News By Tom Brownsword

Dr. Mani, the CHD guy (he’s a heart surgeon who helps sick children get the help they need) reminded his list that yesterday, August 15, was Independence Day in India. I just want to take a moment to wish all of my Indian friends and acquaintances a happy Independence Day. I’m extremely grateful for the Internet and for the opportunity to know you, work with you, and above all, learn from you.

Hopefully you don’t call it the “15th of August” there in India! I’m referring, of course, to the habit that far too many Americans have fallen into. Instead of referring to our similar holiday by its proper name — Independence Day — they use an incredibly weak substitute, calling it the “4th of July” instead.

Why is that so bad? Think about it. Why do we really have the holiday? Is it to remember and commemorate our independence and freedom — or are we simply setting aside another summer day to have picnics and set off fireworks? What really matters?

Independence Day was when it all started. It’s when a group of courageous men — most of whom were already wealthy and who lived extremely comfortable lives and would have been just fine had nothing changed — risked everything and told the world that they were no longer going to put up with oppression and a government that didn’t look out for their interests.

It’s about independence and freedom — it’s not just another day on the calendar, yet far too many Americans have allowed the media and propaganda machine to take the focus off of their hard-won freedoms by removing “Independence” from the picture. And most Americans just go along with it, saying “4th of July” as if it’s perfectly natural and normal to do so. It even runs rampant in the military community — and they are the ones who voluntarily and courageously agreed to risk their lives daily to preserve that freedom. Ironic, isn’t it?

It’s not normal. It’s not natural. IT’S NOT RIGHT. If you just want another summer holiday, why not July 13th? How about June 27th? Are you free on August 4th? What’s wrong with those days? It’s not about another summer holiday; that day — July 4th — was set aside so that we never forget that our country is about freedom. Yet that is exactly what many would have us to do — and we simply cannot allow it to go on.

There are far too many forces that want us to forget about freedom and independence. They don’t want you to observe Independence Day; they want you to focus on “just another day”. Don’t let them. PLEASE — stop using “4th of July” to refer to Independence Day, an independence that was won and preserved through sacrifices we can’t imagine and at a cost that none of us could ever pay. And we do those who paid that price a disservice when we allow anybody to strip away even the slightest mention of those liberties. For them — for you! — call it what it is, which is “Independence Day”.

It’s time to take action. It’s time to get away from so-called “safety” and letting people do things in the name of “security” and “protection” and get back to true freedom. It’s time to start calling it “Independence Day” again and fight to reverse recent trends that have slowly but surely stripped away our constitutional rights and freedoms that others have given everything to secure and preserve for us. It’s time to tell our government to serve us and optimize our liberty and freedom instead of the other way around (and remember: the government is people, just like you and me. It’s not some omnipotent being!). We have the right to liberty in the United States. Never forget that, and always fight to preserve and nurture it.

And for my Indian friends, if anybody there ever calls it the “15th of August Holiday”, stop them in their tracks. Don’t let anybody do anything to take away even one small bit of your independence and freedom. And thanks, Dr. Mani, for the poignant reminder of what really matters — true independence. Once we have true freedom, we can, like you, use that freedom to do even greater things.

Thanks for listening,
Tom