nobody asked…

Every year about this time I get several patriotic July 4th messages from friends and acquaintances. Most are recycled annually, most are along the lines of “Happy Birthday America”, most extol the virtues and honor of those who died to give us the freedoms we enjoy, and most come from people standing way off to my right. This year those people have been noticeably quiet. Wonder why?

Yesterday we joined several other folks at a friend’s house for a cookout. The people there were from all over the map — New York to Oklahoma, Michigan to Mississippi, Ohio to Tennessee. Our hosts were Canadian. All of us now call Nashville home. We also represented a variety of religious backgrounds and convictions, including “none of the above.” Over piles of good food and a few bottles of wine from at least 3 different countries, this eclectic group shared laughter, personal pathos, memories, and feelings. And we learned much in that short time about our neighbors from north of the border, especially about Canada Day, their Independence Day which falls on July 1 each year.

What I found most interesting was that this diverse group was of one mind regarding Bush, the war in Iraq, and the sorry condition our country and world are in because of the Bush administration. We have the highest respect for the Presidency, but disdain for this president. We honor our military men and women and thank them for serving their country, but we begrudge this ill-conceived war based on lies, misinformation, and incompetency. We wish for our troops in Iraq a quick and safe return home, but we fear hundreds or thousands more will die in Bush’s Battle for Barrels. We are not all Bible-thumping fundamentalist Christians, but that does NOT diminish our American patriotism as the Bushies would have you believe.

We love our country and our freedom, but we are afraid and angry that those very freedoms fought for and paid for with American lives are being eroded, taken away bit by bit, by a greedy and uncaring administration, congress and yes, now even the Supreme Court, which with one decision has done more to derail democracy, freedom and our Constitution than any other single event or decision in history.

Today, July 4, 2005, we celebrate America’s birth date, our independence and our remaining freedoms. We must protect the rights and freedoms we still have and regain those already lost. The attack on us is coming not from an external aggressor or terrorist, but from the powerful few among us who wield their swords for personal gain. They are “The Bush Administration”.

They hide behind a righteous Christian banner because they know there are many votes there, votes from unquestioning citizens that will follow like lambs to the slaughter. They take away our rights and freedoms to achieve their own purposes while proclaiming it necessary for “homeland defense.” They spend billions of our tax dollars to wage war on a faceless enemy and look for non-existent weapons of mass destruction, destroying Iraq’s infrastructure in the process. Then more billions to pay for rebuilding what they just destroyed. How much of that rebuilding loot ends up in the accounts of the powerful few, their friends, relatives or associates? Think what we could have achieved right here at home with those billions back in our pockets.

You and I were guaranteed “certain unalienable Rights”, including “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
I want mine back!