As the Timbers of America Creak

We Fought For This

On July 4th, we celebrated our 237th year of independence from the British crown, a moment in history made possible by our military which achieved victory over an army in almost insurmountable odds.

Thomas Jefferson spent over two weeks in June of 1776 drafting our Declaration of Independence, eloquently detailing our grievances against a tyrannical monarchy in which the American people declared forcefully that we wanted our freedom from arbitrary rules at a cost no less than our lives.

Prior to Jefferson's draft, perhaps the most compelling indication of how much we cherished freedom was a speech delivered to the Virginia Conventions in Richmond at St. John's Church on March 20th, 1775. Patrick Henry ending his speech to the convention with this plea:

It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace - but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the North will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, and peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death! -- Patrick Henry, March 20th, 1775

That is the attitude that gave birth to America, and for nearly 200 years, it was what guiding our policies both at home and in Washington. Our presidents adhered to the principles on which we were founded because they believed in them deeply, and the people who were born here and the immigrants who came from other lands all bought into it equally. All loved the freedom of America in both good and bad times.

So what has happened to us in the last few decades? Have we enjoyed so much privilege and prosperity that there is nothing left to seek? Certainly we are not created equal by birth as to wealth and success, and our system was always intended to be that way. We are all created equal in the Eyes of God as to the opportunity to succeed as a ratio to how hard we work to achieve our goals, whatever we decided those goals to be. Success has never been guaranteed.

Not our best days

Up until the 1960's, America had been steadily traversing a course toward that which led the world, was indeed the envy of the world. It seems that a bunch of privileged kids -- who apparently grew weary of the idyllic lifestyles provided by their parents -- decided that the American style of freedom was not enough for them. They wanted more.

And so began the course upon which we travel now; a course that appears to have us galloping toward a past we left long ago -- that of the European social model. We now have a "royal" class of citizens, a class to whom the privilege of serving is viewed as a right. I'm not talking about the soldiers who serve -- I'm talking about those in Congress to whom a Senate seat, e.g., is seen as something to pass down to offspring.

We have a Democrat Party that has cultivated a culture of dependency in America that is unprecedented, spending billions on food stamps and other welfare programs, not to mention the billions on free cell phones and the like. Worse, we have a population that has demanded these things -- nay, has come to expect them -- thereby effectively feeding the coal furnace of tyranny.

And yet, on our 237th anniversary, because of alleged cuts in the budget from the so-called sequester, our military family members and their families were denied the joy of a 4th of July fireworks display, while our king President and his family spent $100 million on a vacation to Africa. Millions more are spent on advertising for welfare programs.

We have squandered the splendor our forefathers bequeathed to us and have forged our own shackles, all in the name of "security and peace". We are already feeling the ultimate effects of Socialism and tyranny, and we keep grazing like so many sheep, and I am ashamed for my country.

That sound you may hear is the timbers of America groaning under the strain. Or it may be the bones of our Founders as they turn in their graves.

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