’Tis an Unhappy Fourth of July
“Ah, yes good people, the matters goeth not well to pass in America, nor shall not do till the greedy plutocrats be no greater masters than we be.”
That is an adaptation of a statement made by John Ball during the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381.
It came into my mind on this, the morning of our nation’s 246th Birthday.
The United States is under attack from internal enemies that have brought the American Experiment in self-government perilously close to an end.
Rightwing extremists hell-bent on destroying the ideal of America are in control of one of the major parties and of the most-viewed cable news network.
The Supreme Court is controlled by rightwing extremists (please stop calling them “conservatives” — the only things they want to conserve are the bloated fortunes of the hyperrich and white male domination) who have, in effect, ruled that corporations and zygotes are persons, but women are not. Last week, the court severely undermined the power of the government to regulate corporate actions. Worse, it announced that it is taking up a case in its next session that could legalize the sort of election theft that Donald Trump attempted to get state officials to carry out for him following his loss of the 2020 Election. The Court may rule that state legislatures have the power to ignore the outcome of the vote in their state and name as Electors people who will vote for the loser. That would be the end of American democracy.
Clearly, we are in the Upside Down. Our flag is upside down and tattered. Haters, racists and misogynists run rampant.
On this birthday of our nation, let us rededicate ourselves to saving its ideals and our democracy. We still have the power to do that if we turn out in massive numbers this fall to elect Democrats, keep them in control of the House and give them a real majority in the Senate. If that happens, the filibuster can be removed, women’s control over their own bodies can be written into federal law, voting rights can be protected, the Supreme Court can be reformed, real action to slow climate change can be taken, and much more.
Don’t let the forces of evil “Take America Back.”
Instead, Take America Forward.
Make America America Again!
{Historian Robert S. McElvaine teaches at Millsaps College. He is the author of eleven books. His latest, The Times They Were a-Changin’ — 1964: The Year the Sixties Arrived and the Battle Lines of Today Were Drawn, has just been published by Arcade.}