Independence?

Friends,

I want to share a brief rant and follow with a lamentation in response to the just-passed national legislation on economics. 

Among Trump’s heap of ironies, betrayals, and lies, he chose our traditional Independence Day to codify yet another form of a dependency government similar to the British colonial rule we overcame. The American colonies had to fight off an oppressive system of taxation and occupation imposed by the British king as part of his effort to unilaterally bleed the burgeoning new colony’s economy as much as possible. So here we are, having courageously fought a war that established the freedom of self-rule in our war of independence. Tragically we are now reverting back to a ruler who is as exploitative and cruel as was King George.. The details of the recently passed legislation by an unpatriotic and cowardly Republican/Trumpian Congress shamefully disregards our years of trying to live into the moral ideals expressed in the sacred document of our Declaration of Independence. (Worth reading again at https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-transcript) In spite of the serious failures to live up to those ideals, I am still proud of our ongoing, struggling effort to do so... until the current catastrophe of Trump’s administration. 

And here’s the lament. I lament our nation’s abysmal failure/betrayal to continue to honor the ideals of the Declaration of Independence  and our Constitution, and I can only hope we can once again side with our better and wiser angels to recover what we have now lost. I look forward to a second Independence Day when, instead of fireworks and bravado, the day will be celebrated with hymns of honoring the American people and the integrity of our leadership for courageously leading back on course to become the nation we were meant to be. 

So I cannot celebrate our now compromised sense of independence. What I recommend instead is to acknowledge and celebrate the heroes of the past week and begin the process of creating and supporting a new strategy for the emancipation and writing of our own generation’s vision for a Declaration of Independence.

I celebrate, for example, the 50 senators who voted against Trump’s legislation. Half of the Senate, including four Republicans, had the courage and integrity to oppose what they surely knew was a contradiction to the basic ideal of equality and justice. And I think of all those in the House who stood fast. And I thank Hakeem Jeffries for giving a marathon speech to try to delay or hold off the vote. And I am glad for all of us who personally expressed our opposition as well, in whatever way we could. And although I am horrified at the repercussions of the vote, I recognize with appreciation that our democratic system offered the opportunity for a Congressional vote, and for all of us to follow the process and to study the results. Our concern, of course, is that our democracy is in danger with what certainly appears to be an emerging autocratic government. 

We are likely in for a long haul to reestablish our nation’s independence from the current deeply embedded autocratic rule. How are we to redeem and transform our nation from the dangerous force it now has become back to the creative institution it has the potential to become. I take courage by the example of other nations who have had to repeatedly fight for their independence, and I especially honor all nations who have used nonviolence in their quest: India, Estonia, and The Philippines, among many others. And we can and will reclaim our independence as well.

Peace,
Tom