Happy Fourth of July

Today marks the 237th anniversary of the day that Declaration of Independence was brought up to be signed by 56 men. By signing this document, these men risked their lives because they knew that creating a new, free and independent nation was worth that risk. As I think about those men, who were so passionate about their cause that they would die for it, I also wonder about what they would think about what their dream of a nation has become. Unfortunately, I cannot help but think that they may be a little disappointed in it.

In America, our government has become synonymous with a lack of progress. Our Congress is in an a never-ending gridlock that cannot be broken because of an inability to cross party lines. In Congress, a certain c-word is hardly ever thrown around because of its offensiveness; this c-word being compromise. Back in the late 1700s', the only way our nation came to work was because the men who created the Constitution were able to compromise. During the almost four month Constitutional Convention, the men were able to talk through issues that came up, discussing matters like rights and the power at the state government level. Through these discussions, the men were able to come to a compromise resulting in the Bill of Rights and the Constitution getting ratified.

In Washington today, people are seldom willing to compromise which is much in part because of strict party lines that they are not willing to cross. People in government today need to remember what were all taught in elementary school when it came to dealing with problems: talk it out and find common ground. If we cannot adopt this idea in the near future, I fear that nothing will get done.

I have hope that soon, people in power will look around and realize that something needs to change. I have hope that they will see that they cannot always cast their vote in the way that their party wants, or what their lobbyist want, but instead cast their vote in accordance with what they think is right and what they believe that their constituents would want. I love government and I love politics, and I want to believe that someday, our government can get back to the way it was at the beginning (only without slavery and with equal rights for everyone), when people were willing to put aside differences in order to create a better nation, when the government was for the people and by the people.