Independence Day

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July 2nd, 2011
03:34 PM ET





Letters to the President: #894 'Counting down to the Fourth'
Reporter's Note: President Obama is presumably cleaning the grill out in the Rose Garden in preparation for the 4th of July. I mean, of course, when he’s not reading my daily letter.

Dear Mr. President,

So here we go into another Fourth of July weekend. I’ve always enjoyed this holiday and expect I will once again this time around - which reminds me that I need to put up our red, white and blue bunting on the porch later today. My wife ordered it online a few years back and we had our doubts about the quality, but when it arrived it was really decent material, bright colors, with heavy duty construction. I suspect it was made in China. Ha!

We hang an American flag outside our door for this holiday every year, and frankly we have one out there many other days as well; except when have our seasonal flag up for the New Orleans Saints, the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, Mardi Gras, Christmas, St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, and on and on it goes. Hmm. It never really occurred to me until this moment, but we have a lot of flags. I wonder where my wife keeps them all? I have not noticed a particular flag closet anywhere.

Back to this holiday. Most people I know refer to it as the Fourth of July, and I generally see the words “Independence Day” only in advertisements. Which is a shame, because independence is really what it is all about.

What I like most about being an American, I think, is this commitment to the idea that “we the people” are the authority of the land; that we are to be free to independently determine what we want from our society; that our government exists to serve our interests, not the other way around.

A lot of DC big shots clearly lose track of that notion now and then. They start acting like America is a great big life-support system for their vaulting ambitions. And that’s when the trouble starts. See, we didn’t fight the American Revolution and throw off one king, because we were dying to have another. To the contrary, we wanted nothing to do with royalty. We wanted to be independent. And I suspect most of us still do.

I suppose it is tempting when the parades roll, and the flags wave, and the fireworks thunder over the National Mall, to think that this is somehow a celebration of all things governmental. But I hope you and all your influential friends will take a little time this weekend to remember that the celebration is really about the whole vast country - about all those independent souls coast to coast, who may agree with you, or may not, but who are free to think and say what they will. Because that’s the whole point.

If you can come over this weekend, that would be great. We’ll be barbequing several times I am sure, so give a buzz if you’re headed our way and I’ll throw some extra burgers on.

Regards,
Tom

Follow Tom on Twitter @tomforemancnn.

Find more of the Foreman Letters here.

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Tomorrow is the 4th!