George Rebane
On this annual time of celebrating the birth of our land of the free and home of the brave a friend sent me a thoughtful essay making the case that today this has become a time of the year for somber reflection. The reasoning was sound as the author pointed out the schisms that today separate us. On the opposite side of the argument we have the usual stories, primarily from the Left, that attempt to convince all of our American unity as long as we are unified in accepting their programs to make America into a second-class socialist state.
In past observances of July 4th we have noted that the two sides seek markedly different futures for America – one side decrying the nation’s past and publicly denying its patriotic destination, while the other side spells it out and celebrates the historic road that, with some miles unpaved, we have traveled. Yet, more than ever today, half the country does not know where we have been, what we have done, nor does it share a common vision of our future.
In preparation for the 2019 holiday, the anti-American Left decried President Trump’s celebration of our Independence Day in our capital with an extraordinary patriotic display of our military and fireworks to remember. They told the country that this was “politicizing the Fourth”. It’s hard to tell whether their ignorance or cynicism was showing its true colors. The Fourth has ALWAYS been a political holiday ever since its political birth in 1776 Philadelphia. Throughout our history every politician and political faction/party has made their presence known on the Fourth, and the more so for politicians who were then in office.
However, on 4 July 2019 the major broadcast networks refused to carry ‘Salute to America’ from the National Mall for the simple reason that, under the administration of President Trump, it was to celebrate and highlight our country’s role as the world’s white hat hegemon that has maintained an historic Pax Americana during which enormous progress has been made in eradicating disease, hunger, and lifting hundreds of millions from the grip of grinding poverty
Today we continue to see leftwing activists – e.g. Donn K. Harris in the 1jul23 Union (here) – at all levels argue that our national debate need not be harbinger to war. In his counter to a 10jun23 piece by Ms Thea Hood (here) making the case that our Great Divide is preparing the country for war, Mr Harris states that the ongoing national debate is just Americans continuing to express their differences, and such debates are never a prelude to war. His arguments embrace all the hubris and surety of progressive thought, making clear that his notions of such as ‘fair debate’, ‘excess passion’, ‘hyperbole’, and ‘unwarranted sarcasm’ prevail. I suppose that Mr Harris never considered the failure of debates that led to our Revolutionary War and the War Between the States (aka Civil War).
As long as we cannot identify a common ground on which to sort out our fundamental differences, those that take us to opposite forms of governance, we continue our debate in the darkening shadow of war. In the meantime, let’s take every opportunity to make celebration of our nation’s birth remind us of what once was possible in this fair land, and may again become so.
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