CC Biker & motorsports
vol 5 issue 6
Please tell’em CC Biker and Motorsports Sent Ya
july 2020
page 1
FREE
CC Biker & Motorsports Independence Day 2020: How Free Are We, Really?
Kelli Morgan-Langley WRITER
July 4th: just saying the date conjures up images of BBQs, fireworks, crowds of Americans gathered together to celebrate the independence of this great nation, independence that was paid for with the blood of our forefathers. Softball games and swimming, family reunions, little kids running around with sparklers as the big kids lit off their Black Cats and M-60’s, the clink of horseshoes, the smell of hamburgers, hot dogs and beer drifting over a picnic table…all because of something some brave men did almost two and a half centuries ago. This Independence Day will be like no other that we as Americans have ever seen. Many places are still “locked down” after 5 months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Some places that aren’t locked down have literally been burned down, or destroyed. “Social Distancing” is still a thing, and people are still fighting about whose lives matter. Kids haven’t been in school in almost 6 months, and when they go out in public, it shows. But most of all is the uncertainty: “How long will this be like this?” “How long with this virus last?” “Why can’t we all just get along?” This was not the Independence that George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and a young nation fought for; in fact they would be appalled to see what we’ve done to their vision.
During the American Revolution, the legal separation of the thirteen colonies from Great Britain actually occurred on July 2, 1776, when the Second Continental Congress voted to approve a resolution of independence that had been pro-
posed in June, declaring the United States independent from Great Britain’s rule. After voting for independence, Congress began to compose the Declaration of Independence, a statement explaining the decision to declare independence from the U.K., which had been prepared by a committee of five Congressmen with Jefferson as its principal author. Congress debated and revised the wording of the Declaration, finally approving it two days later on July 4. A day earlier, John Adams had written to his wife Abigail: “The second day of July 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. 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.” Well, as we know, there are no games or sports this year, due to a “virus” that did not quite live up to its hype. The lights will be out at from Chavez Ravine to Yankee Stadium, no sound of the bat on the ball or the traditional after-game fireworks that light up entire cities. Parades are cancelled (unless you want to call one a “protest”) and great festivals have been postponed. Devotion to God is a rare commodity this year. Guns and bonfires, though….right now we have plenty of those, it seems. Murder, mayhem and general destruction following the death of a man allegedly at the hands of the police and other perceived injustices have led to bonfires, as “peaceful protesters” burn down retail establishments,
restaurants, grocery stores, bars, banks, and anything else they feel they don’t need (After they’ve been looted, of course). Those trying to protect their property are beaten or killed. Gun sales have sky-rocketed, as even those borderline 2nd Amendment citizens rush out to find some way to protect themselves and their families. Entire city blocks have been taken over by anarchists who are not happy with the U.S.A. and are determined to remake it in the image they want, not the one foreseen by our founders. The American flag, that proud reminder of American freedom, is being burned, stepped on and desecrated. This was definitely not Thomas Jefferson’s nor his fellow Congressmen’s idea of what this country was to become.
Many people are wondering what this Independence Day will bring: will we continue to divide as a nation or will we somehow start to heal the wounds that have been festering since the beginning of 2020 and before? Will the Corona virus still have a major impact on the health of Americans and our freedoms as we try to celebrate? Will the racial and political divides that are causing so much unrest have started to heal, or will they continue to grow? Will this be “Independence Day” for those who are calling for an end to our country as we know it? Looking back at last year’s Fourth of July, it’s a little sad to think that it may have been the last “normal” Independence Day our country will know. A bar-b-que at the lake and fireworks at the local high school the night before, followed on Independence Day by a pot-luck cook-out with hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken and tri-tip, where everybody brought a salad or dessert; 30 people in the back-
yard in the pool, playing horseshoes, cornhole or beer pong; an Igloo full of lemonade and ice chests full of beer; fireworks in the front yard at dusk, the look in a toddler’s eyes as he sees them for the first time…the epitome of the All-American Fourth of July. Will we ever get back to that point? Or is this the “new normal”? We, as Americans, need to reassert our independence. Our forefathers invested too much of themselves in this country for us to allow it to deteriorate. Thousands of men and women shed blood and lost their lives just to give us the freedom of living in the greatest country on Earth, and we need to honor them by taking our country back. I don’t think anyone ever imagined the conditions we would be in today, or the uncertainty we feel as a nation.
Hopefully these situations resolve themselves shortly and we can get back to where we were, and make 2020 just an anomaly in our history. I can’t wait to take my baby granddaughter to her first firework show, to teach my grandson how to light the Safe and Sane fireworks, or to serve up a bunch of burnt hot dogs at the lake…hopefully next year will be the year! But for this year, everybody stay safe, play nice, and try your best to enjoy our “holiday”. Happy 4th of July, and God Bless America!!!