Happy 235th Birthday, America! It is surprising to realize that the Bicentennial was more than a third century ago. The country had a great party, sans Twitter™, Facebook™, and smart phones. The songs and stories of our nation’s history were heard throughout the land. I recall our family trip to Boston where we walked the Freedom Trail, threw tea into Boston Harbor, and learned about the hardships of the Mayflower settlers at Plimouth Plantation. Our daughter won the local library’s writing contest with her recollections of the trip. For a prize she received a copy of Caddy Woodlawn.
This morning I heard a lovely rendition of “America, the Beautiful.” When was the last time I heard that? Truthfully I can’t remember. The local classical music station, WFMT, played America’s music all morning: “O! Susannah!”, “Grand Canyon Suite”, “Battle Hymn of the Republic”, Aaron Copland's "Old American Songs"... Do children still learn the wonderful songs of our country’s history in schools so driven by diversity and egalitarianism? I’m fairly certain that Woody Guthrie songs, many of which I dearly love to hear, are still on the ‘approved list’ because of the author’s life of protest and ‘oppression’. Unfortunately, many of Stephen Foster’s songs are banned by the same folks who wish to sanitize Mark Twain. Sorry, folks; history is history. It is not the polemic of today’s social scientist.
“All men are created equal” does not mean all men’s outcomes are created equal only that some standard of fairness should prevail. Nor did it mean that all human qualities are equally valuable which was the patent folly of Marxism. [Incidentally, our forefathers really meant, white men are created equal—not slaves, and certainly not women!]
What has become of America’s dream of a republican form government that is representative; where the rights of the minority are protected by the majority? I seriously doubt that today’s governance is representative of anyone lacking political or financial clout, anyone expecting comity and compromise, anyone without an agenda. Tyranny of the minority predominates. No wonder we seldom hear the songs and stories of our great history, warts and all. The Levelers (and that's the LCD Levelers, lowest common denominator) are too set on contorting that history to suit agendas unrepresentative of the majority, creating a country never intended by the signers of our Declaration of Independence. Yes, the word is “Independence,” with liberty and justice for minority and majority alike.
Tonight, while the fireworks brighten the night, give some thought to where it all went wrong and how we can correct our direction.
