Pete Hendrickson (@LostHorizons)

It's Declaration Day ...and this is not mere rhetoric. AS LONG-TIME READERS OF THESE PAGES are aware, it is my tradition at this time of the year (and often at the beginning of a new year) to post the admittedly rather oratorical observations and admonitions related to Declaration Day which follow. What I fear that too few understand is that these stirring words are not offered as entertainment. Nor are they a theatrical pose. Similarly, these observations and admonitions that follow are not offered in order to inspire noble thoughts and day dreams with which to occupy one's mind while grilling Fourth of July burgers and dogs, or while watching firework displays. They are, rather, meant to inspire serious recognition of unsettling truths about our current American situation and trajectory and resolute corrective action. They are, rather, meant to remind us that those firework displays are reenactments of deadly-serious battles that had to be fought, and real sacrifices that had to be made, in order to bless this land and those fortunate enough to live in it with liberty and the rule of law, and that those blessings do not sustain themselves. Instead, those blessings must be defended and nourished and celebrated every day-- still by battles and sacrifices-- in order to preserve them in the face of constant, sophisticated attack by their enemies. SO, ON THIS FOURTH OF JULY, whether seeing them for the first time or the twentieth, please read the words that follow with all the foregoing in mind. Recognize that right now, more than at any time in our American history, the precious and fragile gifts of liberty and the rule of law bequeathed to us at enormous expense by our noble ancestors are on the very edge of extinction, and it is right now that they must be upheld and defended, by YOU. Recognize, too, that mere political action-- always the easy pretended solution-- will not suffice. As Josef Stalin reportedly remarked while fastening in place his iron tyranny of a Russian people misled into complacency and cooperation by faith in their ideological exceptionalism and the virtues of their institutions, "I don't care who votes, as long as I get to count the votes."* Today's American version of incipient fascism has that same sly smirk about voting now in the mix, but also strong streaks of it's close cousin, "I don't care who gets to write the laws, as long as I get to decide what they mean and how to enforce them," coupled with an unprecedented and perilous control of public perception and dialogue by those same enemies of our American heritage. If we want real freedom-- the kind embodying the principles laid out in the Declaration of Independence-- to survive for ourselves and our children, we all need to starve the rampaging beast that despises those principles and which is sustained by our individual timidity in the face of its self-serving and lawless demands. Now, let's get to those (hopefully) stirring and inspiring words: Continued: https://losthorizons.com/N/246.htm#1