Happy Independence Day!

MONDAY, JULY 4, 2011

July 4, 1776 a group of white males signed the Declaration of Independence announcing to the world, and especially King George, that when faced with tyranny we would fight to be free. The tyranny they despised was essentially that they did not have a voice. They didn't. Taxation without representation, housing of British militia, etc., etc., drove them to the point that they came together and said; we will not let you make rules for us if you do not listen to us. So, here's your sign: We're willing to fight for self governance.

Once we won the fight, we had to figure out what self-governance looked like. There were 13 state governments in operation, each with their own currency, rules of commerce, militias, etc. The British left and things were pretty chaotic. The Declaration of Independence set the stage for self-governance, but the Constitution established, described and set in motion our federal government. Without a federal government we would remain a series of independent colonial-like states. The federal government was established from the beginning to have priority over the states in terms of commerce, taxation, military, etc. We became a nation of states, unified by a federal government. The United States. That is what we celebrate today.

And what a liberal notion this was! Prior to the USA there were but a handful of nations in the history of the planet who had toyed with the notion that governments could be run by the citizens. Most were run by royalty who ascended to the throne by birthright or war. Others were run simply by whoever was the most powerful military force in the land. Not here. The people choose their leaders. You were not born to rule, nor were people allowed to form armies to wage war to rule. Citizens rule. Every vote counted. Our revolutions occur in the ballot box, literally or digitally.

We have come a long way baby. That initial federal government did not recognize people with high skin pigmentation as even being fully human. That federal government did not allow women to own property or vote. That federal government did not have programs for the poor, support for education, interstate road construction, monitoring food, water, commerce, environment, or civil rights. Initially, the people who ruled were white males who owned property. Not now.

Powers not assigned to the United States were left to the states, and for the most part the states botched it and the United States had to step in. Remarkably, it was a Republican President who stood his ground and said Black Americans were people, not property, that the federal government took priority over state government, and that commerce was not as important as civil liberties. Those stands led us to our bloodiest of wars when we fought among ourselves. I am a Southerner, but as an American I celebrate that the North won because I believe that Republican President Lincoln's stands on these issues are the moral stands. He set slaves free; he allowed them to become citizens.

If you have been following me you know that I take the same stands today. Neither birthright nor zip code should determine quality of life. Economic might should not rule anymore than military might. People with wealth have the responsibility to promote the economic safety and well-being of people without wealth. This is not the land of rich and the home of the untaxed. It is the land of the free and the home of the brave. It takes a wise, brave American to vote in ways that benefit all our citizens, even if it taxes me. It takes the mentality of a two-year old to only vote in ways that are self-serving and self-preserving.

I celebrate our independence from foreign rule. I celebrate our responsibility to vote. I celebrate our civil rights and our personal freedoms. I celebrate the notion that every child born here is an American and will have the opportunity to get an education, will not starve, will not be subject to abuse, will get medical care, and will someday be able to choose his or her life's work. We can even celebrate the fourth with a fifth. Heck, we are so free we can even form political cults that publicly criticize our own freedoms, our own federal system of government, and campaign to have them undone. (Don't you find it at least kind of funny that Palin and Bachman couldn't run for office unless liberal Americans promoted female rights to own property and vote?)

And, a little old lady can blog about America and not have storm troopers at her door.

Happy Independence Day!