My articles on Memorial Day Weekend were quite possibly a bit melancholy for some. I’m not going to apologize for that, Memorial Day was made to be melancholy. Although it is most often treated as just another three day weekend and an excuse to party it is actually intended to be the opposite of that.
Today, though, today is the Fourth of July. It is Independence Day. Today is the day when we celebrate throwing off the yoke of the evil King George the Third of England and his attempts to tax people who were not allowed to determine their method of taxation. I could go on all day about the Intolerable Acts, the Boston Massacre, the quartering of soldiers in the houses of civilians, the closing of the Port of Boston and a million other things. There were even some among the Founding Fathers who recognized and condemned the evils of slavery and attempted to include a clause in the Declaration of Independence blaming the King for it. It was a mess.
And then there’s what came after: The bravery and sacrifices of the men who fought the war, many of whom didn’t make it home. The mothers who lost sons. The wives who lost husbands. The children of both genders who lost fathers. The war was a terrible thing and it ruined many of the men who signed the Declaration while leading to the good fortune of others. War is a fickle thing.
The country that was founded by that Declaration was not, is not and never will be perfect. Slavery happened, but so did the war (fought mainly by white men, who had nothing to gain if slavery ended and by a about a quarter of a million black men, many of whom had everything to gain if slavery ended) that ended it. Lynchings and discrimination happened, but so did the Civil Rights Movement. Racism still exists, even if it’s not the “insidious” force that liberals claim it is and much of it is aimed at white people. If you think that white people can’t be the victims of racism then that belief, in and of itself, makes you a racist. If you’re white and believe it that just means that you’ve internalized the racism others have shown you. It’s time to fight in on all fronts, including by establishing DEI, which is, in and of itself, a form of discrimination. The fact remains that all of those are flaws shared by every country on the planet. If you don’t believe me, study the history of Koreans in Japan. No, I’m not kidding.
And yes, the US was built through conquest. So was the British Empire. So were the French and Spanish Empires. So was the Mongol Empire. The same can be said of the Moorish Empire and the Ottoman Empire. What an honest appraisal of history will teach is that, all “international law” aside, land belongs to the government with enough military might to defend it. I’m not saying it’s right. I’m saying it’s fact.
So yeah, the US needs work. NEWSFLASH: The United States will always need work. Nothing made through the efforts of human beings will ever be perfect. That’s life. No human being is ever going to change that. As a Christian, I know that there has been one perfect human being in all of history. The fact that He was all God as well as all man gave him an advantage the rest of us don’t have. We just have to muddle through.
Americans are still the people who have kept major was from occurring worldwide since 1945. When an earthquake, hurricane, tsunami, etc. occurs, the first ship in the harbor with emergency supplies is almost certainly going to be flying the Star and Stripes. We’re a country where minorities are able to protest injustice without dying.
And, my friends, if you don’t know how rare that is both historically and in the modern world then you really need to educate yourself. The Right to Free Speech is something that is very rarely acknowledged and observed by governments. It is, however, acknowledged in the US.
The United States of America is the greatest country on the planet not because it has never had any problems but because we try to solve them. This is what liberals will never understand or acknowledged while ironically being the reason they’re allowed to spout their bullshit.
So, dudes and dudettes, go forth and party. Light off some fireworks, but try to keep your body intact. If you feel it necessary to fire off a few rounds to celebrate, put them into the ground (where they’re not dangerous) instead of into the air (that round has to land somewhere and it can be deadly if something gets in the way.) where they are.
I won’t be drinking but if you feel the desire to have a drink or seventy-three I support your right to do so. Fire up the grill. Play some music, whether patriotic or not, and play it LOUD. Founding Father John Adams would approve, even if we’re a bit off on the date:
But the Day is past. The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America.
I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.
You will think me transported with Enthusiasm but I am not. -- I am well aware of the Toil and Blood and Treasure, that it will cost Us to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States. -- Yet through all the Gloom I can see the Rays of ravishing Light and Glory. I can see that the End is more than worth all the Means. And that Posterity will tryumph in that Days Transaction, even altho We should rue it, which I trust in God We shall not.
God bless you. God bless your friends. God bless your families. And God Bless the USA.