Because today is a federal holiday that celebrates the moment at which the Founding Fathers officially broke away from Great Britain to start a nation "conceived in liberty," I got a message from my "representative" in Congress, Rep. Barbara Lee.  It is not celebratory.  Instead...well, read it and see:

Today, we celebrate our nation's fight for independence and our founding principles of liberty, justice, and equality. As we commemorate Independence Day, we must also confront the history of slavery and recognize that the ideals of justice and equality have not been realized for all.

In states across the country, we are witnessing efforts to suppress the vote and undermine our democracy. Let us take this opportunity to recommit to the fight against injustice and uphold fundamental freedoms for all people. I wish you a safe and happy Fourth of July.

Best,

Barbara Lee

Yes, this is today's email message from my "representative" in Congress.  This message speaks to what she believes.  It is defined by the progressive party line.  It redirects us away from celebrating our great country and its history.  It browbeats us toward assuming guilt for unnamed "slavery" that takes unnamed "freedoms" from "all" people.

Thanks, Barb!  Just so you know, you don't speak for me or to me.  You do not represent me, and as far as I am concerned, you ought to take one of your storied trips to Cuba and simply stay there.

I have a few July Fourth wishes.  First.  I'd like to be free to be grateful for the country we live in, her history, the wisdom of the Founders, and the freedoms I have enjoyed for the first seven decades of my life.  I'd like to see those freedoms restored.  I am bone-weary of censorship; manipulation; and lies by the media, the tech companies, the government.

I wish our TV pundits would stop apologizing for evil.  They're forever telling us that the "majority" of those in the FBI, the "Justice" Department, or any other bureaucracy are "good people."  No, they are not.  If they were, we wouldn't have a two-tiered system of justice, where Antifa roams free to terrorize people, and patriots languish in solitary confinement for walking into the Capitol building and taking a few pictures.  We would never hear the word "insurrection" being directed at the patriotic people who exercised the rights of free people on January 6, and we would laugh the likes of AOC out of office over her needing "therapy" to deal with the stress of having been in the same city with those freedom-loving people.

You want to make us into your slaves, Barbara Lee.  We, who want to live our lives freely, are now told by the thought police that we are evil people, without the rights we grew up with.  We, who can look rationally at those around us and discern good from evil by people's actions, are being asked to normalize every manner of aberrant behavior, while you demand we question our own intrinsic nature as inherently flawed.

I live in an area filled with homeless encampments, Black-on-Black violence, Black-on-Asian violence, home invasions, innocent people accosted and robbed on the street while taking a walk, and defunded police.  I do not feel safe.  I do not go alone to many places I used to frequent because "normal life" on our streets is unsafe, smelly, and dangerous.  I am tired of always having to watch my back as I go about my business.

I wish, Barbara Lee, for a July Fourth that is a celebration of all that is good in this country, rather than a bugle call to White guilt.  I will not, ever, apologize for being a heterosexual Caucasian who has made my own way through life with my head held high.  I can tell the difference between the people around me motivated to succeed in their lives and those who simply want to prey upon others, take, "redistribute," and use.  I can see clearly how taking away our liberty, livelihoods, and self-respect denigrates our humanity.  How come you can't?

I wish for a July Fourth that says thank you to the men and women who died or lost limbs and faculties serving this great country and, ultimately, to pay homage to the men and women whose lofty ideals crafted this free country.  I wish your Marxist ideology would die out before it claims any more of our freedoms.

I wish for a return not to Pride, but to Humility.  Humility, I realize, is a tough concept for the "gimme" generations to grasp.  Humility means being thankful for the freedoms we have rather than strutting around like half-naked peacocks twerking on ambulances whose personnel are trying to rescue the victims of increasingly common stray bullets.  Humility is keeping my private life private, rather than trying to impose it on others.  Humility is asking myself, "How can I help" rather than "How can I get me some?"  Humility is something I wish for all our politicians.  Sadly, it is antithetical to their very nature.

We can, sadly, only wish, on this, our 245th Independence Day, that our politicians reflected our values.

Image: Barbara Lee by Nancy Pelosi.  CC BY 2.0.

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