July the Fifth

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Independence? That depends. The United States of America passed its 241st birthday rather quickly, its hands partially covering its eyes.  Mired in the biggest scandal since the impeachment of Richard Nixon in 1974, much of the country has been left wondering how it happened. For those who claim to love democracy, there is a profound discomfort in the air, on television and in social media. It seems to confirm that the Republic is really a delusion. Peer behind that curtain and it hits us right in the face. We are living under the thumb of a homegrown oligarchy, a  twisted coalition of natavist fascism and fundamentalist theocracy, fueled by the deep pockets of a multi-billionaire corporate gentry. Today, the engine of the United States is being run by a legislature that is home to a group of hard-line ideologues, and an incompetent executive that is thoroughly corrupt. Coupled by an ignorant electorate that no longer reads and takes every opportunity to profess its disdain for government, the results are sadly predictable. Though I am not the first to express these sentiments they are nonetheless disquieting, because they are nonetheless real.

One cannot help but be reminded of the famous story involving a certain Mr. Franklin:

Outside Independence Hall when the Constitutional Convention of 1787 ended, Mrs. Powel of Philadelphia asked Benjamin Franklin, "Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?" With no hesitation whatsoever, Franklin responded, "A republic, if you can keep it." 
 


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