No Celebration

I've been disappointed in my country on numerous occasions -- but the  blatant cruelty and greed of the current regime, not to mention its cynical flaunting of the Stars and Stripes while ignoring the Constitution, has me wondering what those Founding Fathers would make of what their vision has become.

Masked thugs kidnapping people and deporting them or putting them in concentration camps without due process --was this the American Dream? An administration that is for sale to the highest bidder, that selects its officials based on appearance and loyalty, rather than experience and integrity, a president who delights in vulgarity and rudeness -- no, nothing to celebrate today.

Instead I'll remember the quiet Fourths of my childhood--a picnic supper of ham, potato salad, and watermelon under the big oaks in my grandparents' back yard and then, as it began to grow dark, my little brother and I with our sparklers, weaving fiery patterns in the air  . . .