Happy Birthday, America

A sledgehammer to the soapbox.

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Trapped on the island of Nantucket, a guestless Jonah uses today’s Remnant to provide an impromptu meditation on the Fourth of July. His musings explore the meaning of the Declaration of Independence, whether America is a nation or an idea, and why it’s vital to teach American history. Listen with a hot dog in one hand and a miniature flag in the other to feel like a true patriot.

Show Notes:

– Henry Fairlie: “The Shot Heard Round the World”

– The Gettysburg Address and the meaning of the 4th

– Irving Kristol: “The American Revolution as a Successful Revolution”

– Calvin Coolidge on the Declaration of Independence

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Comments (28)
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  1. Deleted Comment

    This comment has been deleted

  2. Mjfswim+Jg

    When you mentioned writing words I thought you were going to bring up the scene from "Black Robe": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cj_bSkuKVA Marvelous!

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  3. Chipwatkins

    Thomas Jefferson, in the Declaration of Independence, implicitly paid homage to King William III, who with his wife Mary (daughter of James II), undertook to depose James II in what is now called the Glorious Revolution to overthrow James II's violations of the religious freedoms of Anglicans and other non-Catholics in Britain. When he arrived in London, William delivered to Parliament his "Declaration of the Reasons inducing him to appear in Arms in the Kingdom of England, for preserving of the Protestant Religion, and for restoring the Laws and Liberties of England, Scotland, Ireland." https://www.british-history.ac.uk/commons-jrnl/vol10/pp1-6. In so doing, both William and Jefferson made it clear that their respective revolutions were not a matter of self-aggrandizement, but to restore the rights of the people.

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    Mark Hunter

    I'm late with a comment, but...
    Well done. Good impromptu ruminant. Thank you for your reflections on our republic. Like Anne says elsewhere here, this kind of stuff makes me glad I'm a Dispatch member.

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    Charley Warns

    Thomas Sowell reviewed “Bury the Chains” by Adam Hochschild in 2005. He writes, "To me the most staggering thing about the long history of slavery — which encompassed the entire world and every race in it — is that nowhere before the 18th century was there any serious question raised about whether slavery was right or wrong. In the late 18th century, that question arose in Western civilization, but nowhere else. It seems so obvious today that, as Lincoln said, if slavery is not wrong, then nothing is wrong. But no country anywhere believed that three centuries ago."

    “Bury the Chains” is a must read for anyone who wants to gain some perspective as it made me aware of just how cruel men could treat each other. That said, a true understanding of this shameful piece of history requires some cognitive dissonance, for as evil as the Atlantic slave trade was, the recent statement by Douglas Murray on Piers Morgan defending the Fourth of July celebration is spot-on! He must have read Dan McLaughlin's excellent NR piece, "American Slavery in the Global Context." Important questions that few ask are: 1) Who captured the victims in the first place and delivered them to the slave traders waiting in the west African ports? 2) Who sold their own brothers and sisters? 3) Who was capturing whites for slavery until Thomas Jefferson and the U.S. Navy put a stop to it? 4)Does anybody care about the Congo (and slavery happening RIGHT NOW) where children are mining cobalt for electric car batteries?

    We could keep ruminating over the past, but maybe we should ... bury the chains.

    How is it that Napoleon considered rape a war crime in the 18th century while the Russians see it the other way in 2023? It's worth reading "The Mirror-Image Fallacy." Krauthammer writes: "Ultimately to say that people all share the same hopes and fears, are all born and love and suffer and die alike, is to say very little. For it is after commonalities are accounted for that politics becomes necessary. It is only when values, ideologies, cultures and interests clash that politics even begins. At only the most trivial level can it be said that people want the same things."

    As you consider the wizardry of text, consider how humans have not just the ability to understand and utilize this concept but are also able to speak. (How is it that only man can murder?) If monkeys, fish, cats, and men all come from the same tree of life (i.e., had the same DNA at one time), shouldn't there be more gradation in intelligence rather than the stark contrast between human and any other lifeform? It's like there was some intervention.Expand full commentExpand full comment

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    Ben Connelly

    Nantucket! Nice. I’m nearby on Cape Cod right now. Admittedly, I’ve never been to either Nantucket or Martha’s Vineyard, but I love the Cape and Boston, Plymouth, this whole part of the country.

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    Marianwcates

    Inspiring and informative.

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  8. Kyle C

    Hear, hear!

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    C C Writer

    Just started listening to this unexpected solo Remnant, and I want to say thanks.

    I also want to say, and maybe you know this already: Since the chief twit has been blowing up his algorithms, I can't view any twit page because I can't log in. And that's because I don't have a twit account and will not sign up for one no matter what the chief twit wants me to do. Anyway, I'm experiencing quadruped content and treat video withdrawal (not to mention if you've been on TV or are about to be), I think it's been 5 days now. If things don't go back to normal soon, you may want to consider making said content available through new Dispatch features you may be thinking about developing.

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      C C Writer

      Update: I have found through experimentation that there's a way to hack in to specific items using Google. It's time-consuming and doesn't always let you find what you're looking for, but I have been able to get a few treat-video fixes.

      In this morning's video, one can hear Jonah mention that Special Lady/TFJ is in favor of not doing a treat video every day. I wonder if this means views are way down, or what.

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    2. Jennifer Stanowski

      Same here. Although I found it a relief that Elon unburdened me of this bad habit without me having to summon any self-discipline.

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      Charley Warns

      I figure this to be the densest remark made in 2023 so far: "I can't view any twit page because I can't log in. And that's because I don't have a twit account and will not sign up for one no matter what the chief twit wants me to do."

      Note the phrase "to the exclusion of others" in the below passage from thebusinessprofessor.com:

      "What are Property Rights?
      Most people understand property to be a physical item. The definition of property, however, is far broader than something that you can see or hold in your hand. Property is, more precisely, an individuals rights with regard to something in existence. Property includes all of the commonly understood rights associated with physical or intangible things, such as: the right of possession (to the exclusion of others), the right of use, the right to sell or transfer, or the right to destroy."

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        C C Writer

        I think I have guessed what your point is, but I don't believe it applies to my "dense" remark, which means exactly what it says and not what you seem to have imputed to it. I am certainly familiar with the concepts of services and intellectual property.

        The twits used to allow me to view twit pages without having my own account or logging in. It was for quite a long time, and evidently their choice to allow, presumably because this benefited them in some way. Now they have changed things. I'm not even sure what the policy has changed to, or why, because under the current ownership they are not very communicative about these things. But the situation has been reported in news stories--though much of it had to be speculation and open questions.

        I never felt myself to have been granted any particular right by the twits, because there was no transaction involved. But as a free citizen I have every right to suggest that the change was a dumb move on their part, and to envision what kind of work-around would enable Jonah to get us the content that we enjoy and that he wishes to deliver. I can't think of any way that my expression violates the property rights of the chief twit, unless he thinks of me or Jonah as his property (remember what Jonah has said often: if you're not paying, then that means you're the product that's being sold to someone). But I am not required to ratify the chief twit's delusion or to give in to his mis-aimed attempts to exert pressure to do anything I don't want to do.

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      Jack

      Hear, hear!

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        Charley Warns

        You're being sarcastic ... right?

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          Jack

          Of course not. I’d love to have a page dedicated to the quadrupeds on The Dispatch.

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    Anne W (Raw5254)

    I’m a day late listening, but wanted to thank you for such an inspirational piece. You make me glad I’m a Dispatch member.

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