Ok, I'll admit it — my column last week was a little pessimistic. There's no reason to sugarcoat the mess our country is in thanks to President Joe Biden and Democrats in Congress. Inflation, a shortage of critical goods, rampant crime, dangerous drugs and individuals flowing across an open U.S.-Mexico border, and a world on edge while America's foes grow more emboldened — things aren't great. And, even though Democrats control the White House, House of Representatives, and U.S. Senate, they're still raging on lib Twitter that Independence Day this year is canceled. One guy claimed on Twitter this week that "The fourth of July in my household is canceled. I cannot in good faith celebrate a day of freedom when half of those that live here lost theirs," before adding a "f*** the Supreme Court!" for extra spice. "That's not my independence day," said another user with the pronouns "she/them" in thems (?) profile.
It's nothing new for Democrats to oppose celebrating America's founding — they hate our country's foundation of freedom and those who risked their lives and fortunes for the chance at a better life for future generations. Like rebellious children, today's radical leftists take the goodness of America for granted, perceive her freedom as an evil, and rage against the very systems and institutions that made us the greatest nation in the history of the world.
So, unlike Democrats and leftists who either don't find America worthy of celebrating or only do so when they're getting their way, this Independence Day has plenty of reasons for us — conservatives or any sane American — to champion our country.
For one thing, the promise of our independence is still being upheld, even when things are running in the wrong direction under feckless leaders. Thanks to the Supreme Court — and specifically justices nominated by President Trump — our bedrock rights recognized in the Constitution as God-given and therefore not to be infringed by the government are still being reinforced hundreds of years after they were defined and set apart to be protected.
Last week, the Court upheld the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms and made clear that those rights are not secondary to other God-given freedoms defined in the Bill of Rights. A day later, the Court overturned the made-up "right" to abortion, bringing America closer to fulfilling her promise of "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" stated by our Founders in the Declaration of Independence.
Those victories, while landmark wins for freedom and proof that the vision our Founders had 246 years earlier is still in the process of being upheld and realized, don't negate the very real pain Americans are feeling. And, as referenced in last week's column, the worst of the Biden administration's impact remains to be felt and seen.
Even still, dark days are still cause for celebrating America. After nearly two and a half centuries, celebrating our founding — the reason we've remained a shining city on a hill and the last best hope on earth — is a chance to remember all America has overcome in her history and all that's yet to be accomplished under the system created long ago. Even when America's light has seemed dim and less than a shining city, or when our very existence or survival seemed unlikely, Americans rose to the challenge, persevered through great hardship, and emerged better and stronger and closer to the promises of our founding.
Independence Day is a chance to remember General George Washington and his Continental Army in the dark winter at Valley Forge in 1777. To think back to First Lady Dolley Madison scrambling to save White House artifacts before fleeing the capital city as British troops burned and looted Washington, D.C., in 1814. To imagine how President Lincoln felt after the Civil War Battle of Chancellorsville in 1863. To recall stories from grandparents about the fear that gripped Americans after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. And then, to remember what American patriots — everyday people — did next.
General Washington and his army persevered, drilled, and turned themselves into the ragtag bunch that would defeat the then-greatest military in the world. In the nation's capital in 1814, the British fires were extinguished by a miraculous monsoon, and two weeks later, the British would fail a similar attempt to ransack Baltimore, during which Francis Scott Key would pen the words to our eventual nation's anthem. The Union trounced Lee at Gettysburg and the fix was in, Lincoln's forces would prevail, America would again be united, and our country would come closer to its founding promises. After Pearl Harbor, Americans mobilized to not just defeat Japan but liberate Europe from evil Nazi rule.
Through the 246 years since our Founders decided to declare that freedom was necessary and worth fighting for, there have been a lot of dark days. But brighter days have always followed. That's the American way, and it's why our Independence Day is always worth celebrating. The days in July of 1776 seemed ominously dark, and look at what came out of them. A statement that has guided our country to boldly embrace freedom while tearing down what stands in our way, declaring:
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.