Independence Day
A small note in the On This Day section of the New York Times reminded me that July 3rd 1863 was the final day of the Battle of Gettysburg. This gave rise to several trains of thought, but perhaps a moment of reflection is in order.
It is an open secret that I am a New Yorker by birth and disposition, but I live in Pennsylvania now and I am proud of it. A state slogan to encourage tourism a few years caused some controversy by declaring "Pennsylvania where America began" but it was more than merely an allusion to Philadelphia where our Founding Fathers met to write our Declaration of Independence. It would serve us to remember that struggle as we watch the people of Iraq trying to forge a free democracy. Our first attempts in the Articles of Confederation were flawed and failed, and even the Constitution of which we are so proud was and is a work in progress. As Lincoln said at Gettysburg the test of whether our nation or any nation "conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal" can long endure. Our ideals took quite some time to become reality.
Freedom is an ongoing responsibility. Our Constitution is not closed book with all the answers. It is a living expression of what we believe our government and our relation to one another should be. We are a pluralistic society by design, we use checks & balances to limit the power we give to our government, and we cherish our freedoms. We are a nation divided (while a two party system is not mentioned, it was expected) and at this time sorely so. The Supreme Court seems about to become an area of contention and again Pennsylvania's Senator Arlen Spector will be in the thick of it. He and I are not of the same political party, and he is far to the right of me (which isn't very hard to do) but he is truly a moderate and an honorable man.
As an after thought, Iowa became a state on this in 1890. We would do well to take a moment to think or to browse over the Declaration, the Constitution and the Gettysburg Address and to remember all it means to be an American.
It is an open secret that I am a New Yorker by birth and disposition, but I live in Pennsylvania now and I am proud of it. A state slogan to encourage tourism a few years caused some controversy by declaring "Pennsylvania where America began" but it was more than merely an allusion to Philadelphia where our Founding Fathers met to write our Declaration of Independence. It would serve us to remember that struggle as we watch the people of Iraq trying to forge a free democracy. Our first attempts in the Articles of Confederation were flawed and failed, and even the Constitution of which we are so proud was and is a work in progress. As Lincoln said at Gettysburg the test of whether our nation or any nation "conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal" can long endure. Our ideals took quite some time to become reality.
Freedom is an ongoing responsibility. Our Constitution is not closed book with all the answers. It is a living expression of what we believe our government and our relation to one another should be. We are a pluralistic society by design, we use checks & balances to limit the power we give to our government, and we cherish our freedoms. We are a nation divided (while a two party system is not mentioned, it was expected) and at this time sorely so. The Supreme Court seems about to become an area of contention and again Pennsylvania's Senator Arlen Spector will be in the thick of it. He and I are not of the same political party, and he is far to the right of me (which isn't very hard to do) but he is truly a moderate and an honorable man.
As an after thought, Iowa became a state on this in 1890. We would do well to take a moment to think or to browse over the Declaration, the Constitution and the Gettysburg Address and to remember all it means to be an American.
