Independence Day and the Power of Storytelling
Our office is closed today and tomorrow for the July 4 holiday, but I wanted to share with you a story.
When I was little, my first understanding of the Declaration of Independence didn’t come from school or a book. It came from a musical. That delightful and timeless piece was 1776, and I must have watched it 30 times. I still know it nearly by heart.
The show is at once stirring and comedic, surprising and profound. It taught me about our struggle to break from a tyrant two centuries earlier, as well as about our deep national shame of slavery, all reference to which was stricken from the document in order to gain approval from the Southern colonies.
It instilled in me an early love of politics (and musical theatre!) with the belief that, if our efforts were properly channeled, with wise and good leaders to guide us, we could change the world for the better.
I still believe that to this day.
It also had this unforgettable and hilarious scene, when the decision of who should write the damned Declaration was bandied about, falling ultimately to Jefferson.
I know there’s a lot of handwringing, panic and “media being the media” the past few days. I’m taking July 4 off from all of that, not checking Twitter or the news sites, and focusing instead on throwing a barbecue for my friends and watching fireworks later with them from our rooftop. We all could use a break from the noise and negativity. Give yourself a break from it, too, if you can manage it!
I’ll probably have “homicide” stuck in my head all day from the above clip. But I figure, if you can smile with that word on your lips, you can get past nearly any crisis!
Finally, on this Independence Day, I want to thank all of you for giving me mine. Through your support and encouragement, I can write what I want, the way I want, without the pressures of working for a boss or a media giant (or going back to a law firm, shudder). The gift of independent thinking and independent work certainly produces far clearer and unvarnished results from me. And I am so grateful for that.
So happy Independence Day. May we cherish, and together preserve, our inalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Jay
Here is my story…
Twenty years ago today in the country of Luxembourg, I stood among a sea of dead soldiers, many of them teenagers. It was Independence Day, and my best friend and I were told that we were the only Americans there that day in General Patton’s cemetery. We silently honored and thanked them. They sacrificed it all to fight fascism.
A couple of days later, we were on a walking tour in Munich, Germany. The guide gestured to some graffiti under a bridge and told us it said “Liberated” with the date that the Nazis surrendered. “Liberated?” I questioned. And he responded yes, that’s when the German people were freed. It really struck me because until then, I had never considered that there were Germans opposed to the Nazis. I’ve come to learn that in any given population, only 30% have authoritarian tendencies. How did the rest of the Germans allow this to happen to their country? Were they complacent? Were they unaware? Did they not take the threat seriously? Whatever it was, they lost the election of 1933 and then they lost everything. Hitler rose to power and obliterated their democratic institutions. He went on to slaughter 11 million people who he decided were “unworthy of life” including Jews, black people, gypsies, gay people, political opponents, trade unionists, disabled adults and disabled children.
This week, the MAGA Supreme Court arbitrarily decided that Presidents can freely commit crimes as long as they agree said crimes are part of “official acts”. They ignored 248 years of precedent and the principles of our founding. Last week, they overrode 40 years of authority of Federal Agencies that protect us, like the FDA and the EPA. They removed 50 years of protections for women. They masqueraded as conservatives but ruled as radicals to dismantle our democracy and pave the way for Project 2025. The leader of Project 2025 threatened this week that “We are in the process of the second American Revolution, which will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be”. Trump is literally calling for the rounding up of 15 million people into “deportation camps” and the persecution of his political opponents. History is repeating itself right before our eyes. How could this happen here?
Seventy-nine years ago, we saved the world from Fascism. Now who is going to save us?
VOTE
A sincere thank you for your intelligent, thoughtful writing that helps us stay a bit calmer through this tragic era in America. Enjoy your day! 💙💙✌️✌️