Why Celebrate The Fourth

Posted on by Sarah A. Hoyt

Some years it’s easier to celebrate the 4th of July than others. This year is one of the others.

Unlike a lot of my co-religionaires (Usaians, unreformed) I don’t believe the republic is dead. It’s not that I don’t believe most of our government is corrupt and probably irredeemable (but what do you expect of people who frauded their way in? Respect for our laws and founding documents?) but that I believe we’ve been in this place or worse before, and came back at least to an extent.

It was an enlightening experience to read the things Woodrow Wilson did during World War I, and the Forgotten Man by Amity Schley is a very enlightening book. Or endarkening, because it will not put you in a good mood.

The current clowns’ malfeasance is neither new nor particularly original. In many ways too, it’s less competent than that of their ideological ancestors. Partly because they are less competent, partly because these days it’s easier to find out what they did, so even if they were actually competent, they’d come out as half assed.

And if you think there was no fraud back in those days, you truly need your head examined. What the fraud was is harder to discover, but reading biographies of the time… well. Will the cemeteries who voted for FDR please stand up?

There have always been people who consider themselves experts on how everyone should live, and this disease of the former “nobility” of Europe was made worse by mass industrialization and Marxist thought, both of which convinced pinheads they knew what the future was, and “if only everyone” did what they wanted, paradise would arrive. The fact that they believe that it’s possible for “everyone” to do this or that justifies my evaluation or their intelligence, regardless of the letters after their name, or their supposed IQ.

You can look at it one of two ways: One is that the Republic has been dead since shortly after it’s founding. There’s a name for that. What is it? Oh, yeah. Stupid.

Look, sure, there is a platonic ideal of the republic. It’s bright, free and perfect. Don’t judge me immune to its appeal. For most of the nineties I was a pure Libertarian, all shiny and chrome.

Then 9/11 took the paint off and reminded me of what I should have known all along. The world is a dangerous place, and a nation needs a government to deal with security and external threats, if nothing else. (Where external threats begin and internal threats end is a good question, she says, looking at his serene majesty Zhou Bai Den, Vice-Roy of Emperor Xi the Pooh.) Losing my beloved city to (among other things and facilitated by Fraud by Mail) feral homeless reminded me that sometimes there is a justifiable reason to violate individual liberty, and also how hard it is to decide where the line is and/or to trust any government with that.

Since then I’ve been locked into “As small as possible, as local as possible, and with functions constitutionally limited, and for the love of Heaven clean up the d*mn vote, so that the kleptocrats know people are watching them and can turn them out on their… ear.”

It’s not shiny or perfect. Neither is the republic. It never was. It never will be.

But in this world of imperfect things, and as imperfectly implemented as it has been, it has afforded — overall and seen from a distance — the common man a measure of authority and ability to climb through meritocracy that no other place has for as long. This in turn has poured out wealth, food and innovation onto the world in a continuous stream.

The other way to look at it is that the American Republic was founded as a way to rule a far-flung, poorly-connected nation of agrarian people. It’s no wonder that the industrialization, mobility and ease of travel of the twentieth century hit it like a shock, and that for a while there “top men” who could manage everything from the center and make it better was an alluring bait. And did we ever swallow that bait and run with it.

But the truth is — as the founders knew — that centralized government is not more efficient for anyone; that the information problem doesn’t get easier if you just relay things top down; and that the beautiful efficiency of the managed state is smoke and mirrors: it can only look like that if they have full control of the press now and for eternity.

Technology giveth and technology taketh away. The fax machine and the typewriter were banned in the USSR for a reason. Even those ineffective tools put cracks in the wall of propaganda.

Here the ease of travel and increased mobility of things were already casting the “Daddy knows best” government into disrepute. After all, Reagan did get elected, in face of a propaganda barrage of how he would kill us all. And since then, imperfectly, haltingly, we’ve started clawing things back. Look at the gun rights battle. Note it’s not just there, but there it’s the most visible.

And this has only accelerated since Trump pulled the masks off the Left and their collaborators/ass coverers in the press.

Yeah, sure, they frauded him out. But think about it: they’ve never had to spend four years running after an opposing president with elaborate accusations and (as proven) bullsh*t, and then lock the entire country down, and then still have to close the polls and fraud so blatantly that not seeing it is an exercise in willful blindness.

A confidently frauded in government doesn’t spend most of its first year behind barbed wire. A confidently frauded in government doesn’t throw grannies in jail for parading in protest for the fraud. A confidently frauded in government doesn’t choreograph Triumph of the Shrill or think that “Ultra Maga” is a negative thing (Ultra Maga, ASSEMBLE!) and a confidently frauded in government doesn’t spend every waking minute trying to discredit and imprison the guy they frauded out of power. Oh, and a confidently frauded in government doesn’t throw the borders open in a desperate effort to replace the citizenry.

This is the last gasp of a tyranny that thought they’d last forever, because they had the universities and the press. Now they have the mechanisms of power. They’re pushing their levers, but people aren’t responding as they used to. Partly because there are other means of information; partly because we know we’re not alone; partly because once you see the corruption you can’t unsee it.

Right now, like the last stage of a South American regime, they’re desperately trying to fill their pockets before they have to run for some tropical island, to hopefully live out their days in wealthy ignominy.

Obama was the last leftist for whom (partly because of the racial thing, and because no one dared pointing out the king was naked, because the king was tan) the press could fake a cult of personality. It might even have fooled some young leftists, but I saw the unsold books, the unsold calendars, the unsold cards, all on the tables at 10% the original price. Your mileage may vary. I suspect the cities bought into the evil idiot more.

From here on, it gets harder for them. Yes, they have the fraud. But it will have to get more and more blatant. As boycotts have proven, the left is much much smaller than advertised as a percentage of the population.

But why haven’t the people risen? Because Americans have had one civil war, and in many places it’s still remembered very clearly. Because as a people we’re always — always — slow to war. Which is good because when we go to war, we do it so devastatingly.

Can the Republic be restored without war? I don’t know. And neither do you. We’ve come back from the brink before and maybe it can happen again. Or maybe it won’t, in which case it will be terrible, devastating and even more perilous than it is now. (I have nightmares.)

But it’s important to remember the Republic is the people, and not the thin coating of scum who are barely managing to stay on top as is.

And the Republic — the best thing to ever happen to mankind — deserves to be celebrated. As does the wisdom of those men over two and a half centuries ago, who through argument, negotiation and sheer determination discerned a novel form of government which even at its worst is better than the best that came before.

If you’re a pessimist think of the Fourth of July as your chance to light a fire that will be seen by generations yet unborn and encourage them to try something like our Republic.

And if you’re — merely — realistic, think of how much the left hates the Fourth of July and everything it stands for and what that means.

Today, go out and let off some fireworks, to show that through this perilous night our flag is still there.

Still there and long may it wave over the land of the free and the home of the brave.

*There will be a post appearing below this (I’ll be writing it, but dating it earlier, so it’s below) for the blog funding campaign for 23/24, which starts today and will run through the nineteenth of July. Now go out and have fun.

85 thoughts on “Why Celebrate The Fourth”

  1. This is the Way.

    My great grandfather Peter, who was forced from Ireland in the years preceding the GPO, always said he loved three things: America, the Red Sox, and Katie (me great gran Katherine), at which she would always quip, “and in that order!”

    The great King, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, blessed me by putting me here, and now. I would be the worst subject if I acted ungrateful.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Amen. Praise the Lord. Thanks to the Founding Fathers. I have raised my hand more than once, pledging my life to the defense of the Constitution of the United States of America. That vow has no end date.

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      1. No, it does not. And I’ve never been rel;eased from it, and never asked to be, nor would I:

        “…to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the
        United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.”

        …to which my mailsig adds (because I’m me; I can be no other ;-) ):

        — Merry Romanian Christmas! (I have a little list…)

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  2. A little off topic from Sarah’s very good post, but the 4th celebrations were very much for all Americans.

    You could be “just off the boat” but you were welcome to take part in the celebrations.

    You didn’t have to prove that your ancestors were Americans in 1776.

    You didn’t have to prove that your ancestors were of the proper “ethnic group”.

    If you were an American, you welcome to take part in the celebration.

    In a way, taking part in the celebrations was a way to show that you are an American.

    Liked by 1 person

  3. They are the most radical and destabilizing words ever written, in any language, ever. At the time of their writing, almost all of humanity was ruled by autocrats, whether dictators of recent vintage or hereditary monarchs of ancien regime, and had been for millenia. Within 200 years of their writing, the majority of humanity lived instead under some form, more or less perfect, of democracy. They were imperfectly implemented from the start, but have only grown more powerful with time and practice.

    “We hold these truths to be self-evident” — These aren’t opinions, or even facts, true now and under these circumstances. These are “truths”, true always and everywhere. And they are so obvious to us we won’t even argue the point.

    “that all men are created equal” — So much for hereditary monarchs, titles of nobility, caste systems, and all the rest of the drivel people use to justify their self-appointed exalted positions of authority and abuse over others.

    “that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights” — Man is endowed with rights, and they cannot be taken away by anyone or by any government.

    “that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” — Note that this is not an exclusive list — there are other rights, too. Note that “pursuit of happiness”. Not a guarantee, surely, but people have a right to pursue being happy.

    “That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men” — The only reason government exists is to serve the people. Consider the context! In 1776, the vast majority of people in the world were the subjects of some autarch.

    “deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed” — And the only reason government has any power is because the people let it have power. Not comforting words to most of the world’s rulers at the time, but it gets much worse:

    “That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government” — There it is, the Right to Revolution. In black and white. In 1776. Absolutely remarkable.

    “laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.” — Once again, happiness. We have the right to a government that will act in our best interests.

    We take these words for granted, because they are so familiar, but they shook the pillars of the world. France revolted in 1789. Much of Europe revolted again in 1848-1849. And they kept at it until all the monarchs were gone. Today, of all days, read these words once again. Read them slowly and savor them, and realize just how radical they were at the time, how radical they remain today, and how much they changed the history of the world.

    “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”

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    1. When I teach the Declaration, I walk students through each part, showing them how crazy and radical the document still is. They boggle a little. I’m planting seeds.

      Liked by 4 people

    2. In general I agree, but let us not talk about democracy. The founders rightly feared democracy and sought to prevent it. We are not a democracy (a society where the majority is king and can do as it pleases); we are a republic (a society where the majority rules under law, and is not free to change the law at whim). That this is important can be seen in the screaming anger that has greeted a number of recent Supreme Court decisions. It is not by accident that our hostess chose that word . . .

      Liked by 2 people

  4. 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.

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  5. I would be gloriosly happy to gain my independence from the modern welfare state. But I haven’t earned it yet, have I? So there’s my homage to my ancestors. They had their fight. I have mine.

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  6. Put the flag out this morning… It occurred to me that the 4th of July is truly a unique holiday and very historical. We don’t do fireworks (dog objects, Boo says “no”) but enjoy the neighbors, cities and companies that put on great displays. So, have a slice of apple pie, a hotdog or burger and just enjoy. America is still here even if we’re having a few little problems and will be. God Bless one and all…

    Liked by 1 person

    1. The Stars and Stripes, along with my Marine Corps flag, fly 24/7/365 (lighted at night, as required by flag etiquette). And they will continue to do so.

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  7. “But why haven’t the people risen? Because Americans have had one civil war, and in many places it’s still remembered very clearly. Because as a people we’re always — always — slow to war. Which is good because when we go to war, we do it so devastatingly.”

    I suspect that any rising will be conducted by those of us who were professional military members. I’m certain that the FBI, CIA, and other armed departments of the various federal “services” know that, and try to make plans to thwart it. Thing is, they can put people in each of the American Legions, Veterans of Foreign Wars, and various sundry clubs around the country to feed info back to their central handlers; but if they try anything, they’re going to get shut down hard the same way the Legion shut down the trash American Legion club that tried to sponsor a drag show recently.

    Speaking for myself, the uprising isn’t happening soon because we veterans know just how bad it would be. Make no mistake, we’ll take the trash out if we have to; but we’re not going to pull the trigger until after the violence has been started by the tyrants. Yes, that gives the feds the first move, the initiative. But in martial arts, and any such uprising would indeed be a martial art, the trick is to watch your opponent, and wait for them to move and make the first mistake. Then you take advantage of that mistake and hit them with a devastating offensive.

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    1. And as a member of the non-military general public, I 1000% support you in that, and I fervently hope and pray that God mightily provides and intervenes for us to avoid that horrible need altogether.

      Liked by 1 person

    2. I figured that the reason the right hasn’t gone kinetic is because our side knows that there’s no going back to normal life afterwards. Those who aren’t unalived will be in hiding, broke, unemployed, and homeless so long as the left has any control.

      It will take a critical mass (whatever that might be) concluding that they no longer have anything to lose.

      No one sane wants that.

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    3. I figured that the reason the right hasn’t gone kinetic is because our side knows that there’s no going back to normal life afterwards. Those who aren’t unalived will be in hiding, broke, unemployed, and homeless so long as the left has any control.

      It will take a critical mass (whatever that might be) concluding that they no longer have anything to lose.

      No one sane wants that.

      Liked by 1 person

        2. Big time.
          There’s the old Paul Harvey, Rest of the Story, about the signatories of the Declaration and how they ended up. The implication of the story is that many came to bad ends specifically because they signed the Declaration. However, the truth is that many of the losses they sustained were due to the war itself, or just plain old bad luck. Doesn’t make what they did any less momentous, or less of an act of courage to commit treason against an unjust Crown.

          Liked by 2 people

    4. I suspect that if it happens, it’ll be something spontaneous. Something triggered by an event so far outside the bounds of polity that a mass outrage sweeps the country (or at least a good-sized chunk of it). And there would likely be massive rowdy demonstrations first, In fact, the official response to such demonstrations by groups much larger than BLMtifa might be what triggers the actual revolt.

      And no, don’t ask me to predict what might do such a thing. You can’t predict it. If you could, they’d have manufactured a fake one so that they could subsequently reveal it to be fake (and hopefully settle much of the country down) and then sweep up their enemies in the aftermath.

      Liked by 1 person

        1. And with the Feds attempting to use force to make everyone drink Bud Light (even non-drinkers such as myself).

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    5. There is a higher-than-random-distribution percent of prior military in the three letter agencies, especially among those who are armed.

      That’s probably why the media tries so hard to pretend every idiot or political hack that gets caught being stupid is the norm, or even the cream of the crop.

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    6. That, and holding the moral upper hand is at least 50% of the fight. Meaning that it’s essential that the Left be seen to have started the shin-kicking.

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      1. “That, and holding the moral upper hand is at least 50% of the fight. Meaning that it’s essential that the Left be seen to have blatantly, in your face, started the shin-kicking.”

        FWIW – FIFY

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  9. Look at the gun rights battle. Note it’s not just there, but there it’s the most visible.
    ………………

    Even in Oregon. Don’t know the measure #, but there are signatures sheets out for no CCL required to carry concealed. In Oregon. Because of vote by fraud mail Portland metro, don’t think it’ll pass, if fraud lack of signatures doesn’t prevent it from getting on the ballot. OTOH the standard idiots are doubling down on 114. On the flip side, even Lane County Sheriff’s 114 gun coarse has stated, openly no less (on the coarse description), that the coarse, if ever implemented, will qualify not only for gun purchases, but CCL. Not the message TPTB want being sent.

    We’ve had our big celebration Saturday night, potluck, music, and full air display, with not one, but 3, rural fire departments on hand (the guy who puts it on does a big show tonight on the 4th for pay for a city/county somewhere). We’ll enjoy the neighbors setting theirs off, while bribing the pets to not be terrified. City of Eugene has a city wide ban on all fireworks this year. We’ll see how well that goes. We are in the urban growth boundary but not city, so under county rules. Usual *neighbors have been celebrating with the state illegal ones starting Sunday night (might have started Saturday, but we weren’t home).

    (*) No, do not know who. North, east, south, and west, of us, somewhere.

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      1. Wow! It was west of Alpine. North of Honey Tree Apiaries, over 12 miles from Junction City.

        Now the Rodeo fireworks at the Horse Barns on Prairie Rd on Saturday, that you probably heard loud and clear. We can see it from the house, from upstairs, when we’re home; higher bursts from the backyard. We’re a little over 2 miles away.

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    2. $TINY_TOWN usually does a BYO event in front of the town fire hall. Haven’t been there for years because reasons, but it’s only a quarter mile away. Fun event and not horribly noise for values of fireworks. Kat-the-dog usually doesn’t go out in the late evening, and the fireworks at that event are usually legal. Other places can get some nasty stuff, and several fires, both small and one quite large (2000+ acres) have been caused by idiots with fireworks. One of the small ones (an illegal aerial firework) flew into a neighbor’s vacant lot and started the fire. Rural FD and ODF worked it at 0500 (grrr, I was on the force then) and got it out. The property owners got off light; only a $5000 fine. One complained until told just how light the penalty was. (Could have been much more, plus a suit from the neighbor.)

      The large fire was done with leftover fireworks on Bastille day several years ago. That one was over 2000 acres and 30 houses. Officially, nobody was caught, but town rumor said the two drunk idiots discovered what 3S really means.

      We’re at Moderate fire danger, with an industrial level of 1. No special restrictions, but I figure we’ll go higher in a couple of weeks. The fine fuels aren’t pretty…

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      1. Aunt and Uncle (on Pine Creek out of Baker Oregon), and sister and BIL (up the hill out of not incorporated Hockins, WA – officially Brush Prairie, east of Vancouver), either neighborhood will lynch anyone having fireworks with any kind of fire (even sparklers). Official COD would be suicide by remorse. The Baker area always is bad this time of year. So is sister’s area, but they had it brought home last year, with required evacuation of the area, “abundance of caution”, because of a fire to the northeast of the neighborhood. There is exactly one vehicle route out of sister’s rural neighborhood. And at a mere current value $1-mil-plus-ish house/5-acre-property, their property is the least expensive in the neighborhood, by a lot. (FWIW, sister and BIL both worked at HP as engineers until the huge golden parachute about 15, or so, years ago.)

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        1. One city in SW Oregon gave me the willies, and I’m determined to stay away from it, especially during fire season. High end real estate, but the main exits are N and S. No established route to the due east, and west is mountain. To make it exciting, the “natural” look of untrimmed brush and trees is popular. Not sure if they’re dumb enough to require it (looks at Paradise, CA before it burnt to the ground).

          There’s only one reason I’d go there; my retina doc does procedures in a hospital on the north side of that city. I don’t think I’m going to need any revisions. Most likely not, but that’s what the annual checkups are for. Mercifully, his main practice is in a safer area with multiple good routes out of Dodge. (Not that I would want to drive immediately. He’s serious about dilation.)

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        2. My parachute (well, layoff) came July 2001 from Agilent (spun off from HP in ’00). I was in the first round, and severance was decent. The consulting gig came in December ’01, and of the 10 months I worked there (client and consultancy went toes up), 9 paid really well.

          I gather that those who stayed longer didn’t do so well…

          Started off silver parachute, ended up gold-plate. Good enough.

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  10. Can the Republic be restored without war?

    Unlikely sans deus ex machina…

    Voters that vote “harder” are like Charlie Brown and TPTB are the Lucy Van Pelt with the football. Despite all the ultra-overwhelming evidence of massive election fraud, no judge is going to suicide themselves going against the Uniparty.

    Best we can do now is prep, boycott, and keep our children out of the military and government schools. And pray we don’t end up like North Algeria…

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    1. No Larry. Sorry.
      Vote harder does work. That’s how the machines broke. Because at some point it’s impossible to fraud ENOUGH.
      MY goal is to make Biden get 400 million votes. Then it’s unavoidably seen.
      SERIOUSLY people who say “Vote harder doesn’t work” Are IGNORANT of history.
      Go read.

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      1. 2020, 2022… Third time’s the charm!

        We’ve turned the other cheek and are all out of cheeks.

        Voting harder may work well locally or for statewide races, but The Mob has rigged the national races and no one but a small minority cares. (Unless they trans their beer, most people are apathetic.)

        The various election audit groups in Texas have been tracking this seriously for the last three Congressional cycles. (Not to mention our peeps in Arizona and elsewhere…). Besides raising awareness among the choir, there has been almost no corrective action except for a few token, easy to win cases against low level individuals.

        It became obvious that the majority of the elected “Red Team” is actually on the same side as the “Blue Team”. Even in Texas. Let’s call them “Evil Lite”.

        So after almost 6 years working on audits and tilting against windmills, I’m done*. I’ll still vote since I can always vote against someone. Plus it’s a patriotic religious ritual like rubbing mud on your belly was back in the day.

        *(We did get our mayor fired and a state law passed, but that’s a story for another time…)

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        1. “Nobody” cares, as long as you carefully select only those places that it hasn’t worked yet.

          Meanwhile, Iowa did well enough the Progs are screaming racism and trying to take their ball to go home.

          Liked by 1 person

        2. And on top of what Foxfier mentioned about Iowa, you bring up Texas as if it is the preeminent state for freedom and anti-tyranny.

          Or, as it might otherwise be phrased; a sewer overflowing with bullshit.

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        3. The enemy wants you to quit.

          Never Quit.

          Do not counsel quitting. Do not quit. If only to deny the enemy a tiny joy, don’t quit.

          That Never Quit bit is absolutely essential to winning. Remember the Americanism taught to children: “Quitters Never win.”

          Never Quit.

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    2. Unlikely sans deus ex machina…

      Because that’s unusual for the United States of America.

      That’s why there’s the saying about small children, drunks, and the United States.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. It’s just a really weird country.

        It started weird.

        It continued weird.

        It is weird even now.

        Don’t ask me how it works, today. I have no idea how it works.

        There will come a day when we again think we have it all figured out. Maybe tomorrow I will think I know.

        I find the not knowing pretty frustrating.

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  12. A couple of miscellaneous observations partly inspired by this article.
    On the notion that the Republic died shortly after its founding: I often encourage people to read St. George Tucker’s book about the Constitution, published in 1803. He described at length a whole pile of ugly usurpations perpetrated by Congress and others in spite of the plain words of the Constitution. (Free download at the Von Mises Institute.)
    A friend just mentioned that John Adams always argued the celebration should be on July 2nd. I knew that, thanks to L. Neil Smith who, in his first novel (The Probability Broach) explains that on the 2nd Independence was voted by the Congress, and on the 4th they agreed to the text of the Declaration that explains what was done and why.
    Thanks to another blog (“gunfreezone.net”) I just heard the entire Declaration, as read by JFK. Nice.
    If you haven’t seen it, go look for Thomas Jefferson’s Draft of the Declaration. It doesn’t yet have some of the soaring words (like the closing sentence). But it has a whole lot of good stuff, some of which was removed from the final edition. Among them: a plain and explicit denunciation of slavery.
    “…most radical and destabilizing words ever written…” indeed. Curiously, there is another document, little known even in the country it came from: the “Act of Abjuration” (“plakkaat van verlatinghe”), which is the Dutch declaration of independence, from Spain, July 26, 1581. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Act_of_Abjuration What’s amazing to me is that I have never heard of a school history class in Holland that teaches it. I never knew of the existence of this document until years after I moved to the USA (when I read about it on, of all things, a Flemish website). That document is not a moving piece of soaring prose as the Declaration is, but it contains some of the same sentiments and has somewhat of the same structure. From the first paragraph: “As it is apparent to all that a prince is constituted by God to be ruler of a people, to defend them from oppression and violence as the shepherd his sheep; and whereas God did not create the people slaves to their prince, to obey his commands, whether right or wrong, but rather the prince for the sake of the subjects (without which he could be no prince), to govern them according to equity, to love and support them as a father his children or a shepherd his flock, and even at the hazard of life to defend and preserve them. And when he does not behave thus, but, on the contrary, oppresses them, seeking opportunities to infringe their ancient customs and privileges, exacting from them slavish compliance, then he is no longer a prince, but a tyrant, and the subjects are to consider him in no other view.” Sounds familiar?

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  13. Somewhere in the Desk of Doom, I have the quote from one of Bernard Bailyn’s essays about Madison and the Constitution. In essence, the Constitution was written with the knowledge that 1) men were not angels, but 2) they could improve if given the chance. So our government was created to provide that chance, while including limits and checks, because people are flawed.

    Now, to restore those limits and checks …

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  14. Is the United States perfect? Hell no.

    But, I’m feeling an odd sense of optimism. The “legacy” media is collapsing-we just haven’t seen it fully fall yet. When an Indiana Jones movie does worse in it’s opening weekend than The Flash-however terrible just the idea of that franchise dying might be-that’s a sign that things are not going well for them. The only “good” movie this Summer might be the Mission Impossible movie, because Tom Cruise actually cares about making good movies.

    Ad rates for a lot of sites are falling through the floor. Quite a few “engine” sites such as VICE, BuzzFeed, Kotaku, etc, etc, etc…are running out of venture captial money and are laying people off like mad.

    Almost every cable news network is seeing their numbers drop like a stone.

    The writer’s strike is causing streaming services to look at buying programming from Asia and Europe, rather than deal with Hollywood and Canadian production houses. This pisses me off from a career POV (harder to get writing jobs if there aren’t any jobs), but they couldn’t get enough of Random MadLibs Woke Script #721 and now they can’t because they need people to pay the higher fees for the streaming services.

    Hold on. Hold fast. Right now, I’ve got family that I’m worried about, a third novel in The Last Solist series, applying for jobs with the local city and county (I don’t think I could work a private sector job these days-they want far too many cog-like extroverts in every position and I’m not enough of the rare and surly high-profit wizard-type that they’ll assign me a handler), and trying to get my health into the best shape possible.

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    1. Hilariously, Indiana Jones is doing worse even than the indie Sound of Freedom, which I honestly only heard about when my mother bought me a ticket.
      But yeah, I’m in the position of writing, losing weight, and waiting this summer. For what, I don’t know.

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  15. Remember in 2021 when public fireworks didn’t happen because the kung flu would still kill us? My neighborhood among many others RANG for about an hour. As did so many neighborhoods across the country and across the world. Hope exists.

    Liked by 1 person

    2. It was either 2020 or 2021…Los Angeles on the Fourth. A city that was on severe lockdown and where fireworks are probably quite banned. And the place looked like Baghdad on night one, 1990. Fireworks EVERYWHERE all the way to the horizon from the TV helicopter shots. When Los Angeles, Commiefornia explosively tells people where to stick their fireworks bans? It gives one a small dose of hope.

      Liked by 1 person

      2. Oregon did the same for 2020, 2021, and 2022. Now Eugene has done it for 2023, banned sales and firing of any private fireworks, not just the Oregon illegal ones (that fly to explode). Just city. Although they are trying to enforce in the not-city-urban-growth areas (good luck with that). We won’t just because we aren’t spending the money on that, although we did discuss it briefly when we were in Montana. As did our neighbors when they were there. Neither of us did.

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      5. Same thing happened here in 2020, in a much smaller town. The state authoritahs decreed that there would be no public gatherings and should be no gatherings, period. The city (small, 36k-ish) had to cancel their big fireworks show that everybody goes to. So everyone who wanted to celebrate gathered in their own small groups anyway and made their own personal fireworks show the best they possibly could. The whole town was awash in bright flashes, drifting smoke, and the rolling crackle and boom of fireworks. It was one of the most glorious things I’ve ever seen.

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  16. When I served, I did not serve for the Democrats or the Republicans, I served for my fellow Americans. I served for the guys I was with. Now we all serve the Republic, not those who infest it only to steal from it. They will get their due. Some might say that only happens in movies, I am here to tell you reality is much stranger than fiction will ever be. No movie could ever tell the truth about what is going to happen to them. I only pray that it is as peaceful as possible. Keep your powder dry and head on a swivel.

    Now go blow something up have a few dogs and drink your tipple of choice and enjoy life for just one day. Happy Brexit 1776

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  18. “Independence Day”

    It’s the reason for the season.

    “4th of July” is a calendar date. Of itself, it lacks context.

    There is no mistaking why “Independance Day” has meaning, and thus power. Thus why some non-Americans want that phrase dead and forgotten.

    Happy Independence Day, all. Let Freedom ring.

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  19. My area is under a fireworks ban. We’re also on level 1 fire restrictions because this is the Tonto National Forest where it’s dry as can be. If the monsoon doesn’t start soon, it’ll be dry enough to start a forest fire with a dirty look.

    However, the town puts on a killer display. There’s a whole day event with parades, car shows, kids games, vendors, bands, &c culminating with a massive fireworks display. I’m heading out in an hour or so (3:15MST) to do my volunteer shift, sitting at a closed road to keep people out, so that the locals don’t have their streets clogged with parked cars.

    So celebrating in the most USAian way — by serving.

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  22. I love everything writteneeded here. Independence Day is my birthday and you always white pill me and cheer me up Sarah. Thankyou.

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  23. Places like Chicago and Hudson County New Jersey have earned their many decades to a century plus long reputation for election fraud (mostly through the many votes of the dead) on merit. Cook County fraud put Kennedy in over Nixon in 1960.

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  24. The 1st through the 3rd were the 160th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg and today is the 160th anniversary of the surrender of Vicksburg.

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  28. Happy Independence Day! I will always believe this was the greatest nation this planet has ever seen, and that it will be again. Hopefully we can claw it all back without too much devastation.
    Thanx for an optimistic post, Sarah!

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  29. Cheer up! I think SpaceX is on track for a second Starship/BFR launch in six weeks or so. And they’ve got a fighting chance to make orbit. Once they get THAT beast sorted out, the Space Age will really have begun.

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  30. I was reminded this week that there are still a lot of people who feel isolated and disconnected, keeping their heads down because “everyone” is on the other side.

    When you’re out there, actually talk to people. You may give someone who is despairing about the future and the state of our country the connection they need.

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