Just to put a stamp on the 4th of July.
Independence: Freedom from the control, influence, support, aid, or the like, of others. Freedom: The power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint.
These are definitions from the dictionary, but they are words we have grown up with and, frankly, taken for granted.
Our forefathers and early settlers fought for our independence from England’s reign and overbearing taxation, historically known as the American Revolution. They wanted separation from that sovereignty and a chance to be their own independent country.
These are the people who gave us our independence to this day, our Constitution, along with our National Anthem, which we should want to honor and respect like everything else we honor and respect — by standing, whenever we are present at and it is played at public events.
Freedom has not been given to us. It is something so precious that we have been willing to fight and die to keep it and preserve it for all American generations. Yet, today, even our national leaders and a segment of our population, like none other before them, have been trying to dictate to us what we can and cannot say and do. This is a layer of freedom they are trying to take away from us.
For the first time in this independent and free country, our own people are turning against these godly ways that have been responsible for making our country, the United States of America, the strongest, the wealthiest, the most productive, the most selfless country in the history of the world.
Once again, regardless that these people are also Americans by birth, we must make sure these God-given rights, these rights that we have fought and died for by patriots from most of our generations, be kept safe and preserved by whatever means are necessary.
Mostly, however, we have been given the Constitutional right to vote for people who will represent us by upholding the Constitutional Amendments, so that we can go forward living in freedom and continuing to be independent. We, the people, have the right to remove from our political leadership the ones who prefer power versus a responsibility to represent us as written in the Constitution.
For those of us who cherish freedom and independence and understand their meaning, let us not allow those who lead by power to take these away from us. we cannot let that happen.
We can vote those people out of office. It is our duty to pass these precious rights, independence and freedom, on to our next generations.
Glenn Kilburn
Army Vietnam,
vet 1967-1969
Mount Gilead
