This 4th of July, I am angry and dismayed. I'm disgusted by our federal government generally and particularly by its absurd approach to commemorating 250 years of American history. I'm horrified by the Republican Fascist control of the federal government and numerous state governments.

But this just means that I am indeed observing the Fourth. It is precisely because I'm keenly aware and appreciative of the Declaration of Independence that I can't help the anger, dismay, disgust, and horror. 1/

The mighty, noble aspiration of the Declaration: to bring forth a government that would respect every person's right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness and would serve the general welfare. The Declaration contemplates truly momentous project, revolutionary in its day and of paramount ethical value in any time. The signers of the Declaration understood that the state can easily be oppressive and tyrannical. They thought that was a perversion of the justified purpose of government. 2/

They believed -- and I fervently agree -- that government was justified and good only when it protected every person's basic liberties, most centrally the right to pursue one's own flourishing in one's own way, and when it fostered the sort of prosperity that enabled everybody's ability to do this. 3/