Happy 4th of July!

In light of the recent decisions handed down by SCOTUS, and to celebrate our 250th birthday, here is my post for this important day.

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Does anyone else wonder how conservatives will react when the next Democrat in the White House uses all the new powers that the Supreme Court just granted the office of the President?

Will they howl when a future president from the Democrat party, or horrors, someone who labels themselves as a Democratic Socialist, fires a slew of federal agency heads, civil servants, bureaucrats from the departments which oversee our health, food safety, air and water quality, etc?

Will Mr Trump, now a private citizen complain when all his appointees (the best people ever appointed, as he likes to say) are replaced with people "loyal" to the new president's agenda?

And, will the judges on the Supreme Court continue to rule in support of the unitary executive theory which they are using to justify their recent rulings, or will they pull back when the new President uses those very same powers to do things that they do not agree with?

Short term thinking has always been an attractive way of operating one's life, a focus on instant gratification being preferable to long term planning in deference to the future.

One might speculate that the Founders were attempting to think about the future by creating the three, coequal branches of government, as a way to preserve their belief that too much power in the hands of any one part of the government might work in the short run, but not for long. And, of course, because they were very specific in their rejection of the power of the king of England, those disagreements very clearly delineated in the Declaration.

For us liberals, "radical" liberals as the president constantly states, perhaps we will see how this all plays out in a mere two and a half years.

Until then, sadly, we are in for a rough 30 months during which DJT will stomp on even more constitutional rights, will abuse the tax dollars we all pay to continue his vanity projects, will profit in a way unheard of in our history as he sells access to the White House, all because he has been given carte blanche by a Supreme Court that has decided that they prefer to judicate in his favor rather that just abdicating their power as the GOP controlled Congress has done.

On this very special day, our 250th birthday, I am proud to be called an American, proud of our national accomplishments, especially those which promote global health, reduction of disease through programs like PEPFAR. and all the great work done through USAID, not to mention our pivotal role in defeating the powers which attempted to eliminate people not like themselves.

Talk about putting the teachings of Christ to work!!

But less than proud at how we have turned our backs on the most vulnerable of our planet, are actively creating laws that punish children for being born to the wrong parents, and prefer a president who lauds leaders who control their populations with fear and violence (like Putin) while denigrating the democratically elected heads of state at every turn.

America is an amazing place, one might even say an amazing concept in terms of providing the most opportunity for, not only its own citizens, but those who the Creator chose to be born in other countries. And yet, with a history of denying those ideals to some people due to their skin color or even gender.

Despite what many people think, it is possible to have two thoughts in your head at once. To recognize the great achievements of the United States of America, while also acknowledging that we have also fell short of the ideals of our foundational documents.

It is in that balance that we find ourselves at odds with each other. If nothing else, I hope that as we work through our national discussion as to how we will navigate this decision, how we will treat each other, and those who still look to America for the same freedom and opportunity that our ancestors, all (unless you are among the very small percentage of Native Americans who live in our country) of whom were born elsewhere, we will remember that if we choose to turn our backs on the premise that America is as much an ideal as a place, then we will be turning our backs on ourselves, and the pride we have in our wonderful country.

Happy 4th of July!!!