Having just celebrated Independence Day, I began to reflect on what that really means and found it ironic that on July 4th, a nation that has warrentless roving wire taps, practices entrapment in the name of terrorist prevention, a President with a "Kill List" sending drones to murder anyone opposing him, a government also using drones domestically to spy on the population, monitoring our social network sites, police departments being militarized, a country that practices indefinite detention, torture, a nation that has criminalized protests, and nationalized industries.......would celebrate their independence.  Independence from what? Are we celebrating the fact that we were once free?

Little by little as a society we have been encouraged to give up our freedoms for what is called the common good.  The land of the brave and home of the free has turned into a nation of government dependents with over half the population receiving some kind of assistance on a monthly basis.  Our founding father made the choice to shed blood rather than pay King George what they considered to be unfair, yet today our government madly mortgages our future to foreign powers piling debt upon debt without any regards to when or how it will be repaid.  As a society we stand by as our leaders sell our children and grandchildren future, fat dumb and happy, silently, confident that some how our government will take care of us in our old age, not even thinking about our children.  

If we were still a nation capable of feeling shame, with enough intellectual integrity to call things as they are, if we had the courage to look in the mirror and recognize how we have squandered our forefathers legacy, the 4th of July would become a day of atonement instead of a day pretending to celebrate freedom.  

Is it possible to regain the freedoms enjoyed by our forefathers?  

May God have mercy on our nation, else we receive what we deserve!