236 Independence Days Later

BY ANTHONY MELÉ

Imagine 236 Independence days ago the inhabitants of Rockland County in 1776 heard the news the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence. Loyalist to King George knew this was a crime of such magnitude it meant an instant death sentence to all involved.

The men we call founding fathers and the unnamed multitude of rebels we’ll never know, risked all they had. Imagine the names they were called and slander they endured, in return for acknowledging “these truths to be self-evident, that all men are equal and endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights…” They fought for an idea and forfeited all comfort to realize it.

Revolutionary War battles took place in Stony Point. General Washington’s Army operated right here, losing many lives. Ask yourself, do you think they would have done it for us, if they could see what has become of Rockland County 236 short years later?

Would General Washington approve of what the Office of the President has become today?

Are our elected representatives like-minded to the framers of the Declaration of Independence today as they were then?

Rockland County’s credit worthiness has been classified by the leading credit rating agencies as fluctuating between; “Are you kidding and don’t even think about it.” The Rockland County government in 2012 actually accomplished running out of other peoples’ money.

Here where the ghosts of Revolutionary War soldiers still haunt the places where they lost their lives fighting against tax slavery; 236 years later, we celebrate their sacrifices as tax slaves.

If we are to preserve all they won us, in trade for their life, then we should at minimum be as like-minded as they were.

The lesson learned is, yes, challenging the status quo invites attack, but if none dare face it or step up to lead it or risk it all to fight it, then all that can be expected is, more of the same.

“If we are to maintain the great heritage which has been bequeathed to us, we must be like-minded as the fathers who created it.” — Calvin Coolidge
Anthony Mele is a TEA Party activist and was the 2010 GOP candidate for Congressional District-17. He is a former intelligence staff NCO for high ranking national security officials at the Pentagon.

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