No, Mr. Vice President — it’s you who misunderstands the essence of our nation’s history
Frankly, I was struck by the comments made by Vice President J.D. Vance this Independence Day.
They offended me for a number of reasons — right off the bat because of his blatant attack on free speech, suggesting that it’s wrong for someone to criticize the history of our nation, and that no one should listen to those someones simply because they express political views contrary to his.
Let me first remind Mr. Vance that’s not his call. The right to freely speak and freely listen to any flavor of political statement we desire no matter how distasteful to him — even those of communists — is guaranteed to us by the First Amendment.
Ah, yes, as I pondered my first cup of coffee this 4th of July morning, I flipped on the TV just in time to hear the vice president say, ““I have to address what you will hear from some loud voices today, because as much as all of us, whether we’re Democrat or Republican, whatever our political persuasion, all of us are celebrating, but you will hear a couple small but loud voices today speak obsessively, not of our national greatness, but of our national imperfections … They will speak of the powerless and the dispossessed. They will tell you that America is just another country where the weak struggle against the strong, and if they acknowledge that there is anything to be proud of in our history, they’ll say it’s the fact that sometimes the powerless have won a zero-sum battle” … they will “talk about America’s sins with the anger and zeal of a brimstone preacher, but without any of the grace or forgiveness that must be present in the Christian faith.
“Our history is one of people carving a great civilization out of the wilderness,” Vance said. “Reject the view of your nation that sees only its sins, but not its grace and its greatness.”
Now I admit I might be one of the first to point at America’s “sins” (as Vance characterized them without any enumeration of what those sins might be) when the occasion arises and to pick at those scabs if it seems necessary and proper. As an American I have that right.
But contrary to Vance’s suggestion I do not do so because I hate my country. Exactly the opposite. I love my country and do not want it to fail. Ever. Even when I disagree with its policies and actions.
I believe the United States of America is the greatest nation in history. I am thankful the accident of my birth brought me and my progeny to our great land. I completely and freely celebrate the great accomplishments my country has made in the past 250 years and before.
I am proud of my country. It lit the light of an unknown freedom 250 years ago that we celebrate today — one I hope will someday shine around the entire world. Our foreign policy would flourish if we brought and shared that bright light of freedom with the rest of the world. Sadly, and inexplicably, we don’t. I hope someday, someway, we can share our American vision of freedom and liberty with everyone everywhere.
Now some historians have argued when Jefferson wrote those famous words in the Declaration of Independence, he actually plagiarized John Locke, an English philosopher who wrote about the natural rights of every individual, including the inalienable rights to life, liberty and property in his ‘Two Treatises of Government’ (1690), although Jefferson changed property to pursuit of happiness, as did other Founding Fathers expressing these ideas that arose during the Age of Enlightenment, also known as the Age of Reason, of which Locke is one of its prime purveyors.
Locke wrote about man’s natural, God-given rights. He wrote about the people’s right to rebel when a government does not preserve those rights. He wrote that government exists because of the consent of the governed. Aren’t those the exact themes in the Declaration? Isn’t that exactly Jefferson’s argument and justification for ending our political ties with King George?
But here’s the rub, as Shakespeare would say — the reality Mr. Vance so freely denies and fears others will say today, reduces his Independence Day speech into another campaign rally.
When Jefferson wrote those immortal words, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness,” these rights and this Declaration did not apply to the millions of indigenous people in the New World who inhabited cities, worked their farms, organized governments, developed laws and legal systems, and formed entire civilizations who watched in astonishment and incomprehension as those European tall ships with painted sails arrived on their shores (an already populated land, which, don’t’ forget, Vance called “a wilderness.”) These rights and this Declaration did not apply to the slaves who had been brought to this land against their will. It did even not grant suffrage to women, who make up about half our population. That’s the expression of imperfection he fears. He wants us to deny our collective history. Yep. The Declaration we celebrate today was completely imperfect
You see, the struggle for liberty and freedom is an old one, one that existed long before our nation’s founding 250 years ago.
There’s the Magna Carta of 1215 when English King John first recognized the rule of law. There’s the Protestant Reformation 300 years later led by Martin Luther as he rejected the divine rule of the Pope in 1517. Some 250 years later we got the Declaration of Independence when we rejected the divine rule of kings.
When Vance tries to argue that those who voice dissent are unAmerican and should not be listened to, he completely and deliberately misses and misstates the essence of America in order to make a political statement — a clumsy and partisan view that asks us to only see America’s greatness today at the expense of ignoring its many not-so-great moments and obvious flaws. He doesn’t even recognize the importance and significance of those struggles and their subsequent resolution. He sees that progress as unworthy of the slightest consideration this Independence Day.
The struggle for freedom and liberty in America is the tale of a work in progress, an eternal struggle America will undoubtedly continue 250 years from today in ways we cannot even imagine. You’re right, Mr. Vice President, this never-ending struggle for freedom and liberty cannot be reduced to simply a zero-sum battle that has sometimes been won by the “powerless and the dispossessed.” It has always been and it will always be a balancing act between the government and the governed. It’s a fool’s game to say we should only see the good, and ignore the bad because they are simply different faces of the same coin.
Our American freedom and liberty were not secured for us on July 4, 1776. We founded a nation. A nation with a vision. The fight is not over. The victory has not been won. Freedom and liberty must be fought for every single day, every single time the need arises, every time a person’s right is trampled or ignored. Freedom and liberty must be preserved by every generation or they will surely be lost forever.
Worst of all — Mr. Vance is an attorney who must know and be infinitely familiar with man’s never-ending struggle for freedom and liberty from his study of law.
And that, Mr. Vance, is the true essence of America — that we somehow struggle to find a way to live up to the promise of those noble words written at our founding. Our determined and singular pursuit of that promise through all three branches of government is the essence, it’s the sustaining nectar at the root of our exceptionalism. We started this unfinished business 250 years ago, and we’re still trying to deliver on that promise today.
This is not a zero-sum battle — it’s the story of a great nation and a great people advancing freedom and liberty baby step by baby step against all odds. We are not just another country. We are the United States of America. How can We the People lose when our government decides it’s time to protect someone else’s God-given rights? What is taken from me when we acknowledge and protect someone else’s rights? That seems like a cause for joy and celebration to me, the righting of an imperfection.
For those who think I’m just blowing smoke out of my arse again, let’s not forget the express purpose of government in the Declaration is simply to preserve our God-given rights. And then consider the recent Supreme Court decisions — birthright citizenship, immigration, executive power, voting rights, transgender rights, campaign financing — the struggle to ensure our rights continues to this day. Come on J.D., it’s not over already. It never will be.
Let’s not forget. The express purpose of our government in the Declaration is simply to preserve our God-given rights. America’s greatness truly lies in our nation’s recognition of those national imperfections and our determination to make the necessary corrections instead of ignoring them. Maybe we disagree, Mr. Vice President, but I think we should find great and enduring pride in those corrections, corrections that could only be realized in our great land, the USA.
And finally, I say with pride and hope, may God bless America.
P.S. I hope I haven’t written this with “the anger and zeal of a brimstone preacher, but without any of the grace or forgiveness that must be present in the Christian faith.”
