CALIFORNIA YANKEE

Sen. Cruz explains why the GOP is as unpopular as ever

Image Credit: C-SPAN

Sen. Ted Cruz today gave a phenomenal speech in the U.S. Senate calling out Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. As you can see in the accompanying video, Sen. Cruz was upset and he had good reason to be.

Cruz called McConnell a liar:

"…We now know that when the majority leader looks us in the eyes and makes an explicit commitment that he is willing to say things that he knows are false…"

That was the result of McConnell enabling the reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank. Cruz said this was Senate majority and minority leadership teaming up against taxpayers:

"This institution, the majority and minority leader, arm-in-arm again, should not team up against the American taxpayers. It's why our children are going bankrupt..."

Cruz made this point more forceful by paraphrasing a popular passage from President Lincoln's Gettysburg address:

"Sadly, today we have government of the lobbyists, by the lobbyists, and for the lobbyists. That is not how the United States Senate is supposed to operate..."

On to my main point. A new Pew Research Center poll finds that only 32% of respondents have a favorable opinion on the Republican Party -- the lowest number Pew has found since 1992. Also Republican  party is viewed unfavorably by 60% of respondents, again the party’s worst score. This is in sharp contrast to January when after a wave election, the voters returned the Senate to Republican control. Then 41% of poll respondents had a favorable view of the GOP, while 53% were unfavorable.

The biggest drop in GOP favorability is among Republicans:

The current survey finds that positive views of the GOP among Republicans have declined 18 percentage points since January, from 86% to 68%. Independents also view the Republican Party less favorably; 29% today, compared with 37% six months ago.

And why? Because the Republican Congressional leadership failed to keep their bargain with their base -- as Cruz put it, disappointing the people that gave them a huge victory:

"There is a profound disappointment among the American people because we keep winning elections and then we keep getting leaders who don't do anything they promised.

The American people were told ‘if only we have a Republican majority in the House, things will be different.’ Well, in 2010 the American people showed up in enormous numbers and we got a Republican majority in the House -- and very little changed. Then the American people were told, ‘you know, the problem is the Senate. If only we get a Republican majority in the Senate and retire Harry Reid as majority leader, then things will be different.’ Well, in 2014 the American people rose up in enormous numbers, voted to do exactly that.

We've had a Republican majority in both houses of Congress now for about six months. What has that majority done? First thing we did, in December, is we came back and passed a $1 trillion ‘cromnibus' plan filled with pork and corporate welfare. That was the very first thing we did. Then this Republican majority voted to fund Obamacare, voted to fund President Obama's unconstitutional executive amnesty. And then leadership rammed through the confirmation of Loretta lynch as Attorney General. Madam President, which of those decisions would be one iota different if Harry Reid were still majority leader? Not a one. Not a one. This Senate operates exactly the same -- the same priorities."

You can watch Sen. Cruz’s speech in the following video (the last passage quoted begins at the 8:00 mark):

The full transcript of the speech is below:

"Madam President, today is a sad day for this institution. The Senate operates based on trust. Whether we are Democrats or Republicans, these 100 senators have to be able to trust that when a senator says something, he or she will do it. Even if we disagree on substance, that we don't lie to each other. What we just witnessed this morning is profoundly disappointing. I want to describe the context of two preceding discussions.

"A number of weeks ago when this Senate was considering Trade Promotion Authority, a group of senators gathered on this floor and blocked TPA for many minutes because they were pressing for the Export-Import Bank. They huddled on this floor and negotiated a deal in front of C-SPAN, in front of the world. Then, when they had their deal, TPA had the votes to pass. Shortly thereafter, we had a Senate Republican lunch where I stood up and I asked the majority leader very directly what was the deal that was just cut on TPA and was there a deal for the Export-Import Bank. It was a direct question. I asked the majority leader in front of all the Republican senators. The majority leader was visibly angry with me that I would ask such a question, and the majority leader looked at me and said ‘there is no deal, there is no deal, there is no deal.’ Like St. Peter, he repeated it three times. He said ‘the only thing I told the proponents of the Export-Import Bank is like any other senator in this body, they could offer any amendment they liked on any amendable vehicle, but I gave them nothing, there is no deal, I gave them nothing.’ He was emphatic and he was repeated. Following that public discussion, Senator Mike Lee and I approached the majority leader afterwards, in which he emphasized again ‘there is no deal, I will do nothing, I oppose the Export-Import Bank. All I said is they can offer an amendment like any senator can to any bill.’

"Madam President, I went back to my office, and I sat and had a long discussion with my staff. My staff told me that afternoon ‘he's lying to you.’ That's what my staff said. ‘We have been around the Senate a long time. He is not telling you the truth.’ And what I told my staff that afternoon, I said ‘well, I don't know if that's the case or not, but I don't see how when the majority leader looks me in the eyes and makes an explicit promise -- and by the way, looks in the eyes of every other Republican senator and says that to every other Republican senator, I don't see how I cannot take him at his word when he makes an explicit promise.’ As a result, I cast my vote in may in support of TPA because I support free trade, and I felt I had no choice but to assume that when the majority leader spoke to 54 Republican senators and made an explicit promise, that he wasn't lying to us. Well, as TPA moved on, as it went to the House, it became abundantly clear, there was a deal. There was a deal in the House for the Export-Import Bank.

"And so the second time TPA came up, I voted ‘no' because of that corrupt deal. Now I will note to the public, the majority leader and the Speaker of the House have repeatedly said ‘there was no corrupt deal, there was no corrupt deal, we made no deal, we made no deal.’ That's one element of the background context.

"Let me tell you a second element of the background context. A number of weeks ago when we were debating the Corker-Cardin bill, the Iran Review Act, there were a number of amendments that senators had filed. I filed an amendment that would actually put teeth in the “Iran Review Act” by requiring affirmative Congressional approval before sanctions on Iran could be lifted. Other senators filed very good amendments. Senator Marco Rubio filed an amendment calling for Iran to recognize Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state before sanctions could be lifted. Our friends on the Democratic side of the aisle did not want to vote on that amendment. And in response, the majority leader cut off all amendments. Madam President, I sat in the majority leader's office, and I urged the majority leader invoke cloture on Senator Rubio's amendment -- invoke cloture on Senator Rubio's amendment calling on Iran to recognize Israel's right to exist and setting that as a precondition of any lifting of sanctions. I argued vociferously with the majority leader that if the Democrats were so opposed to voting on that amendment, that was all the more reason because it was important substantively, and the majority leader said no, he would not do so, that invoking cloture on an amendment was an extraordinary step, and he wouldn't do so. So he cut off every amendment. He filled the tree. It was striking a minute ago seeing the Democratic Leader Harry Reid calling out the majority leader for filling the tree, for engaging in the same procedural abuse that that Harry Reid did over and over and over again in this body. Now the Republican Leader is behaving like the senior senator from Nevada.

"What we just saw was not, Madam President, what the majority leader told you and me and every other Republican senator. What we just saw was not that the proponents of the Ex-Im Bank, like anyone else, could stand up and offer whatever amendment they'd like on any issue. What the majority leader just did is, number one, he called up that amendment. He called it up himself. Why does that matter? Because as majority leader he has priority of recognition. When he calls up an amendment, no one can stop him. He didn't just call it up. He filled the tree, just like Harry Reid. He filled the tree, blocking everyone else's amendment. By the way, I agree with Senator Reid when he said the Obamacare amendment is a cynical amendment. Of course it is. It is empty showmanship.

"We'll have a vote on repealing Obamacare. The Republicans will all vote ‘yes.' The Democrats will all vote ‘no.’ It will be at a 60-vote threshold. It will fail. It will be an exercise in meaningless political theater. Mind you, when we had a fight in October 2013 to actually stop Obamacare and defund it, the majority leader, then the minority leader, was opposed to doing something with real teeth in it to stop Obamacare. But an empty show-vote, that is a good way of distracting from what's going on.

"There is a profound disappointment among the American people because we keep winning elections and then we keep getting leaders who don't do anything they promised. The American people were told ‘if only we have a Republican majority in the House, things will be different.’ Well, in 2010 the American people showed up in enormous numbers and we got a Republican majority in the House -- and very little changed. Then the American people were told, ‘you know, the problem is the Senate. If only we get a Republican majority in the Senate and retire Harry Reid as majority leader, then things will be different.’ Well, in 2014 the American people rose up in enormous numbers, voted to do exactly that. We've had a Republican majority in both houses of Congress now for about six months. What has that majority done? First thing we did, in December, is we came back and passed a $1 trillion ‘cromnibus' plan filled with pork and corporate welfare. That was the very first thing we did. Then this Republican majority voted to fund Obamacare, voted to fund President Obama's unconstitutional executive amnesty. And then leadership rammed through the confirmation of Loretta lynch as Attorney General. Madam President, which of those decisions would be one iota different if Harry Reid were still majority leader? Not a one. Not a one. This Senate operates exactly the same -- the same priorities. And let me tell you why.

"It's not that this majority doesn't get things done. It does get things done, but it listens to one and only one voice. That is the voice of the Washington Cartel, of the lobbyists on K Street, of the big money and big corporations. You know, if you go to the American people and ask ‘is reauthorizing the Ex-Im Bank a priority for you?’ The standard response for most of them would be, ‘the what?’ They don't even know what this is. Let me tell you what this is. It is an egregious example of corporate welfare. It is the American taxpayers being on the dime for hundreds of billions of dollars in loan guarantees given out to a handful of giant corporations. It is a classic example of cronyism and corporate welfare. And, by the way, among others, you know one person who had the clarity of thought on that? Then-Senator Barack Obama, who described it as a classic example of corporate welfare. That was when he was in the Senate. Now that he's in the White House, corporate welfare sounds pretty good. Now just about all of the Democrats are supporting the corporate welfare with the exception of Bernie Sanders. I'll give credit to Senator Sanders for standing up against corporate welfare. But every Democrat who rails against big money and corruption of Washington, every Democrat who styles himself or herself a populist, their actions on this matter speak far louder than their words. And when it comes to Republicans, Republicans also are listening to K Street and the lobbyists. Why? It's not complicated. The giant corporations that are getting special favors from the taxpayers hire an army of lobbyists that write campaign checks after campaign checks. By the way, these checks go to both Democrats and Republicans. It is career politicians in both parties that are kept in office by looting the taxpayer to benefit wealthy, powerful corporations.

"The single-largest recipient of loan guarantees from the Ex-Im Bank is the Boeing Corporation. The Boeing Corporation had an earnings call where their CEO said -- and I'm paraphrasing -- but ‘we'll be just fine without the Ex-Im Bank. It's not impacting us. There are plenty of private loan alternatives out there.’ But you know, even though the market could provide, it's a lot easier to have compliant lawmakers rob from the public fist to enrich giant corporations. You know who doesn't have lobbyists? A single mom waiting tables. You know who doesn't have lobbyists? A teenage immigrant, like my father was, washing dishes making 50 cents an hour, struggling to achieve the American dream. You know who doesn't have lobbyists? A factory worker who just wants to work and provide for his or her children. They don't have lobbyists. And so what happens? Career politicians in both parties gang up with giant corporations to loot their taxes to make it harder for people who are struggling to achieve the American dream. Coal miners, Madam President, in your state, they don't have lobbyists who are representing them here, the individual miners, while the majority leader teams up with the Democratic Leader to take from their paychecks to fund giant corporations. It is wrong and it is corrupt.

"Madam President, it saddens me to say this. I sat in my office, I told my staff ‘the majority leader looked me in the eye and looked 54 Republicans in the eye. I cannot believe he would tell a flat-out lie,’ and I voted based on those assurances that he made to each and every one of us. What we just saw today was an absolute demonstration that not only what he told every Republican senator, but what he told the press over and over and over again, was a simple lie. This institution should not operate at the beck and call of lobbyists in Washington. This institution, the majority and minority leader, arm-in-arm again, should not team up against the American taxpayers. It's why our children are going bankrupt.

"Now we're facing an enormous threat with this Iran deal, a nuclear Iran poses the greatest national security threat to this country. And yet, the majority leader refused to do what he just did for the Export-Import Bank on Iran, refused to invoke cloture. That was an extraordinary step. Madam President, if he was telling us the truth when he said there was no deal, why would he do what he just did? Well, we now know that when the majority leader looks us in the eyes and makes an explicit commitment that he is willing to say things that he knows are false. That has consequences for how this body operates. If you or I cannot trust what the majority leader tells us, that will have consequences on other legislation as well on how this institution operates. There are a host of amendments that the American people are focused on, things like defunding Planned Parenthood after the gruesome video. The majority leader doesn't want to vote on that. That's actually something the American people are focused on. He brought up his Obamacare amendment as a smoke screen because it's intended to fail. But you know what he didn't bring up is my amendment to end the Congressional exemption from Obamacare, the corrupt deal that Harry Reid cut with Obama. We've got to live under the same rules as everybody else. The majority leader doesn't want to vote on that because he doesn't want to end the cronyism for Members of Congress any more than end the cronyism for giant corporations who enrich themselves at the expense of the American people.

"There are a host of priorities that the voters who elected you and me -- Madam President, I would ask you to think about when you were running for the Senate not too long ago. Do you recall any of your constituents ever saying we want the Export-Import Bank? No. They want other things. They have other priorities, but those are not the priorities of Republican leadership. Sadly, today we have government of the lobbyists, by the lobbyists, and for the lobbyists. That is not how the United States Senate is supposed to operate.

"A far more important amendment than bringing back this corporate welfare and cronyism is my amendment that provides that sanctions on Iran cannot be lifted unless and until Iran does two things. Number one, it recognizes Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state. And, number two, it releases the four American hostages languishing in Iranian prisons. That is a far more important issue than enriching some more lobbyists on K Street and getting a few more campaign contributions. That's what we should be voting on. And accordingly, Madam President, I call up my Amendment No. 2301 to the McConnell Amendment 2266 as modified."

Happy Moon Landing Day 2015

Remembering Tranquility Base.

It's been 46 years since we heard those famous words announcing that humans had finally reached another world:

"Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed."

On July 20, 1969, Apollo 11 landed on the moon.

When mission commander Neil Armstrong finally took the "small step," I was watching in the Fillmore West in San Francisco. In a corner of the huge concert hall they had a large screen showing mankind’s first steps on the moon. The activities at Tranquility Base fit right in with the light show.

The following video is NASA's restored broadcast of the Apollo 11 extravehicular activity (EVA) on the surface of the moon. Armstrong's, "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind," is at the 3:35 mark of the video.

NASA reminds us that the Apollo 11 (EVA) began at 10:39:33 p.m. EDT on July 20, 1969 when Astronaut Neil Armstrong emerged from the spacecraft first. While descending, he released the Modularized Equipment Stowage Assembly on the Lunar Module's descent stage. A camera on this module provided live television coverage of mankinds's first step on the Moon. During this first visit to the Moon, the astronauts remained within about 100 meters of the lunar module, collected about 47 pounds of samples, and deployed four experiments. After spending approximately 2 hours and 31 minutes on the surface, the astronauts ended the EVA at 1:11:13 a.m. EDT on July 21.

Ten American astronauts visited the surface of the moon over a three and a half year period. Gene Cernan, commander of the last Apollo mission left the lunar surface with these words:

"We leave as we came and, God willing, as we shall return, with peace, and hope for all mankind."

Photos: One) Aldrin Looks Back at Tranquility Base - Lunar Module pilot Buzz Aldrin was photographed by mission commander Neil Armstrong. In the foreground is the Passive Seismic Experiment Package; beyond it is the Laser Ranging Retro-Reflector; in the far right background is the Lunar Module "Eagle."Two) A close-up view of an astronaut's bootprint in the lunar soil, photographed with a 70mm lunar surface camera during the Apollo 11 extravehicular activity (EVA) on the moon. Image credit: NASA

Happy Independence Day 2015

Image Credit: National Archiecws

Chronology Of Events:

June 7, 1776 to January 18, 1777

1776
June 7 -- Congress, meeting in Philadelphia, receives Richard Henry Lee's resolution urging Congress to declare independence.

June 11 -- Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston appointed to a committee to draft a declaration of independence. American army retreats to Lake Champlain from Canada.

June 12 - 27 -- Jefferson, at the request of the committee, drafts a declaration. Jefferson's clean, or "fair" copy, the "original Rough draught," is reviewed by the committee.

June 28 -- A fair copy of the committee draft of the Declaration of Independence is read in Congress.

July 1 - 4 -- Congress debates and revises the Declaration of Independence.

July 2 -- Congress declares independence as the British fleet and army arrive at New York.

July 4 -- Congress adopts the Declaration of Independence in the morning of a bright, sunny, but cool Philadelphia day. John Dunlap prints the Declaration of Independence.

July 5 -- John Hancock, president of the Continental Congress, dispatches the Declaration of Independence to the legislatures of New Jersey and Delaware.

July 6 -- Pennsylvania Evening Post of July 6 prints the first newspaper rendition of the Declaration of Independence.

July 8 -- The first public reading of the Declaration is in Philadelphia.

July 9 -- Washington orders that the Declaration of Independence be read before the American army in New York.

July 19 -- Congress orders the Declaration of Independence engrossed (officially inscribed) and signed by members.

August 2 -- Delegates begin to sign engrossed copy of the Declaration of Independence. A large British reinforcement arrives at New York after being repelled at Charleston, S.C.

1777
January 18 -- Congress, now sitting in Baltimore, Maryland, orders that signed copies of the Declaration of Independence printed by Mary Katherine Goddard of Baltimore be sent to the states.

Image Credit: National Archives

THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
Action of Second Continental Congress, July 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen United States of America

WHEN in the Course of Human Events,
it becomes necessary for one People to dissolve the Political Bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the Powers of the Earth, the separate and equal Station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent Respect to the Opinions of Mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the Separation.

WE hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness -- That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its Foundation on such Principles, and organizing its Powers in such Form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient Causes; and accordingly all Experience hath shewn, that Mankind are more disposed to suffer, while Evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the Forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long Train of Abuses and Usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object, evinces a Design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their Right, it is their Duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future Security. Such has been the patient Sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the Necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The History of the present King of Great- Britain is a History of repeated Injuries and Usurpations, all having in direct Object the Establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid World.

HE has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public Good.

HE has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing Importance, unless suspended in their Operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

HE has refused to pass other Laws for the Accommodation of large Districts of People, unless those People would relinquish the Right of Representation in the Legislature, a Right inestimable to them, and formidable to Tyrants only.

HE has called together Legislative Bodies at Places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the Depository of their public Records, for the sole Purpose of fatiguing them into Compliance with his Measures.

HE has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly Firmness his Invasions on the Rights of the People.

HE has refused for a long Time, after such Dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of the Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the Dangers of Invasion from without, and the Convulsions within.

HE has endeavoured to prevent the Population of these States; for that Purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their Migrations hither, and raising the Conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

HE has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

HE has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the Tenure of their Offices, and the Amount and Payment of their Salaries.

HE has erected a Multitude of new Offices, and sent hither Swarms of Officers to harrass our People, and eat out their Substance.

HE has kept among us, in Times of Peace, Standing Armies, without the consent of our Legislatures.

HE has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

HE has combined with others to subject us to a Jurisdiction foreign to our Constitution, and unacknowledged by our Laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

FOR quartering large Bodies of Armed Troops among us;

FOR protecting them, by a mock Trial, from Punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

FOR cutting off our Trade with all Parts of the World:

FOR imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

FOR depriving us, in many Cases, of the Benefits of Trial by Jury:

FOR transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended Offences:

FOR abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an arbitrary Government, and enlarging its Boundaries, so as to render it at once an Example and fit Instrument for introducing the same absolute Rules into these Colonies:

FOR taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

FOR suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with Power to legislate for us in all Cases whatsoever.

FOR has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

HE has plundered our Seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our Towns, and destroyed the Lives of our People.

HE is, at this Time, transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the Works of Death, Desolation, and Tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty and Perfidy, scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous Ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized Nation.

HE has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the Executioners of their Friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

HE has excited domestic Insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the Inhabitants of our Frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known Rule of Warfare, is an undistinguished Destruction, of all Ages, Sexes and Conditions.

HE every stage of these Oppressions we have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble Terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated Injury. A Prince, whose Character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the Ruler of a free People.

NOR have we been wanting in Attentions to our British Brethren. We have warned them from Time to Time of Attempts by their Legislature to extend an unwarrantable Jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the Circumstances of our Emigration and Settlement here. We have appealed to their native Justice and Magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the Ties of our common Kindred to disavow these Usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our Connections and Correspondence. They too have been deaf to the Voice of Justice and of Consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the Necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of Mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace, Friends.

WE, therefore, the Representatives of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, in GENERAL CONGRESS, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the World for the Rectitude of our Intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly Publish and Declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be, FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATES; that they are absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political Connection between them and the State of Great-Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATES, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which INDEPENDENT STATES may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm Reliance on the Protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

As you celebrate Independence Day please remember those who have and are sacrificing so much to ensure our independence.

Celebrate Independence Day

I've completed my chores and have been sitting around contemplating Independence Day.

There was this conversation with some of my colleagues earlier this week about how some of them didn't feel like celebrating the July 4 holiday this year. What with the Supreme Court's decisions this week, the GOP giving President Obama his biggest victory of his second term by passing what some call ObamaTrade, Daesh evil doers still on the rise and even causing concern about a possible terror attack this holiday weekend.

Thinking about the despair that would cause such patriots to even consider not wanting to celebrate the birth of this nation caused me to remember this 2008 article about what's right about America. It has written in response Chris Satullo telling us we shouldn't celebrate the fourth of July that year.

My response to Mr. Satullo was perhaps harsh:

With all due respect to Mr. Satullo, I think he is full of it. I remain proud of America. We remain the greatest force for good on this planet. We stand for freedom, liberty and helping others. It's sad that Mr. Satullo fails to recognize that.

So ignore Mr. Satullo, and his negativism. Put out the flags. Sing patriotic songs. Watch the parade. Watch the fireworks. Celebrate America's birthday. And remember those that make it possible to enjoy our independence.

I still think that is what should be done this Independence Day. As I told my colleagues, celebrate like hell to remind ourselves and others what we might be losing if we don't fight for it.

Don't give up on America.

Don't be one of Spiro Agnew's nattering nabobs of negativism. Celebrate America. Celebrate what you see that is right with America.'

Celebrate well.