We're celebrating independence today. Independence, and Freedom.
It used to be such a noble concept. If you read our founding documents, and if you read the Federalist papers, you'll see how that word was more than a word. It was a philosophy, an ideal, a concept that was, in and of itself, one that stirred the spirit and spurred citizens to action.
Today? What of "Freedom"?
It's meaningless.
The manipulative thugs of the radical right have gang-raped the word. They've attacked it and claimed it as their own, using it over and over again to inflict pain. We drop bombs (for Freedom), we give up our civil liberties (for Freedom). We muzzle our press (for Freedom), and we bankrupt our grandchildren (for Freedom).
Do you see how they have stolen the purity of that word, Freedom? They use it to defend the indefensible, to defend their god-damned and ill-begotten war, to defend their attacks on us, on the rule of law. They've tainted it, scarred it, beaten it, misused it and have left it emptied and hollow on the side of the street. There you go, America. Enjoy your Freedom, Republican-style.
Freedom. Liberty. Two words constantly uttered in the House or Senate --words that fall lifeless like dead leaves onto the floor the moment they are mouthed by the most un-American of Americans. Do you see what has become of Freedom? That concept which stirred men to action so long ago, which fanned the flames of courage and steadied their guns as they fought for independence? What does it
do now? It's meaningless. Impotent. The word carries no weight, no call to action.
They're out there today, those public defenders of Freedom (who every other day of the year in closed chambers slice away at the concept). They're in parades, at parties, waving those flags (but never thinking of them draped over coffins). They're shaking hands and taking pictures with soldiers (but not with the ones who don't have arms anymore or legs and are bedridden and forgotten at Walter Reid). They're out there today, celebrating "Freedom" (but not the freedom of the press) and celebrating "America" (but not the America we know, not the America of poverty and inequality, that America that is hidden away on special occasions like a sick dig you lock up when company comes over).
And the rest of them. The people. My fellow Americans. They who congregate at parks and houses, who feast today on BBQ ribs and beer. Who love this country and think it's the greatest and it will live forever, but who think nothing of their phones being tapped, or their emails being scanned. Who think nothing of the disturbing similarity between Bush's "signing statements" and royal edicts, who think nothing of a war that wasn't supposed to be a war. Who drink, and eat, and watch the fireworks. They thow back their heads and laugh, celebrating an America that doesn't exist, looking up at fireworks, at the American sky that's bawling.
So sure, celebrate Freedom--she looks so pretty today in red, white, and blue, dolled up for the occasion like a corpse at a wake.
Tomorrow, when the rocket's red glare simmers back down into that seething anger at what our nation has become, when the afterglow fades away and that dark reality sets upon us again, it's back to the status quo. Back to "Freedom," Republican-style.
Happy fucking Fourth of July.