Independence Day, Government Spending And A Trip To Africa...

Independence Day is nearly here.  How many people in today’s America really know what that means? 

In early June of 1776, representatives of the original 13 colonies reviewed a document penned by Thomas Jefferson that would declare their independence from Great Britain.  On July 4^th the Declaration of Independence was adopted by the Continental Congress and thus, July 4^th is celebrated as American Independence Day.  It is considered the birthday of the United States of America and has been celebrated as such ever since.  In 1941 it was declared a federal holiday.

July 4^th is normally celebrated at the federal, state and local level.  This year, however, things seem to have changed a bit.  First of all, the President of the United States is currently in Africa on a 100 million dollar, taxpayer-funded trip telling the African people he will send them 7 billion dollars to upgrade their power grids to provide more electricity to the people.  Meanwhile, he has the Environmental Protection Agency working to create more regulations on energy production, namely the killing of the coal industry, that will cause energy prices in this country to raise dramatically. 

And while the President is spending and promising more and more tax-payers’ dollars – American military bases are being forced to cancel fireworks shows commemorating Independence Day because of budget cuts. The President blames the sequester. 

The President told young Africans at a town-hall meeting that the United States doesn’t want to escalate our military involvement in the world because, for one, it’s too costly.  This, of course, from the man who believes that more and more spending and debt is good for the economy.  He went on to say that the United States would then be “able to step back and worry about selling iPads and planes. That’s what we would like to do.”

But his next statement should have made every American sick to their stomachs.

“But what we won’t do,” he said, “is just stand by if our embassy is being attacked or our people are in vulnerable situations.”  Really, Mr. President?  Like you did in Benghazi in September?  Was that your way of “not standing by”? 

My wife works for a federal agency.  On Monday she was invited to a “birthday ice cream party” during her lunch break.  When she asked whose birthday it was (since there had been no mention of it whatsoever) the person whispered “America’s,” as though they didn’t want anyone to hear.  Arden was left to wonder if they were hiding the fact that they were celebrating the birth of our nation.  Have we really progressed that far?

It seems more and more people in our government (on the left, anyway) are getting away from the belief in American exceptionalism and American greatness.  Yet we remain one of the countries that immigrants, both legal and illegal, want to come to.  It seems people of other nations believe in us more than we do these days.  Liberalism and socialism destroy nations from within.  When you stop believing in your own nation and refuse to acknowledge the good it does in the world on a regular basis, you become part of the problem.  Which side are you on?