Thoughts of independence



The Fourth of July is becoming an easy holiday to take for granted. Anybody out there remember when we weren't independent? C'mon, raise your hand. Just as we thought. Not a soul.
So let's just chow down some hot dogs, hamburgers and ribs. Maybe go to a parade or the lake or a street fair. Top it off with some fireworks and call it a day. And if it rains, we'll all feel sorry for ourselves.
Or ... stop reading this right now. Jump to the bottom of the page, where state Rep. John Boccieri writes about his recent Independence Day -- in Iraq. Go ahead, give it a read. It's a short column. ...
... Suddenly, it isn't quite so easy to take independence for granted. On the other side of the world a new and free nation -- hopefully -- is emerging. We're witnessing the progress and the setbacks daily, thanks to today's technology.
A different age
But in 1776, the brave men who gathered in Philadelphia to declare their independence from England had no way of knowing how things would turn out. They all knew that they had a chance of gaining their independence and an almost equal chance of losing their lives.
Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, King George III knew even less. "Nothing of importance happened today," he wrote in his diary for July 4, 1776.
That is how the affairs of state worked themselves out and how nations were born in those days -- in slow motion.
The Revolutionary War lasted five years. The new nation didn't have its Constitution until 1789, the same year George Washington took office.
Looking at that timeline would cause anyone to wonder about how we are to gauge the events in Iraq.
The Iraqi people have been given an opportunity to be free, but they will have to decide if that freedom is worth the sacrifice -- just as our Founding Fathers did, 228 years ago today.

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