There are many things that symbolize the 4th of July. One, is fireworks. Two is the mouth-watering stench of barbecue. And, three is freedom. The celebration of our Independence from England. With that celebration comes the ridiculous displays of Patriotism throughout this country.
Yesterday, while reading the Chicago Tribune and eating a sandwich, I stumbled upon an excerpt of a speech given by Fredrick Douglass at a meeting sponsored by the Rochester Ladies' Anti-Slavery society in Rochester, N.Y., on July 5, 1852. As the old cliche goes, the excerpt shook me to my core, because it got me to think about Freedom in America. And, how this country hasn't really lived up to its credo. Also, it's chilling considering the way this country's freedoms are being raped by the ghastly deeds of the Haliburton ghouls that own the White House:
"What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? I answer: a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your denunciations of tyrants, brass fronted impudence; your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade, and solemnity, are to him, mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy-a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages. There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices, more shocking and bloody, than are the people of these United States, at this very hour.
Go where you may, search where you will, roam through all the monarchies and despotisms of the old world, travel through South America, search out every abuse, and when you have found the last, lay your facts by the side of the everyday practices of this nation, and you will say with me, that, for revolting barbarity and shameless hypocrisy, America reigns without a rival." Fredrick Douglass, July 5, 1852
At this stage in America what is the true meaning of the 4th of July? A nation that once was founded on the principle of Separation of Church and State is being hijacked by the Religious Right. Individuals who want to ban women from having the right to an abortion, push Gays back into the closet, and force our schools to start the day with a prayer. THEIR prayer. And, we've allowed that by electing a ghoul like George W. Bush.
On Independence Day, while we celebrate our freedom, George Bush and his thugs are declaring war on the free press. A free press is essential to a democracy, but with the theocratic impulses taking over this country, the press is seen as an enemy.
The Bush administration and their followers, believe that to fight against the great evil (terrorism) we must sacrifice our much loved civil liberties.
How can we celebrate the 4th, when our freedoms are being ripped away from us?
The 4th doesn't me much if our freedoms are eliminated.
And, the 4th doesn't mean much when we have a President who is drunk with absolute power.
The 4th doesn't mean much when we have Alleged Patriots go on TV, demanding that we enact an office of censorship.
The 4th doesn't mean much when our Constiution is being reduced to nothing more than words on a page.
Face it, we're the most hypocritical nation on this planet.
We talk about spreading democracy to those countries that aren't so lucky like we are, yet, in order to preserve traditonal values, we're willing to eliminate an American's civil rights.
We talk about eliminating the barbarians the lurk in the shadows, but, we're guilty of torture and murder.
We must be the real barbarians.
Do I love this country? Yes.
My words of anger and my calling out this nation's hypocrisy shouldn't qualify me as unpatriotic, nor should it disqualify me from this country's land.
The 4th of July doesn't mean that much. It's a time to go and eat a hamburger and shoot the breeze with a few close friends.
Independence Day?
Yeah, right. To say we're free in George Bush's America is laughable.
We're not free. We're being used as bait for the war for oil, and the people we're supposed to be helping are a liability as well.
The 4th of July should be looked with sadness. Once, the fireworks have died down and the last hamburger eaten, we're still an oppressed nation. One nation, under the religious right, and under the alimighty dollar.