A Republic…

 

"I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation,  indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

-The American Pledge Of Allegiance (1924 – 1954)

 “A republic…  If you can keep it”

- Benjamin Franklin

Future history books in other countries may well mark July 3 and 4, 2025, as the days democracy died in the United States of America. These are days that the world will never forget.

I wish I could say I was being overly dramatic, but the evets since July 4, when the bill was signed, have done absolutely nothing to even begin to assuage my fears. Between the complete subservience of the media, the rubber stamp on the Supreme Court, and the complete fecklessness of the Republican Party. Trump has a blank check to do whatever he wants.

Despite the chaos in the world today, we celebrated Independence Day a few weeks ago. We all knew it could be the last Independence Day that would mean anything for a long time, or maybe it would be the last ever.

 All the kids and grandkids showed up, and we had a great time.

I wish I could say we didn’t talk about politics and that we just enjoy each other's company, but we did. We all agree that everything right now is screwed, but some of us are hoping for brighter days ahead.

I’ve been accused of being the most depressed optimist in the world. I would say that was on full display yesterday. So, here’s to the 249th birthday of the United States of America. I hope there’s a 250th.

What happened to all of those proud and loud Americans screaming, "The tree of Liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure" for the last fifty years? I would've thought, from their own words, they'd be on this like stink on shit.

I said it before, and I’ll say it again, this is bad. This is really bad. And I don’t know if we can ever come back from it. This might be the end of America. It’s definitely the end of our leadership across the world.

It took me a considerable amount of time to write this brief message.

It was painful to write.

It was scary to write.

But it had to be written.

- Josh (07-18-2025)