What are you doing on Independence Day?

I am getting ready to celebrate Independence Day, mine of course, the Fourth of July when men of courage signed a document that Declared the Independence of the united States of America from Great Britain and King George the Third. I will get up early and fly the American Flag from my home, all weekend, remembering the reason. I will then re-read the Declaration of Independence with a critical eye to see if I will join those long dead heroes and sign on with them. That is the point, there has just been a Supreme Court Decision about the 2nd Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America - and although it was written in the same English language of the Declaration of Independence the learned justices don't understand what "infringed" means in regards to my Rights (and yours, too).

I am certain that George Washington did understand, Adams understood, Jefferson knew what all those words meant in all our founding documents. They argued over them, crossing off the ones that wouldn't work, crafting phrases carefully knowing that the World would study them and be encouraged by them. They expected that they would be a foundation of education in politics in America forever - after all men were dying for them already. It did help that the British had departed from Boston, and fortune telling wasn't predicting the defeats of Washington's Army on Long Island and in New York. Congress would play a dance with the British forces and still try and sustain the Rebellion, it wasn't a Revolution until later. Brave men, you can join them, sign up after you read the words. "Teach your children war and politics, so they may teach their children agriculture and business, so they may teach their children music and verse."

Maybe education was the problem, ever wonder at Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass, they seemed to do so well without much public education, certainly no certified teachers. I am a library keeper, and to me, if I could bring back the founding fathers - I am sure they would be stunned by any restriction on a man carrying arms. But then they were willing to fight about it and get it right. Do the words "our lives, our fortunes, and our most sacred honor" have meaning for you, would you sign the Declaration of Independence. Or are you waiting for a judgement from the Highest Court in the land?

Have a wonderful holiday celebration, a safe one, and remember what it is all about.