Independence Day...The Non-Fans

    A few years ago I wrote a Fourth of July piece that was pretty much a love letter to the Founding Fathers; specifically to John Adams, who is the Founding Father I admire most. Feel free to read it here. I had read a biography of John Adams that was made into a mini-series on HBO. Anyway, read if you’re interested. Having said that, I thought of doing something like that again tonight. However, I found that I was just repeating myself and you know how much I hate doing that! But the more I thought about this momentous holiday, it occured to me that many people of a certain ilk are not fond of the celebratory worship that many, if not most, Americans feel. So, at the risk of being a kill-joy...let’s talk about them, shall we?

    Man About Town Chow Magee told me earlier today that he had read or seen a piece somewhere that more than a handful of people across the country were openly demonstrating against their local July 4th celebrations. That is their right, and I support that right. I also have the right to call them various names that I won’t repeat here. In fact, I told Chow that I had read a study by a psychologist who specializes in seasonal disorders who calculated that January 24 is the most depressing day of the year. But I doubt that holds true for everyone in the U.S. In fact, a recent Gallup poll found that only 36% of Democrats are “very” or “extremely” proud to be an American. If you’re among the Democratic majority, then, your worst day is tomorrow: July 4th.

    Liberals and progressives have been waging war on Independence Day, and patriotism generally, for years now. In 2019, almost a year before the country’s short-lived re-founding as a woke nation. Time published an article titled “How I Came to View the American as a Threat.” Once 2020 came around, that sentiment was everywhere. On July 4th of that same year, the activist and former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick tweeted: “Black ppl have been dehumanized, brutalized, criminalized + terrorized by America for centuries, & are expected to join your commemoration of ‘independence’ while you enslaved our ancestors. We reject your celebration of white supremacy & look forward to liberation for all.”

    I appreciated his tweet because it revealed him as, how do I put this delicately, a liar. In 2016, when Kaepernick began taking a knee during the National Anthem, he claimed that he was doing so out of love of country. “I’m not anti-America,” he said. “I love America...I think having these conversations helps everybody have a better understanding of where everybody is coming from.”

    The media, of course, ate that up. Article after article elaborated on Kaepernick’s protest as the highest form of patriotism. But after 2020, love of country would never again be cited as a defense for leftist agitation. And expressions of patriotism could get you deplatformed from a campus speaking gig. The George Floyd Summer changed everything on the left. It freed the radicals from publicly pretending to appreciate America. And ever since then, we have been subjected to all sorts of deranged arguments about the evils of celebrating Independence Day.

    My all-time favorite example is the National Geographic tweet of July 4, 2021: “Scientists found that vulnerable people and communities of color are disproportionately exposed to air pollution from firework celebrations.” And I am sure many “true-believers” believe this to be the secret purpose of fireworks altogether.

    So as we are a few hours away from commemorating America’s independence, I have some questions for my fellow citizens on the Left: If you don’t like this country, why do you think it is cruel, instead of kind, to stop people from coming here? Why do you insist that it is wrong to deport illegal immigrants (again, not legal immigrants, but illegal immigrants) from such a horrible land? And if you’re not impressed with our Founding ideals, why, as noted in a recent history podcast, do you echo the Declaration of Independence and declare “No Kings” when you protest what you claim is executive overreach?

    The Left is sure to be stumped by these questions, but I think I know the answer. I believe America is objectively great (with more than its share of flaws just like any modern nation), and that its greatness has been experienced by leftists, no matter what they claim. In other words, America’s enduring greatness has become its own “self-evident” and inescapable truth, and that’s what drives its enemies absolutely crazy.

    Sorry for the early morning rant! Trust me, my previous piece on Independence Day cited above, is much more heartwarming! Happy Fourth to all...and to all a good night!

Write to Peter: magtour@icloud.com