July 4th - Deeply Red, Perversely White, Sad and Blue

AN EDITED VERSION OF THIS POST IS SCHEDULED TO APPEAR IN THE RECORD, A BERGEN COUNTY NEWSPAPER



RED, WHITE AND DEFINITELY BLUE

This July 4th we are more deeply red, more perversely white, more sad and blue than in the recent past. As the imprint of Mr. Trump's presidency becomes ever more evident, the America we celebrate with fireworks lighting up the night sky, is not the America we seek.

It is not a welcoming place, it's arms not the ones that give comfort to the oppressed, the weary, but rather the second Amendment arms that proliferate throughout this nation, N.R.A. fueled and littering our streets in blood.

It is not a welcoming place, it's voice not free to express dismay or distress at the lies of our President, at the damage he causes, as the first Amendment retreats while under constant, blistering attack.

It is not a welcoming place, when those who have sustained a lifetime of  opprobrium and hatred for the color of their skin or their sexual orientation, now feel their hard fought 14th Amendment victories falling from their grasp as this nation tilts further right from the Supreme Court downward.

It is not a welcoming place when we turn our backs on our long time allies and look instead as role models to those who control and intimidate, punish and destroy the cries of dissent within their midst, autocracy rather than democracy, all merely for one and decidedly not one for all, the mantra.

This is the landscape we gaze upon this season, one filled with a faux patriotism, one that speaks to our worst instincts, that asserts superiorities, that countenances bigotry, xenophobia, cruelty and infliction of pain, that elevates the few and denigrates the rest.

This July 4th the sounds of liberty will be faint and indistinct, even as we celebrate the greatness of our land, the red, white and blue. 

What have we become?