For scores of years July 4th truly meant something and was a definite cause for celebration.
However, over the past several decades the personal freedoms and liberties Main Street USA was used to celebrating have been eroded.
No longer can it be said that is America is a government of the people, by the people, for the people (though that line does come from President Lincoln's Gettysburg Address).
Realistically, today our government is "of, for and by elected representatives" who care far too much about their own enhanced welfare (paid for in full "by the people").
When the states came together, when they became United, the vision of the Founding Fathers was in setting up a governing body unlike any that had been seen on Planet Earth. But as time marched on certain people saw a way to take advantage of, and pervert, the system.
Our Founding Fathers were learned men. They had read and studied about all manner of governments. They knew what made them good and what made them bad. However, the worst fears of these brave men slowly came to be.
As Thomas Jefferson pointed out, Most bad government has grown out of too much government. It cannot be denied, by any sane or rational person, that the United States has way too much government.
Patrick Henry, who led the charge to add the Bill of Rights, stated, The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government - lest it come to dominate our lives and interests.
Andrew Jackson added, The people are the government, administering it by their agents; they are the government, the sovereign power.
Perhaps James Madison summed up their worst fear with his insight, Since the general civilization of mankind, I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people, by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power, than by violent and sudden usurpations.
And thus it is that Americans have experienced those very dreaded gradual and silent encroachments by those in power, who have made politics a career where it was only supposed to be a "public service."
The concept of that service, as it had originally been envisioned, was that some citizens would give up a few years of their private sector life and "serve the people" only to return to their actual livelihood.
Never was it meant to be that politics become a career, especially one with lavish benefits at the expense of the taxpayer.
Conservative, moderate, and liberal politicians are all guilty of the erosion Americans have experienced. They have profited greatly at the expense of each and every citizen. They buy their votes filled with empty promises. They spend half their time campaigning for the next election to secure their lofty lifestyle.
There might not be a greater sin than to abuse the power entrusted to one.
Perhaps there are still those who truly believe in the ideals our Founding Fathers laid down without any thought of personal gain, operating without a secret, hidden agenda.
If there are, only then will America be able to rise once again. Not as a "global power" to dictate to other countries, but as a group of collective states who wish true freedom for all who reside within.
The closing line of the Declaration of Independence is, And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.
The men who signed that document did so and meant it.
Many gave their lives and lost their fortunes. They kept in tact their honor.
There is not a politician alive today who could match the honor and integrity of those 56 delegates of the Continental Congress of July 4, 1776.
Over For Now.
Main Street One
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