(Originally published July 8th, 2021, but–unfortunately, and with the addition of the new SCOTUS, still as timely now as it was then)
Artwork by Michael DiMilo
By Geoff Carter
Our nation is celebrating The Fourth of July today. Any American can—hopefully—tell you what this holiday is all about. On July 4, 1776, the Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence, severing all American ties with Great Britain. The founding fathers were sick of being taxed and governed and exploited by another government—so they said enough is enough and made the break. They wanted freedom and went to war to fight for that ideal—and other more noble ones. The preamble to the Declaration of Independence stated that all humans had “certain unalienable rights” including “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” and that only independence from a tyrannical power would ensure these freedoms.
Our founding fathers eventually authored the Constitution, ensuring us the rights—among others—to popular sovereignty, free speech, assembly, due process, and the freedom to worship as we please. This document has worked remarkably well for the two hundred some years it has been in force, although today America finds itself in a rather odd position.
Without openly stating its intentions—as our founding fathers did on that first fateful Fourth of July—the Republican party seems to be in the process of declaring their own independence from the American people. Apparently, they think we are standing between them and their best interests and so they don’t want to be beholden to us—their constituents—anymore.
Some Republican representatives seem to have lost faith in our electoral system, insisting that the last presidential election was stolen, and that voter fraud is running rampant. Shortly after the last election, former President Trump lobbied openly for Republican state legislatures in Arizona, Georgian, and Pennsylvania to overturn election results and declare him the winner. When that didn’t work, he summoned thousands of his followers to Washington, D.C., where he openly incited them to go to the Capitol and “stop the steal” at which point they overran the Capitol Building, many of them screaming “Hang Mike Pence!” They then attempted to stop the certification of the election, desecrating our Capitol in the process. In short, Trump incited his followers to go to war against our democracy. Luckily, they were not successful. One has to wonder whether this was an isolated incident or the beginning of a broader Republican move to split off from the people.
A number of prominent Republicans, including Josh Hawley, Ted Cruz, and Ron Johnson, maintained the election was stolen. Other Republican lawmakers are pushing legislation that would restrict early voting, ballot drop boxes, mail-in voting, and easy access to the polls. One recently enacted Georgia law has made it illegal to give food or water to voters standing in line—sometimes for hours.
Over the past decade, Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell has almost single-handedly packed the Supreme Court with extreme conservatives like Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, judges who have consistently supported voter suppression laws. Just recently, the court upheld two Arizona laws restricting how ballots are cast. Republicans do not want to be dependent on the American electoral system. They don’t trust us. They don’t want to know what we think. They want to be independent of—separated from—the American voter.
The Republican party also seems to believe it is no longer responsible for the welfare of its citizens—for their “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”—and that Americans need to stop expecting assistance from their own government. It reminds me of a high-school acquaintance whose father told him he had to move out of the house on his eighteenth birthday. It seems that Congress is a big believer in tough love, too.
While most other developed nations have instituted universal state-run health care, the United States still has an archaic privatized health insurance system. While the Affordable Care Act was a good start, covering millions of previously uninsured Americans, millions more remain vulnerable. Many Americans—citizens of the greatest nation in the world—fearing crippling medical bills, put off doctor visits. Some even try to ration necessary medication like insulin because of its cost.
Republicans, however, specifically in the Senate, have consistently refused to pass legislation regulating the health care industry, except to protect insurance and the big pharmaceutical companies. Apparently, they believe the American citizen’s right to life is no longer inalienable. And so, Republicans once again prove their desire to be—like the father throwing his eighteen-year-old out of the house—independent from its own citizenry. We’re in their way; they’re afraid we might vote them out of office.
While Congress has been desperately trying to separate itself from the people it serves, it has simultaneously embraced corporate America. Conglomerates like GE, Exxon, FedEx, Nike, and many more are supported by lucrative government subsidies and generous tax breaks. Many pay no taxes whatsoever while the average citizen pays fifteen percent in income tax and that much again for Medicare and Social Security—programs that, by the way, our Republican friends have been trying to abolish for years. PACs and lobbyists like the NRA have poured millions of dollars into the coffers of senators and representatives. The Republicans don’t want independence from their corporate friends, or the one-percenters who support them. They can’t afford it.
There is hope for the nation. While certain segments of our government want to break from the American people, others are still fighting for us. President Biden and the Progressive Caucus. President Biden spearheaded the American Rescue Act, providing economic relief to millions suffering the effects of the pandemic. He, and the Democrats, are currently trying to push through an infrastructure bill that would repair and replace thousands of bridges, roads, and buildings.
As we celebrate the original Independence Day, it’s important to recognize and honor the qualities and sensibilities that made us come together as a country.
Here’s a message to the seditionists: To those who want a new independence, a separation from the very people they serve; to those who to exclude its own citizens from the rights and privileges granted to every American; to those who believe the will of the American is of no consequence, and that their welfare is not the responsibility of their offices, we will not let you splinter our citizenry and shatter our ideals.
Go your own way. The rest of us will celebrate American independence together, with liberty and justice for all.