The day is drawing to a close. Unlike so many liberals in Arizona, Hollywood, and Florida the rest of us actually recognize the founding of this country as a net positive worthy of celebration. What did you do? Or what do you continue to do?
Myself, every year I make it a point to watch the director's cut of the movie 1776. Much of the dialogue was pulled from the collected letters of John Adams and his wife Abigail. It dramatizes the struggle that men like Adams, Jefferson, and Franklin had to go through to get a unanimous vote for independence. I take my copy of the Declaration off the wall and write another year on the back going back to 1966 when I first made it for Sertoma Club. I think about the freedom that we have given up or had taken from us in the last 50 years; this very site is a part of the town square of speech but there are topics that we can't talk about even if they are on the front page of the newspaper. We can't insult someone creatively if they write something grievously stupid or insulting. Insults should be creative and entertaining if done correctly. Just like some of the things the founders said to each other in the heat of debate. We've lost that because people have become so fragile emotionally. Like the following exchange between Ben Franklin and John Dickenson of Pennsylvania.
Franklin: I would prefer to remain asleep if I am to be called an Englishmen.
Dickenson: Why would you mind? The English don't.
Franklin: Nor would I if given the same rights as an Englishman. It's like calling an ox a bull...he's thankful for the honor but he would rather have returned what is rightfully his.
(pause)
Dickenson: When did you notice that they were missing?