Happy 4th of July!

In remembrance of the celebration of our independence and in-between all of the hot dogs and fireworks, I sat back and reflected on what this country means to me, and lamented on the direction it is heading.

Everyone is celebrating today, but are they really celebrating independence? Do the people who want health care for everyone really honor independence? How about the people who think the government should take over and nationalize everything - do they respect independence? And the people who want to 'fundamentally transform' this country - do they really want independence? I think a big group of people out there, waving their flags and watching fireworks doesn't really know the meaning of the word and that's sad.

Here's a refresher from http://www.dictionary.com/:

"in·de·pend·ence   /ˌɪndɪˈpɛndəns/ Show Spelled[in-di-pen-duhns]

–noun


1. Also, independency. the state or quality of being independent.

2. freedom from the control, influence, support, aid, or the like, of others."

And unfortunately, a third definition, which is sadly (and ironically) listed as archaic:

"3. Archaic Sufficient income for comfortable self-support; a competence."


Some of us were lucky enough to be born here. Others of us worked hard enough to come here legally and adopt this country as their own. No matter how we got here, we are living in the best country on Earth. If you want something and are willing to work hard enough to get it, you can. The land of opportunity. The land of dreams.


Our ancestors and the Founding Fathers believed in this country so much that they risked their lives for it. If you haven't watched the HBO mini-series about John Adams, you need to watch it. It gives an insight of not only John Adams, but other Founding Fathers and the birth of our country. The king wrote a letter saying they were committing treason by wanting independence from England and they would be killed as traitors. They looked at one another and agreed to do it anyway, fully knowing what the consequences of their actions might be. That spirit is rare these days.

They passed down this great country to us and entrusted us to guard it, just as they did. Perhaps with not the same life-and-death situation, but definitely with the same spirit. But we relaxed and put too much displaced trust into the government. We fell to sleep at the wheel. We have not be vigilant as we needed. The situation we are now in did not happen overnight. If we look back in history, we can see shadows of this nightmare forming back with FDR and the New Deal, and perhaps even before then. Our country has been 'fundamentally transforming' for a long time and just recently we became aware.

I believe we can save our country. It's the place I and so many others call home. It's the place where my ancestors gave up everything to move to so they and their descendants could have a chance at a better life. I'm not giving up yet. It's our turn to stand up for our country now. As Herman Cain says, "We are the Defending Fathers".

We've been doing a great job with the letter writing to our representatives, the Tea Parties, writing blogs, writing to the editors of newspapers, and tax protests. But we need to do more. More letter writing, more Tea Parties, more people writing blogs, more writing to the editors of newspapers, more tax protests. Form constitution study groups, talk with your friends (especially the more liberal leaning ones).

This I believe is one of the biggest problems we are facing. It's not that we're not loud enough or not doing enough - it's that not everyone is listening. The media and the liberal politicians have turned off the liberal voters so much that they aren't listening to our message.

"A house divided against itself cannot stand."  - Abraham Lincoln

As long as we are divided and fighting about little things or calling each other names, we will never save this country. The liberal politicians know that and they are using it to their advantage. They are egging them on and trying to drive us apart. Now I know, there are those that you will never convince no matter how much you try, but even if you talk to 5 of your liberal friends and get one to listen, then that's a start.

I heard a good quote on Beck's radio program this week, which is very scary yet very true: "Socialism happens one teacher at a time". We can turn that around, however, and save this country - one person at a time. Talk to everyone you can. Not in a confrontational manner or an angry one. Just in a calm, rational way, using just the facts. Or dare one of your lifelong liberal friends to a town hall meeting or Tea Party - no one can resist a challenge.

"Not racist. Not Violent. No longer silent."

Enough of the "us vs. them". Enough of the labels. No matter what we believe, we are all still Americans. No matter who we are or where we came from or what color our skin is. We are all Americans.

And yes, there will be some who honestly believe that our country is heading in the right direction right now. They believe that the United States is too powerful and it's time to give someone else a turn. They value countries like Cuba or Venezuela over our own and believe we should be more like them. Those are the people we will never convince and for them, here is a quote from Samuel Adams:

"If ye love wealth greater than liberty, the tranquility of servitude greater than the animating contest for freedom, go home from us in peace. We seek not your counsel, nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you; May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen."

In other words, we won't hold it against you if you love it so much that you want to move to Venezuela or Europe. But we WILL take it personally if you try to change our country and take it away from us. This is the United States of America and we will do our best to keep it the way the Founders intended.