Tomorrow, April 19, 1775, saw the first shots of the American Revolution!
This is the beginning of celebrations, which in less than 15 months, will be the celebration of the Declaration of Independence.
There is much to celebrate about the accomplishment of independence and the establishment of a democracy with a Constitution and Bill of Rights that made American a beacon for the world of what is possible when good intentions prevail!
But sadly, America faces an existential crisis, the greatest since the Civil War, the Great Depression, and World War II!
However, as tragic as those events were, America was fortunate to have two great Presidents, Abraham Lincoln and Frenklin D. Roosevelt, to follow the masterful statesmanship of George Washington to resolve these major moments of challenge to the rule of law.
But now, we have an existential crisis with the return to the Presidency of the most dangerous, unethical, and corrupt Chief Executive the nation has ever faced, and presenting massive challenge to the economic stability, the civil liberties, and the international role of America, which is being upended daily by Donald Trump, and his minions, his sycophants, who have no concern other than their own aggrandizement!
As a scholar and professor, who has just retired from the classroom, but will continue to give lectures to senior citizens and other adults, and also continue to express his views on this blog, the present and future are extremely alarming.
There is a sense of foreboding as to whether the American Republic and democracy will survive the onslaught against the basic principles enunciated 250 years ago, and reasserted 85-90 years later in the Civil War Era, and then again 70-80 years later in the Great Depression and World War II Era!
All good, decent people must be willing to speak out and challenge any attempt to stifle freedom and advocate support of totalitarian ideologies, as the present Administration is in the process of working to accomplish!