A Thoughtful Fourth

Yes, we still have a helluva country.  

Despite the name calling of our president and a congressman uploading photos of his own body parts to young women online, our constitution’s continues to crank out its job.

How do I know?

Because look what happened to Dominique Strauss-Khan.

A few weeks ago every media outlet on earth had already tried and convicted him, but given time, new evidence revealed that his victim was not the lily white flower after all.   Turns out she lied about her past, about coming to this country after escaping gang rape.

It never happened.

She also lied about her encounter with Strauss-Kahn, changing her story numerous times.

 And this "innocent" foreigner had close ties to a drug dealer now serving time for hauling 400 pounds of pot—that's a huge amount--about a dump truck’s worth.  And she called her jailed friend repeatedly.   'Course if one of her phones didn’t work, she could easily pick up another.   This busy little maid owns five.

When the story first broke, the public rushed to judgment—okay, I did too—but thank God we have a constitution that forces us to follow procedures, promising a person his day in court.

And our constitution saved us again.

Sometimes the average person forgets about the document that followed The Declaration of Independence 11 years later.   The words are old and might have faded with time, but we made copies, lots of them, so we’d never forget.

 

We can’t.

 If we do, we’ve lost our country, and everything we've ever built and dreamed.

Thomas Jefferson

You see there’s something very significant, even magical about the founding of America.  Amazingly, we had the right people at the right place and time, and the coincidences of flawed human beings coming together and creating greatness--a Jefferson, Franklin, Washington, Madison, and Adams--all in the same room.  It's got to be more than chance.

It's a wonder, that's all I can say.    But getting back to basics.
  

Everyone knows the Declaration was signed by the members of the Continental Congress on July 2 through the 4^th in 1776, but did you also know that Thomas Jefferson— the father of the Declaration—and John Adams, who always stood apart on issues, fought together for the passage of the Declaration and even died on the same day, July 4, 1826, exactly fifty years later?

John Adams

Adams’ last words in this world were:  “Jefferson lives!”  And by chance, Jefferson lingered a few hours longer.

Here’s one more coincidence.
James Monroe, our fifth president, but younger than Adams and Jefferson, also died on July 4^th but in 1831.
 That’s our second, third, and fifth presidents passing on the same day.

 

So let’s take a moment to remember.  And happy fireworks to all.