For more than 10 years, on the 4th of July, my son has read the Declaration of Independence at the "Speaker's Corner" as part of our city's events. This year, he will again read it, with his 13-year-old daughter. It has never been more meaningful.
It is a sad and shameful day today. As I sit in my backyard and listen to the birds sing, all seems peaceful and right with my privileged world. But I rage and weep for my country and for the looming catastrophe as we abandon democracy as we have known it.
I attended a Nationals baseball game in DC yesterday. I stood and watched people of all shapes, colors and nationalities proudly sing The National Anthem. I sat behind a guy we know who also holds tickets in our section. We talked about his husband and our non-binary kids (his nibling) and their beautiful art school graduations. (He used to wear a Nationals T-shirt that says “Impeach 45” on the back.) A woman next to us started showing signs of heat stroke. We called for a medic, instantly there were a group of medically trained people there to help. It was hot. Later a father caught a fly ball in his popcorn box and gave it to a kid. After the game we all sat on the stairs outside of Nats Park and watched the fireworks being let off from the Anacostia. With conflicting thoughts of sadness and pride, I thought “THIS is MY America”. Our roots are deep and most of us are kind and good. We must keep on fighting. My local indivisible group has a signup genius for people to hang signs on an overpass going over 495 today. Seems like a good July 4th activity. We must keep showing up and showing them that we are bigger and stronger.
Thank you Anand, and to Judge Luttig for his words and Fredrick Douglass. Langston Hughes write a poem about what is America to him. Very similar sentiments. Sadly.
I blame most of this madness on Fox entertainment and the other Russia backed propaganda outlets. They should be banned. Why are we not protesting about Fox?
The past couple of days I have spent a great deal of time reflecting on the state of my beloved USA. I have been so grateful for the many learned and creative people like Anand (my personal favorite) who are helping to motivate, inform and educate those of us who are often at a loss for what to do. Substack has been a Godsend for me. I can no longer tune in to most of the media. They saturate us with djt, and even if they are critical I believe they invite us to believe that things are normal. They are not! The one thing that has been mentioned time and time again is the lack of education and understanding of so many of our fellow US citizens. They are not stupid, they are just not well educated or curious enough to become educated. They are being taken advantage of, and the current administration is well aware of how many people have no idea what is truly happening. We need to find a way to help educate the population. If we are to save our the nation that we love, we must find a way to stop blaming and othering one another.
Thanks for reminding us that Frederick Douglass's 1852 Independence Day speech, “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?”, "remains one of the keenest analyses of the promise of America, it’s habitual failure to deliver on that promise, and the necessity of working to realize that unfulfilled promise, no matter how much there is left to do."
Each of us must Get Up, Stand Up to resist the authoritarianism while working to realize the unfulfilled promises.
Sadness and shame have descended upon the experiment. We have been warned for years that some clown could try to wear a crown. But having ignored the needs and basic rights of all who make up the beautiful tapestry of our country, we have allowed this to happen. Sadly hidden in the words of the original and 2025 declaration, there is no mention of the unbidled worship of wealth and power, just a promise of access to freedom, once the king is removed. Will anything really change? Unbridled greed and lust for power have brought us to this new KINGDOM. We the people never really paid attention and now we suffer because power takes many roads to tyranny. Even a system of checks and balances can fall with enough corruption. I will celebrate when WE THE PEOPLE wake up to truth, justice, and peace instead of lies, injustice, and war. tRump is just the clown with the crown. Without education we the people are just another mob looking for another clown. Thomas Paine warned us, and he died in obscurity.
I find it weirdly funny that the random capitalizations of the period find an echo in 47’s bizarrely capitalized posts—a stylistic reminder that his actions echo the founders’ very fears. They are speaking the truths they know to be self-evident, whereas he is rooted in a darkly imagined past.
Thank you for bringing the words of Frederick Douglass to me for the first time. I have only vaguely known about him as a historical figure from the Abolishonist Movement. As an old white man, I am deeply moved.
Thank you for this incredibly insightful and inspiring article, Anand. I can't tell you how much joy and meaning you add to my life. I will be sharing this post with all my friends. Peace.
For more than 10 years, on the 4th of July, my son has read the Declaration of Independence at the "Speaker's Corner" as part of our city's events. This year, he will again read it, with his 13-year-old daughter. It has never been more meaningful.
It is a sad and shameful day today. As I sit in my backyard and listen to the birds sing, all seems peaceful and right with my privileged world. But I rage and weep for my country and for the looming catastrophe as we abandon democracy as we have known it.
Very grateful to The Ink and Judge Luttig for this insightful, profound commentary.
I attended a Nationals baseball game in DC yesterday. I stood and watched people of all shapes, colors and nationalities proudly sing The National Anthem. I sat behind a guy we know who also holds tickets in our section. We talked about his husband and our non-binary kids (his nibling) and their beautiful art school graduations. (He used to wear a Nationals T-shirt that says “Impeach 45” on the back.) A woman next to us started showing signs of heat stroke. We called for a medic, instantly there were a group of medically trained people there to help. It was hot. Later a father caught a fly ball in his popcorn box and gave it to a kid. After the game we all sat on the stairs outside of Nats Park and watched the fireworks being let off from the Anacostia. With conflicting thoughts of sadness and pride, I thought “THIS is MY America”. Our roots are deep and most of us are kind and good. We must keep on fighting. My local indivisible group has a signup genius for people to hang signs on an overpass going over 495 today. Seems like a good July 4th activity. We must keep showing up and showing them that we are bigger and stronger.
Thank you Anand, and to Judge Luttig for his words and Fredrick Douglass. Langston Hughes write a poem about what is America to him. Very similar sentiments. Sadly.
I blame most of this madness on Fox entertainment and the other Russia backed propaganda outlets. They should be banned. Why are we not protesting about Fox?
The past couple of days I have spent a great deal of time reflecting on the state of my beloved USA. I have been so grateful for the many learned and creative people like Anand (my personal favorite) who are helping to motivate, inform and educate those of us who are often at a loss for what to do. Substack has been a Godsend for me. I can no longer tune in to most of the media. They saturate us with djt, and even if they are critical I believe they invite us to believe that things are normal. They are not! The one thing that has been mentioned time and time again is the lack of education and understanding of so many of our fellow US citizens. They are not stupid, they are just not well educated or curious enough to become educated. They are being taken advantage of, and the current administration is well aware of how many people have no idea what is truly happening. We need to find a way to help educate the population. If we are to save our the nation that we love, we must find a way to stop blaming and othering one another.
Thanks for reminding us that Frederick Douglass's 1852 Independence Day speech, “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?”, "remains one of the keenest analyses of the promise of America, it’s habitual failure to deliver on that promise, and the necessity of working to realize that unfulfilled promise, no matter how much there is left to do."
Each of us must Get Up, Stand Up to resist the authoritarianism while working to realize the unfulfilled promises.
Taking away poor kids breakfast & lunch to give tens of thousands or more to the wealthiest? #Resist! The Trump tariffs & Big Ugly Tax Cut for the Wealthiest impose the biggest redistribution of income from the poor to the rich in U.S. history. The bottom 10% will average reduction of more than 6.5%, while the top 0.1% would increase several $100,000s/yr or more. Yale Budget Lab 6/13/25 https://budgetlab.yale.edu/research/combined-distributional-effects-one-big-beautiful-bill-act-and-tariffs https://open.substack.com/pub/contrarian/p/the-big-bold-betrayal?
I’d like to find a bit of hope today, but I’m mourning
Sadness and shame have descended upon the experiment. We have been warned for years that some clown could try to wear a crown. But having ignored the needs and basic rights of all who make up the beautiful tapestry of our country, we have allowed this to happen. Sadly hidden in the words of the original and 2025 declaration, there is no mention of the unbidled worship of wealth and power, just a promise of access to freedom, once the king is removed. Will anything really change? Unbridled greed and lust for power have brought us to this new KINGDOM. We the people never really paid attention and now we suffer because power takes many roads to tyranny. Even a system of checks and balances can fall with enough corruption. I will celebrate when WE THE PEOPLE wake up to truth, justice, and peace instead of lies, injustice, and war. tRump is just the clown with the crown. Without education we the people are just another mob looking for another clown. Thomas Paine warned us, and he died in obscurity.
I find it weirdly funny that the random capitalizations of the period find an echo in 47’s bizarrely capitalized posts—a stylistic reminder that his actions echo the founders’ very fears. They are speaking the truths they know to be self-evident, whereas he is rooted in a darkly imagined past.
Thank you for bringing the words of Frederick Douglass to me for the first time. I have only vaguely known about him as a historical figure from the Abolishonist Movement. As an old white man, I am deeply moved.
Thank you for this incredibly insightful and inspiring article, Anand. I can't tell you how much joy and meaning you add to my life. I will be sharing this post with all my friends. Peace.