Happy 4th July 2016
It is the 4th of July, the special day each year that patriotic Americans celebrate Independence Day.
The Fourth of July is a federal holiday that allows almost everyone to have a day away from work, to reflect on what independence really means.
We commemorate the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, which happened 240 years ago, on July 4, 1776.
That declaration was made by the Continental Congress, on behalf of a new nation, the United States of America. Thirteen American colonies had separated from the British Empire.
Independence Day is usually celebrated with family reunions, parades, political speeches and ceremonies, fairs, picnics and barbecues, baseball games, concerts, and in the evening, fireworks. This year will see more of that, but the year has not been altogether happy.
Politics on 4th July
Politics is a big part of the fourth of July, and this is an election year, with great upheavals and changes in the making.
On the Democratic Party side, there is the first woman to have made it through the primary selection process, former First Lady, Hillary Clinton. Unfortunately, the FBI is on her trail for some possible wrongdoing with classified information and a private email server.
Also on the Democratic side is 74-year-old Socialist, Bernie Sanders, who almost beat Hillary Clinton and is still holding on, to try to wrestle away the nomination at the Convention which is three weeks away.
The entrenched Democratic party machine went out of its way to thwart the efforts of Sanders, and protect Clinton. That is a kind of tyranny.
On the Republican side, Donald Trump, a billionaire businessman, not a politician, has successfully swept away all the long-time politician contenders. The entrenched Republican party machine is doing its best to “Dump Trump,” and he is doing his best to thwart their efforts. Trump became a contender in the first place because of a political tyranny visited upon the populace by uncaring political elites.
Many Democrats don’t like Hillary Clinton and some are considering jumping ship and voting for Donald Trump. Many Republicans don’t like Donald Trump, and don’t want to vote for him, Clinton or Sanders.
Contemplating Tyranny
This Fourth of July, patriotic voters might contemplate the tyranny that led to the Declaration of Independence in 1776, and also the tyranny that has been served upon them over the recent past.
