Mr. Trump, You Can't Take My Fourth of July Away From Me

John Adams  "[the Fourth should be] "celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival

I'm struggling with the words to express my disdain for the White House plans for this year's Fourth of July celebration on the Mall (well, not completely on the Mall). To hear the Interior Secretary bleat it, it's all about honoring the nation's armed forces for keeping us free for the past two-and-a-half centuries:

"There is no more appropriate place to celebrate the anniversary of American independence than among the Nation’s monuments on the National Mall and the memorials to the service men and women who have defended the United States for the past 243 years,” Bernhardt said in a news release.

“For the first time in many years, the World War II Memorial and areas around the Reflecting Pool will be open for the public to enjoy a stunning fireworks display and an address by our Commander-in-Chief,” he added. “We are excited to open these new areas so that more visitors may experience this year’s Independence Day celebration in our nation’s capital.”

Now correct me if I'm wrong (it happens more often than you might think), but we have Memorial Day, Veterans' Day, and Armed Forces Day (which is now something else, but it's a military-centric day, trust me). It's not like we don't celebrate and thank and treasure the duties, sacrifices, and memories of today's and yesterday's warriors. I spent 14 years on Capitol Hill in the House and Senate Veterans Affairs Committees, and the Armed Services Committee, and another two years working for the Pentagon, and another 12 years at the Department of Veterans Affairs, AND, I'm a DC native--been here most of my 70 years. In all that time, as the son, grandson, and uncle of veterans, I considered those days to be set aside for national reflection on the gift of freedom given selflessly by so many millions of men and women in uniform.

July Fourth, to me, has always been about the larger ideas of independence from tyranny and the shared commitment to establish a more perfect union. It is about celebrating the closing of one miserable door of history and opening a new and hopeful one through which succeeding generations of Americans could pass into a new land of opportunities. It is about keeping that door open for every new visitor, every new refugee, anyone seeking a better life. It is about realizing that we are still imperfect, and that we must continue to slough off old hatreds and animosities and hurtful habits and embrace the idea that we are still a work in progress.

Yes, the Founders and those who could vote in 1776 were all men--mostly men of wealth and privilege--often slave holders, almost genocidal toward native Americans, and unsympathetic to women's views. They were flawed men (many in their 20s) in many ways. Yes, of course they were--don't come at me with 21st century points of view, informed by 243 years of hard lessons; if you can't understand the broad sociological, economic, religious, and political context of the late 18th century society, and you need to overlay today's "enlightened" rewriting of history on the actions of those who were dealt the only cards they had, and played them against a brutalizing King and Parliament, then you fail to understand the gravity of the Founders' actions. Had they failed in their effort, they would have been hanged. Certainly Donald Trump does not understand, nor, it seems, do any of his followers.

The Fourth of July is not about a "commander-in-chief" giving a speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. It is not about a flyover featuring Air Force One. Trump's version of the Fourth is not about commending the men and women of the armed services with gestures intended to elevate those who serve. No, his version is to shine a false light on a man who did not serve. 

On July 3, 1776, John Adams, in Philadelphia, wrote a letter to his wife, Abigail, in Boston, expressing his thoughts on how this new day of independence should be celebrated in the future. He wrote, 

"I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews [shows], Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more."

Note that "Guns" is just a small part of Adams's thinking; "Pomp and Parade," is all about throwing out our national chest with pride, and parading with a sense of accomplishment at a hard-won task. "Games,Sports, Bells, Bonfires"--those are the picnics enjoyed in backyards, parks, and town squares all across the country. And "solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty," is not the same as slavering and drooling over a pompous son-of-a-bitch president who demeans and undermines everything holy and sacred about our democracy. Adams was not speaking of a Golden Calf to be worshiped on the steps of the most noble of our nation's memorials. He was speaking of a quiet time within ourselves--as we choose--to be grateful for our freedom. And that's my Fourth of July.

My photo of the Fourth of July taken many years ago...still a favorite