perspective when no one cares… and no one does in the end. You being an ex-English teacher should easily recognize that like Shakespeare, the Constitution can interpret widely because of the language in which it was originally written.
Dear Doug:
You’ve inadvertently hit on the problem. If nothing is final, if everything is always up for “interpretation,” then the only question is who has the most power to interpret unalienable rights? That’s the classic “living Constitution” argument, and one which can only lead to civil war.
But the Founders created it to be “living”. Your constant reference to “unalienable” rights is from the Declaration.. totally different document created for a totally different reason than our Constitution. In fact, that “unalienable” referred to “life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness”, Somewhat generic and obscure in application for law but totally makes the point if one is declaring independence. Seems to me if one chooses to be an “originalist” then you believe in what the Constitution says.. not assigning perceptions from the Declaration of Independence with completely different intentions, or The Federalist Papers… strictly opinion. Madison himself stated later in life that the opinion presented in the Papers should not be a frame of reference for judicial interpretation.
And there’s the threat of a civil war again. Jeez.
Dear Doug:
The Declaration is the philosophy. The Constitution is the philosophy written in law. And no, “unalienable” refers to rights bestowed by The Creator, which cannot be granted or rescinded by government.
I guess I am unfamiliar with that part of the Bible.
As the political fight for the next two elections intensifies, the presence of communists in the American political mix will become impossible for the left to hide. For the first time since perhaps the depression years, the dark shadow of the the hammer/sickle will openly compete for the eventual control of the US govt. Unlike the early years of the 1930’s however, this time it will be war. To me the hammer and sickle and the National Socialist Swastika are basically one in the same, with both signifying death, destruction, slavery, and imprisonment. A very bad time for nearly everyone concerned!
Dear petresrapidnetcom:
What you said.