Posted on 07/04/2012 9:48:27 AM PDT by Chi-townChief
What history we recall on the Fourth of July typically involves stirring words of freedom, and rightly so.
But why stop there? After all, not every colonist in 1776 was a patriot, and at this particularly fractured political moment, we might do well to remember that, according to contemporary accounts, one third of Americans wanted revolution, one third were loyal to the crown and one third could go either way. Loyalists did more than talk; they formed Tory regiments and fought alongside the British, against their fellow Americans.
Even those who did support breaking from Britain could be surprisingly lax about it, at least at first. As late as January 1776, George Washington was still leading his officers in raising a glass to toast King George III every night in his mess in Cambridge.
Common wisdom holds that had Americans known what they were getting themselves into when they declared independence, they would never have done it.
“Had Americans been able to anticipate the length and difficulty of the war,” wrote historian Samuel Eliot Morison, “they probably would have forced the Continental Congress to end it by compromise in 1776.”
It says something of our national character that we celebrate Independence Day, not when independence was achieved on Sept. 3, 1783, when the Treaty of Paris ended the war, but when the real struggle had just started in 1776. A reminder that we both tend to underestimate the effort needed to accomplish anything, and overlook how fractured our nation invariably is while attempting change.
We wave the flag and dab a tear now. But hundreds of thousands of Americans alive during revolutionary times listened to the words of Jefferson and were unmoved, stayed Loyalists, and some 80,000 celebrated American victory by fleeing to Canada, tipping that nation away from the French.
So how surprising should it be that now, in times that try men’s souls to a far lesser extent, Americans are also broadly divided when it comes to, well, just about everything.
When I look at the Republicans, I am tempted to dismiss them as the Treason Party. Seriously, were a band of traitors to concoct a series of positions deliberately designed to weaken America, they would be hard pressed to beat the current GOP dogma — hobble education, starve the government by slashing taxes to the rich, kneecap attempts to jumpstart the economy by fixating on debt, invite corporations to dominate political discourse, balkanize the population by demonizing minorities and immigrants and let favored religions dictate social policy.
What gave me pause, however, is that they beat me to it — for 15 years the Republicans have been treating Democrats as if believing in a government that addresses our common public problems is a form of sedition. Given how uniformly wrong they are, I’m loathe to use any of their tactics, even one that has been so stunningly effective, convincing millions of Americans their best interests lie in coddling the rich and their champion is a stiff, dressage-riding multi-millionaire.
And I am reminded that, often in American history, from John Adams to Rosa Parks to the anti-war movement, being branded a traitor turns out to be a badge of honor.
To be honest, I have no concern that Republican ideology will prevail. It can’t. The 11 million illegal immigrants will not be expelled. Gays will not go back into the closet. Religion will not trump science. In fact, the only thing that worries me is the triumph of corporate power — then again, wealth always seems near triumph, but government usually has been a dog yipping at its heels, woofing business in a more humane direction, a little bit. We seem in danger of losing even that.
But the American people will correct this misstep — they usually do, eventually. Most Loyalists did not flee after the Revolution, and many who did leave came back with surprisingly few hard feelings. One was elected mayor of New York City. Philip B. Key, whose nephew would write the “Star Spangled Banner,” had fought with a Loyalist regiment. After the war, he served as a federal judge while drawing his British military pension. If when our country was new, citizens who had just fought a war for their freedoms could turn around and embrace those who opposed them, how can we do any less now?
The best way to celebrate the Fourth is fly the flag and raise a toast to this country, all 311 million people. All of us, even those so afraid of the future they try to mandate the past. From the Leftiest, most wild-eyed, Occupying, I-wish-there-would-be-a-revolution-so-I-could-be-king radical to the Rightiest, wild-eyed, Bible-waving, Tea Partying, I-wish-society-would-break-down-so-my-guns-would-make-me king conservative. All join in one United States of America. Like it or not, we’re all here, all free, and though we don’t often listen to or respect each other, we are all bound up in one common enterprise.
Only an idiot would believe that a red diaper doper baby like Obama who has said he seeks to diminish the USA on the world's stage (we consume too much, have too high a standard of living and control of our personal climate and travel) isn't DELIBERATELY screwing up/down the economy.
He has pledged that his energy policies would necessarily see energy costs rise.
Barack Obama is a traitor and Marxist. Put that in your doobie and smoke it.
He can’t even refer to it as Independence Day. 4th of July, Midwinter Holiday, Spring Break, etc. Same M.O.
Those corporations he fears support illegal immigration (cheap labor, additional customers) and the homosexual agenda (funding gay pride parades, gay centered ad campaigns, and perversity/diversity training indoctrination for employees.
Corporations more than ever look down upon religious traditions and instead celebrate "THE holidays", ending on Decembet 26th, excluding New Year's Eve from the concept of holidays between Thanksgiving and the end of the year.
He ought to love his liberal corporate buddies, they push his agenda items.
Don't call those 11million illegal workers using FALSIFIED documents (they are not UNdocumented, they engage in identity theft) Americans. They wire BILLIONS of dollars HOME annually to Mexico. Their presidente encourages them to vote in both Mexico and the US elections (even if they become citizens here).
Can't serve two masters. They don't consider this "home" until it is "reconquered" for SpainMexico.
There go the first two amendments.
He also seems to like King George and taxes.
Tea Partiers aren't seeking an overthrow of the Constitution, Occupantloads are.
How do you spot a liberal on Independence Day? Look for the guy who believes the Declaration begins and ends with "He has refused his Assent to Laws..."
There are blessings these days. Back in the days before and during World War 2, Neil's likesake really said that a large part of the Republican party was the party of treason. As a result, the Old Right was gutted.
Just a quiet word of warning. The liberals' "twin dragons" trope brags about them using the government to lean on a swath of their fellow citizens. And no, I'm not talking about Japanese-Americans; I'm talking about a group of conservatives who held a legitimate conception of the government's role and limits.
The liberals being antiwarish is actually a blessing for you guys. When they become pro-war, they not only become bellicose but also seek to clamp down on the "domestic enemy" with equal bellicosity. They also become quite used to boosting their pet programs as being essential to the war effort. Had Al Gore been President on 9/11, there's a good chance that SUVs and trucks would have been deemed detrimental to the war effort - and the clown car deemed an essential symbol of patriotic sacrifice.
Back to your regular programming. Happy Independence Day, and long may liberals stay liberals ;)
I got an independance suprise for America... Grab your socks!
“JUNIOR MARXIST NEIL STEINBERG”
You forgot to mention that he’s brilliant, really-really smart, brighter than a one thousand watt lightbulb, genetically superior to those stupid, ignorant,
bible-thumping, gun-loving Christian morons, and above all, an absolute Progressive genius who can perform outstanding miracles of mental gymnastics.
/s/
IMHO
If Prince Albert Gore was president on 9/11, he would have pushed the Doomsday Button in an effort to prove to Naomi Wolf that he was an alpha-male.
The critical element he seems to be missing is that before anyone can be embraced, they must first submit, and even then it is contingent upon the victor's whim. Who wins, matters. Had the Revolution gone the other way, the signers of the Declaration would not have been hugged and allowed to go their merry way... they would have been hung. And in this current simmering conflict, if a bunch of leftists win, they will not tolerate dissenters any more than they tolerate differences of opinion in Hollywood or anywhere in the media. They won't even tolerate photos of what an abortion really looks like in the press today, and are quick to censor anything that differs from their worldview. Once empowered over a disarmed population censorship will be the least of our worries, for the ideology of the left is the ideology of coercion and fear and death.
With the exception of the consumers, employers, and health care providers, all of them.
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