“These are the times that try men’s souls: The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.”
— Thomas Paine, 1776, The American Crisis

A view of the Washington Monument from East Potomac Park’s Hains Point Golf Course: Glynn Wilson

Sunday Reader – 
By Glynn Wilson –

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Please forgive my exuberance, if that’s what this is, my enthusiasm for American Independence Day, which has long been my favorite national holiday, coming up this week on Thursday. Also forgive my lack of charity for any living embodiment of tyranny, especially one who brags about consuming fast food hamberders in the White House and jokes with foreign dictators about election tampering and the murder of journalists.

While reading the Sunday papers online in the campground this morning just 12-13 miles from the White House, I’m wondering where the editorial rebuke is from the great New York Times?

The Washington Post editorial page carries two worthy columns calling Trump to task for his political takeover of our most important national holiday celebrating our Declaration of Independence from British tyranny, the strongest from Max Boot.

Trump just proved he doesn’t even know the meaning of America

There’s another column from Colbert I. King quoting Frederick Douglass.

Frederick Douglass would be outraged at Trump’s Fourth of July self-celebration

In case you missed it, I’ve already written one story about this.

Trump Officially Takes Over Independence Day Celebration in Washington for 2020 Reelection Campaign

Please forgive my lack of enthusiasm for Trump’s plan to salute only the U.S. military in his 2020 campaign speech, since even Thomas Jefferson knew that a free press was as important to preserving human liberty and democracy as all the guns, missiles, war ships and planes in the world.

I am wearing my Valley Forge T-shirt today, emblazoned with the red, white and blue stars and bars, because like Tom Paine wrote so long ago, I know that “tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered.” We’ve conquered it before, with the power of the printed word and George Washington’s Army, only to see it tattered by a man who would rather spend his time hanging out with dictators like Russia’s Vladimir Putin and North Korea’s Kim Jong-Un than some of the incredibly smart people in the nation’s capital who write for a living.

We have for the first time a president who does not read, and openly shows his disdain for those who do, especially those who read and understand history.

George W. Bush may not have been that much of a reader, but even he didn’t go out of his way to disrespect those who read and write. Hell, he even became something of a painter after leaving office. Even the Bush family is appalled by Trump’s behavior.

So I have not decided yet whether I’m even going downtown to the National Mall for the celebration this year, even though it might actually be less crowded than year’s past. Most of the liberals from Greenbelt to Takoma Park, Maryland say they will boycott Trump’s takeover of the event. Maybe some rednecks and neo-Nazi’s from Virginia will cross the river to hear Trump’s meandering, incoherent rant. But I suspect the crowd will be as sparse as that for Trump’s inauguration, compared to the one for President Barack Obama’s.

Protests

If I do make the trek downtown on the Fourth, I will mostly likely join the protesters, and skip Trump’s speech.

“This year, Donald Trump has taken over the Independence Day celebrations at the National Mall in Washington. All indications are that he will try to convert this traditionally non-political celebration of America into a partisan event focused on himself,” according to one protest group on Facebook. “This is outrageous. We call on patriotic Americans to voice their dissent at Trump, his policies, and his lawless assault on our Constitution.”

They urge protesters to arrive early to claim a spot as close as possible to where Trump will be speaking, and to pack a picnic, bring friends and enjoy the day.

“But when Trump starts speaking, let him, the media, and the world know what you think of his lawless assault on our Constitution.”

Fireworks Location

After scouting the location of the new fireworks location forced on the National Park Service by Trump, who insisted on making a speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in prime time, I will report that due to the launch site moving from over by the Washington Monument to West Potomac Park behind the Jefferson Memorial, the best views of the fireworks will be around the Tidal Basin looking over the water.

If I get a chance this week, or if the Washington Post or the New York Times want to do the public a favor, it would be a good idea to go down to the National Harbor marina and interview some of the boat and yacht owners, since due to Trump’s changes, no boating would be allowed from 4 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. along the east side of the Potomac River from the 14th Street Bridge to just north of the Arlington Memorial Bridge. Boats will also be barred from anchoring between the Arlington Memorial Bridge and the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge.

Independence Day Fireworks 2014: Glynn Wilson

White and Christian

The crowd will mostly be like Trump’s staff itself, mostly white and hypocritically Christian, much like the crowd Frederick Douglas criticized in 1852.

“But the church of this country is not only indifferent to the wrongs of the slave, it actually takes sides with the oppressors,” he said. “It has made itself the bulwark of American slavery, and the shield of American slave-hunters. Many of its most eloquent Divines, who stand as the very lights of the church, have shamelessly given the sanction of religion and the Bible to the whole slave system. They have taught that man may, properly, be a slave; that the relation of master and slave is ordained of God; that to send back an escaped bondman to his master is clearly the duty of all the followers of the Lord Jesus Christ; and this horrible blasphemy is palmed off upon the world for Christianity.”

We are back there again, back in the 1850s, and it’s time to stand up and fight this tyranny again. It took a great Civil War and the death of 850,000 Americans to abolish slavery and another 100 years to bring about full civil rights for all as our national creed declared.

“We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness,” according to the Declaration of Independence.

It continues: “That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its Foundation on such Principles, and organizing its Powers in such Form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”

The people and the press waited for two long years for Special Counsel Robert Mueller to complete an investigation of Trump’s collusion and obstruction of justice, and save us from Trump’s brand of tyranny. So far Congress has failed to act on our behalf, and the press seems as muted as ever in its capitalist endeavor.

What further atrocity will it take to make the people rise up? Will you lay down like cowards and let Trump’s wrecking ball crew roll all over our national institutions for another four years? What Republican will stand up to Trump? What Democrat will stand against Trump with enough stature to defeat him in 2020?

I don’t have all the answers, but can only sound the clarion call for revolution once again if it’s needed. The rest will be up to you, “the people.”

More Photos

Independence Day Fireworks 2014: Glynn Wilson

Cherry Blossoms at the Jefferson Memorial: Glynn Wilson