Why I'm Boycotting The 4th of July

Or I should say Independence Day? When did we change the name away from what the holiday really stands for anyway? It's not to shorten it, both have 5 syllables. It must be one of those insidious changes we've just looked over.

But I digress. Independence Day used to be my favorite holiday. I love America. I was proud to be an American. Proud to live in The Land of the Free, the greatest country in the world. I loved the fireworks, the patriotic music, the parades and cherry pie.

The pomp and circumstance is great, but the real reason we celebrate is that on July 4, 1776 our Founding Fathers declared their freedom, their right to live as free men under the "Laws of Nature and of Nature's God ". The country that I see today is not the country our Founders envisioned and fought so bravely for. We are celebrating something that no longer exists.

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.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed

The government is no longer deriving its power from the consent of the governed. In fact, the Executive Branch is just making policy unilaterally. Congress is all but powerless except for being a tool used by the Executive Branch to get its way (Can you say Obamacare and Amnesty?) and the checks and balances of Supreme Court seem to have been compromised.

• NSA has been blackmailing Supreme Court judges, members of Congress and more
• President Obama's 'Czars'
• Obama Administration Moves Forward on Climate Change Without Congress
• Obama administration to stop deporting some young illegal immigrants

Our Founders put together a Constitution to limit the size of the government and guarantee certain freedoms to the citizens, but our President believes that The Constitution is a document of "negative liberties" and we should "break free from the essential constraints that were placed by the Founding Fathers". And now our rights are being trampled on each and every day.

Freedom of religion?

• Army orders troops to scratch off Bible inscription on scopes
• Air Force Officer Told to Remove Bible from Desk
• University Tells Student to Remove Cross Necklace

Freedom of speech?

• In IRS scandal, echoes of Watergate

Freedom of the press?

• AP Wiretapping - The many scandals of the Obama Administration
• Highly Suspicious Car Accident Kills Journalist Michael Hastings…

The right to keep and bear arms?

Can you find ammunition? Here's why-

• DHS To Buy 360,000 More Rounds of Hollow Point Ammunition
• Obama Presses for Gun Control in Colorado

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated....

• NSA scandal: what data is being monitored and how does it work?

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

• Arizona v. United States

Seriously, I could go on and on but this has already taken an hour out of my morning and I'm sure this post will move my name up on a list somewhere. Mother Nature seems to be boycotting Independence Day too and I need to go brave the mud. This afternoon I'll make pastry for the cherry pie that I'll bake- tomorrow.