Home Why Do We Still Celebrate the 4th of July?
Home Why Do We Still Celebrate the 4th of July?

Why Do We Still Celebrate the 4th of July?

What do we celebrate when we celebrate the Fourth of July?

Is it the independence from being ruled by an out of touch government thousands of miles away, taxed at their pleasure, and told to be grateful for it?

Is it home rule under our own elected officials who can't be trumped by the decision of some political appointees whom we never voted for?

A victory won by militias that don't exist anymore, on behalf of freedoms that are constantly under assault from the nation's own capital?

Is it at the very least-- national freedom, to be part of an independent nation that does not have to follow the laws of other countries or be part of a larger union of nations?

We don't have those things anymore. We're barely holding on to the rest by the skin of our teeth. Every generation the fireworks get bigger and we lose more freedoms. Bread and Circuses? We get welfare and fireworks. Social workers and outdoor BBQ's. Government subsidized jobs and a day at the beach.

So what specifically are we celebrating? How about these words; "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". Sounds good, except our ruling class no longer believes in a G-d that endowed men with anything, let alone rights. It doesn't believe that men are born equal. It believes that men are born unequal and that it is the task of government to remedy that inequality with positive discrimination and tolerance training.

"Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness". We have the liberty to be told how to live our lives. And so long as we find happiness in that, it's all good. But we better not get any ideas about trying to pursue happiness on terms that the authorities disapprove of. When the fireworks go up over New York City, those celebrating will be living in a place where smoking, salt and sugar are banned. Pursuit of happiness? As long as there's no sugar in it.

"That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed". Now that was an important one. Right? It was the arguable basis of the entire revolution. So how's that working out for us now?

In the last month, federal judges have struck down laws passed by legislatures over and over again. Forget the consent of the government. That doesn't matter anymore. You can elect whomever you want and pass whatever laws you want, and His Majesty's Servants will still strike them down. Political appointees call the shots. We don't.

A Federal judge has more power than the population of the entire state, its governor and its legislature. One member of Obama's cabinet trumps every governor, every legislature and the people of every state.
Think about that for a moment and then think about what the American Revolution was really about. And then consider how apt the term "Czar" has really become.

The King's political appointees are back. And they are the ones in charge. The day will come when as in Russia, governors are appointed in Washington D.C. And then we really will be in pre-revolutionary times.

Look at that part about "Just Powers" again. And then let's get back to a system where the Commerce Clause gives Washington D.C. the power to compel the public to do absolutely anything. Even against their own will.

"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".

What kind of crazy anti-government extremists wrote this thing anyway? Don't they know that you can't just "abolish" governments. Governments exist for the public good. These people probably hung around with militias, owned guns and read the bible. Talk like this means they have plans to overthrow the government. Someone needs to dial Janet Napolitano's government hotline, 1-800-EXTREMISM and report this immediately.

"But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security."

Hello, 1-800-EXTREMISM? I've come across a very disturbing document written by anti-government extremists?  It's being handed out in schools to our children, right next to wholesome things like condoms and A People's History of the United States. Something has to be done about this soon or our kids will get the idea that they can overthrow the government whenever they please. Some man named John Hancock signed his name to it. But there are probably others. Wikipedia says someone named Thomas Jefferson was also involved. He's in Virginia and we all know they're right-wingers down there. Put out an arrest warrant for him immediately, before they act and ruin our 4th of July weekend. We're celebrating our independence, you know.

"He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance." Certainly nothing like that is going on today. It's not like we have a country ruled by czars and taxed to death to fund a massive bureaucracy which can never get enough.

"He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws." It's called the UN, the ICC, the WTO, the IMF and about four hundred other acronyms, empowered by treaties which are binding on us and increasingly supersede our laws.

"Imposing Taxes on us without our Consent"? Don't you know that taxes are for your own good. We can even make you pay those taxes to private insurance companies, because your refusal to pay them  affects interstate commerce. Your refusal to stop complaining about it also affects interstate commerce. Stop protesting at once. In the name of the Commerce Clause!

"For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever." Who knew King George III had his own Federal judges.

"He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people." Yes, but at least his golf game keeps him occupied the rest of the time.

"He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions." Now known as the DREAM Act.

"In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people." And conversely a free people who allow a tyrant to rule over them lose that name.

And so we come right back to the question, why do we still celebrate the Fourth of July?

In many ways we have less freedoms than we did in colonial times. For the moment we retain some of the most basic Constitutional liberties. But they're provisional. And they haven't stopped a level of petty interference in our daily lives that no American colonist from the 18th century would have ever accepted.

The Nanny State with its absolute mandate of the public good has rendered the Constitution irrelevant. It's still referred to by the judiciary, the way that English judges may mention the Magna Carta. To the liberal judiciary, the Constitution provides precedents, it is not absolute law.

We are no longer an independent national union. American law is now derived from and answers to international covenants that do not merely govern relations between nations-- as is their proper place, but also govern our domestic internal affairs.

We are no longer a union of states. Our governments no longer derive their power from the consent of the governed. Elections are still held and those who win them can govern-- so as long as they do so within the marked out limits. If they pass laws that the shadow government of judges and bureaucrats disapproves of-- then the laws will be struck down by the shadow government of liberalism.

Right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness? We have a right to live, until a death panel says otherwise. We are as free and happy as our rulers allow us to be.

Our local governments answer to state governments which answer to the federal government which answers to international world bodies that are not elected by anyone. The only mandate of all these levels of authority is the public good, which they define for themselves in terms of their own institutions. The public good is themselves. Their own authority. And this is blatant tyranny.

So what exactly are we celebrating?

"A Celebration of Independence"
In New York City, where fireworks were outlawed long before transfats, crowds of people will be herded behind police barricades, where crowded against each other they will search for a glimpse of the fireworks through the buildings blocking their way. Then following police orders, they will once again march in file through the barricades, when the show is over, pleased that they have been permitted to passively celebrate their independence in the approved way.

If any of them try to independently shoot off fireworks, they will be arrested. Because fireworks are dangerous, like guns. Guns and fireworks can only be operated by government employees or those licensed by the government. People gathering to view fireworks displays independently is also dangerous. Everything is dangerous, except following orders.


Like sheep, tens of thousands of people will allow themselves to be herded between fragile police barricades that strongly resemble makeshift sheep pens, with the police as the border collies. They will look up to the sky, and watch the corporate fireworks overseen by the municipality and celebrate their independence. But what independence are they celebrating? Where in their lives is there any independence.

Tomorrow they will open the Daily News, the New York Post, the Village Voice or the New York Times and read articles and editorials telling them who to be angry at, what to think and what to feel. The newspapers will tell them that their own leaders are great, that the stores are full of things on sale and that it was another great 4th of July celebration. And they will nod to each other, and think, "Isn't it wonderful that we live in a free country?" And they will all say, 'Yes", except for those who read newspapers that tell them to say, "No". And they will know that next year there will be more fireworks and more sheep pens. More taxes and another blockbuster movie weekend. Because isn't that what freedom is really about?

Comments

  1. Mark Matis4/7/11

    This is why I thank God every time he sends another pig to rot in hell, for it is THEY who are the enablers for this swill. May every last one of those filthy maggot bastards rot in hell for dishonoring their oath to the Constitution!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous4/7/11

    Good stuff as usual Daniel but I think it's the people that are the problem though. They have willingly embraced self-destructive behaviors and have prostrated themselves before the altar of multiculturalism. They watch as the West falls apart and they do nothing other than continue their lemming-like march into the abyss.

    All men are not created equal and to claim so is to fly in the face of mother nature. The races are not equal, the sexes are not equal and even people within the same race and sex are not equal. They should be equal before the law but as we've seen with the criminal bankers, that too is a silly fantasy.

    Perhaps people are celebrating the surrender of their territory and their identity? Because that is exactly what the West has done for the last sixty odd years and it is absolutely tragic.

    We are witnessing the greatest crime ever committed in human history. Will we ever wake up to the evil being done to us?

    Proud Brit.

    ReplyDelete
  3. If nothing else, we still have the freedom to speak out on these things, without fear of being arrested or taken out and shot. (For now, anyway.)

    Don't despair, and don't give up!

    ReplyDelete
  4. No Bueno4/7/11

    You'll have to excuse me Sultan, for I was a little confused this year. Wasn't sure if I was supposd to fly the rag of Mexico or the Stars and Stripes above my garage.

    Or was it supposed to be a white flag?

    ReplyDelete
  5. "When the fireworks go up over New York City, those celebrating will be living in a place where smoking, salt and sugar are banned. Pursuit of happiness? As long as there's no sugar in it.'

    reminds me of the great Dylan line -- "I like my sugar sweet..."

    Maybe "dependence" is just easier that "independence."

    ReplyDelete
  6. You hit the nail on the head with this. Great article; and let the truth be told.

    ReplyDelete
  7. dave s4/7/11

    Those names on your Declaration of Independence are the same names still to be found in the small towns and villages of old England.
    We have all but surrendered our freedoms to those at home and in Europe who believe in the divine right of the bureaucrat and politician.
    Some of us still hope that in Montana, Wyoming, the Dakotas and other like states there is still a place for free men.
    I hope we are not entirely wrong.

    ReplyDelete
  8. and those towns and villages are under siege too...

    ReplyDelete
  9. It’s very difficult to not feel bitter about the state of the country, of its population, and what’s being surrendered. Most people haven’t a clue to why we ought to celebrate the 4th. I’ve done book signings at Colonial Williamsburg for ten years on the 4th (I’m just back from one), and I can vouch with certainty that most of the thousands of people who stream past my tables to watch the evening fireworks are utterly ignorant of the reasons the country came into existence. Most of them are candidates for a Jay Leno man-in-the-street question-and-answer test. Abraham Lincoln prosecuted WWI. General Patton wrote some book about South Africa, “The Crying Country.” George Mason invented mayonnaise. Benjamin Franklin founded Quaker Oats. But then, I’m ascribing an imagination to them that they aren’t capable of.

    But while we can score many Americans for their ignorance and for simply wanting to be dazzled by fireworks, much of the blame for their ignorance can be pinned to our government-dominated education system, run by the overbearing troika of the NEA, teachers’ unions, and a Marxist-saturated academia, with a big assist from the MSM, dedicated to dumbing-down the public and conditioning it to be good, obedient Germans. Nature does not tolerate a vacuum, and neither do empty minds. Most Americans have been rendered helpless against the daily attacks on their freedoms. They’ve been systematically lobotomized of any sense of personal value and independence from the government and from the group. Once their capacity for reason has been sabotaged or emptied, the totalitarians and sundry collectivists are free to fill in the blanks, from kindergarten up through graduate school, and beyond.

    Which leaves thinkers and observers such as Daniel and a handful of others to double-down on the Declaration and the Constitution and perhaps reciting the St. Crispin’s Day speech from Henry V – “we chosen few….”

    ReplyDelete
  10. Students learn what they are expected to know. Which is that the planet is endangered by pollution, civil rights protests are important to democracy and learning to settle conflicts is the most important function of world government.

    National origins have been edged out of the curriculum, popular entertainment, the media and most other places. That makes it easy to put across pieces like a Time Magazine piece which says the Constitution is irrelevant because George Washington never saw a plane.

    ReplyDelete
  11. History is kept alive by collective memory. The stories we tell and retell.

    The flip side of what the left is doing though is undermining itself. It rose to power by exploiting an American identity. Take away that identity and the game begins to change.

    A people without a history have less hesitation about burning their bridges. Which is what the left wants, but they haven't considered the possibility that they will be on the wrong side of that bridge.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Sultan said:

    "The flip side of what the left is doing though is undermining itself. It rose to power by exploiting an American identity. Take away that identity and the game begins to change.

    A people without a history have less hesitation about burning their bridges. Which is what the left wants, but they haven't considered the possibility that they will be on the wrong side of that bridge."
    ~~~~~~
    My suspicion is maybe they have considered it. its a sort of suicide out of guilt. I suspect to them, its "justice"

    ReplyDelete
  13. They're usually shocked when they come face to face with it, whether it's minorities turning on them or a growing libertarian impulse. To them history is a forward movement led by them.

    ReplyDelete
  14. steadysteve5/7/11

    Hopefully it is a day to reach out to the ignorant and educate them. Our government doesn't seem to realize that the USA is a powderkeg right now. If the liberal elites think they can use that to their advantage good luck. I take time to chat with vets and active service military whenever possible. They are overwhelmingly NOT down with the idea of martial law. I fear a great storm is coming.

    ReplyDelete
  15. I'd say we celebrate the original founding of this country and foundation they laid our for our future. Now it's the hope that we can return to that foundation before it's all gone.

    We have a lot more people in our society than 235 years ago and there was necessity for rules and laws but with more people come more taxes and our government has enjoyed the fortune off the peoples backs.

    We can complain and we ARE but let's not forget what the USA stands for...even though we see the government lying and doing it differently at our expense. We will fight back until we're dead or we have won.

    ReplyDelete
  16. "Put out an arrest warrant for him immediately, before they act and ruin our 4th of July weekend. We're celebrating our independence, you know."

    An arrest warrant? How old-fashioned! A government that hires "swarms of officers" to oversee our income, our email, our diet, our health, and subjects us to unreasonable searches at airports, bus stations, subways, and any public building, doesn't need to resort to "arrest warrants." It would be a waste of time and paper. It seeks to be efficient and responsive. It will just break down your door and take you into custody, and God help you if you show the slightest hint of resistance or defiance. You will be slammed to the floor by three well-equipped goons, like that woman was at an airport who wanted to retrieve her eyedrops from her luggage, or punished with public detention in a glass cage like that woman who argued about putting mother's milk into containers. Arrest warrant? The Feds no longer need no stinkin' arrest warrants!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Greg RN6/7/11

    It was with the election of Slick Willy when I started a tradition with my sons, going to the Range and teaching them the proper use and safety with multiple modern firearms, later was dinner with family and lighting off our own fireworks and then a campfire to discuss the freedoms and Blessings to be an American. I recounted stories my Grandparents told of Nazi Germany and Poland, I explained that Freedom is not Free. We discussed the importance of responsibility and Moral character, two of them took those lessons to Heart, one is floundering. Perhaps they will tell stories of their Dad making a stand with other brave men who will not give up this Great Country without a Bloody Battle against those who are no longer Fellow Countrymen but Treacherous Traitors. I will have taught them nothing, if I am not willing to fight for my Grandchildren's Future against all enemies, Foreign and Domestic. I believe there are many of the same thought, and the Left has made a terrible Tactical error in underestimating the willingness of many to fight when they have had enough Tyranny, May G-D Bless our efforts.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

You May Also Like