“The second day of July, 1776-will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America…It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other from this time forward forever more.” John Adams wrote this in a letter to his wife Abigail about the day the Second Continental Congress voted to approve a resolution of independence. Of course, the Declaration of Independence wasn’t actually adopted until July 4th. So Adams jumped the gun by two days. But he set the standard about how Americans should celebrate the most important day in our history. We should feel good and proud about ourselves as a country and a society. We are the standard for the rest of the whole to emulate.
The country has survived many difficult times in the past two plus centuries. We fought. We disagreed. We almost tore the country apart. We had strong leaders who led us through the dangerous times, and weak leaders who sent us on detours that forced us to come together and find our way back. But I’ve never felt the embarrassment I’m experiencing on this Fourth of July. So much needs to be done. Yet, so little is being accomplished. Each day we wake up to the unraveling of a bizarre and dangerous character that we have elected president. I know all the reasons it happened. We can only blame ourselves for letting our disagreements and treatment of each other, which led us to electing someone who appeals to our worst instincts, and will eventually betray even those who voted for him.
As outraged and embarrassed as I am about Trump, it’s the leaders of the Republican Party who won’t stand up to him that shocks me even more. They are small men who are afraid for their own jobs who would never tolerate the behavior we see everyday from Trump by someone who worked for them. One of the great leaders of the 20th century, Dwight Eisenhower said, “The supreme quality of leadership is unquestionably integrity. Without it, no real success is possible, no matter whether it is on a section gang, a football field, in an army, or in office”.
The void in American leadership is frightening, not only here but around the world. Leaders of some of our strongest allies like Angela Merkel of Germany, Emmanuel Macron of France, and Justin Trudeau of Canada have very diplomatically said we can’t trust and count on the United States as we always have with this guy running things. We are losing respect around the world, and that’s a very difficult thing to recover.
Where are the leaders? Who will stand up and show some integrity? We should look back on those men who stood up for what they believed in Independence Hall in that hot summer of 1776. They were all flawed people who came together for a common purpose. They were willing to stand up, despite great personal danger, work out their differences and achieve one of mankind’s greatest accomplishments. They created a country and society never seen before. It was built to withstand human folly. But, I wonder as we celebrate what those men gave us on this Fourth of July, what they would think of our choices.
Leave a Reply