[Peace-discuss] A day to 'Begin the World Over Again'

[patton paul]

Something to think about for the fourth of July.
-Paul P.

A Day to 'Begin the World Over Again'
by John Nichols


The Fourth of July falls on a Friday this year, which is great news for
the three-day weekend crowd that complains bitterly most other years about
having to go to work the day after they "celebrate" the anniversary of the
nation's birth.

In a country where just about every national symbol - from the flag to the
presidential oath of office - has been bent to serve the interests of
commerce and leisure, it is amazing that we still celebrate the Fourth of
July on the Fourth.

As long as no one tells John Ashcroft or Dick Cheney that this holiday
honors revolutionaries who threw off the chains of colonialism, empire,
monarchy and the state-sponsored religion that were - and remain - the
primary threats to freedom and human advancement, the Fourth is probably
safe from interference from our contemporary King George and his churlish
courtiers.

But how should Americans who take seriously the promise of a revolution -
"that all men (and women) are created equal, that they are endowed by
their creator with inalienable rights" and "that to secure these rights,
governments are instituted among these men (and women), deriving their
just powers from the consent of the governed" - go about celebrating this
Fourth of July?

Should we raise the red-white-and-blue banner of the Republic? Well, of
course. Though it has been dragged through the mud by so-called "patriots"
who continue to engage in the sort of military adventurism that both
Washington and Jefferson warned against in their farewell addresses to the
nation, this remains the flag of the Wisconsinites who marched south to
banish the crime of slavery from this country's soil. No flag has yet been
associated with a nobler military endeavor than the Stars and Stripes when
it flew above those who battled the Southern scoundrels who marched
beneath the banner of human bondage.

Should we celebrate the founders themselves? Yes, within reason. It is
true that many of the men who made this nation were flawed. The best of
them admitted as much at the time. The worst were revealed in time. But no
one who cherishes liberty should hesitate to raise a cheer for old Tom
Paine, who wrote of Americans in 1776: "We have it in our power to begin
the world over again. A situation similar to the present hath not happened
since the days of Noah until now. The birthday of the new world is at
hand, and a race of men, perhaps as numerous as all Europe contains, are
to receive their portion of freedom from the events of a few months."

As America celebrates the 227th birthday of the new world, however, it is
important to recall that Paine also reflected upon the prospect: "If you
subvert the basis of the revolution, if you dispense with principles and
substitute expedients, you will extinguish that enthusiasm and energy
which have hitherto been the life and soul of the revolution; and you will
substitute in its place nothing but a cold indifference and self-interest,
which will again degenerate into intrigue, cunning and effeminacy."

Paine's warning anticipated this degenerate moment, in which Americans are
awakening to the prospect that the president and his advisers intrigued
the country into a foreign misadventure that stinks rather too much of the
imperialism Americans once associated with the British crown their
forebears revolted against.

Should we despair at the realization of Paine's worst fear for the land?
Perhaps a bit. But Paine would surely warn against surrendering to that
despair. These may, in fact, be the times that try men's souls. But as Tom
Paine suggested in 1776, such times are where the false patriots are
separated from the true: "The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot
will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that
stands it now deserves the love and thanks of man and woman."

George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, as definitional a pair of summer soldiers
as ever will be found, can lead their sunshine patriots in celebrations of
imperialistic conquest and their allegiance with Tony Blair and what
remains of the tattered British realm. The sons and daughters of Tom Paine
will stand this Fourth of July and honor the revolutionary spirit that
revolted against the corruptions of empire.

Copyright , Madison Newspapers, Inc.