George Bush was in Philadelphia on his first July 4th as President in 2001. He gave a speech that was pretty standard fare for an Independence Day address. He said this:

This is a dynamic and modern city. Yet if the Founders, themselves, were here, they would know the place. Benjamin Franklin and his wife could still find their way from here to the corner where they first saw each other, at Market and 4th. John Adams could make his way to City Tavern and show us the spot where he first shook the hand of George Washington. Thomas Jefferson would still find waiting for him the room where he drafted the Declaration of Independence. And each of the Founders, coming here, would know the ring of the Liberty Bell. It rang to announce the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence 225 years ago.

Those new citizens of a nation just 4 days old heard inspiring words but not original thoughts. Our Founders considered themselves heirs to principles that were timeless and truths that were self-evident. When Jefferson sat down to write, he was trying, he said, to place before mankind ‘‘the common sense of the subject.’’ The common sense of the subject was that we should be free, and though great evils would linger, the world would never be the same after July 4, 1776.

A wonderful country was born, and a revolutionary idea sent forth to all mankind: Freedom, not by the good graces of government but as the birthright of every individual; equality, not as a theory of philosophers but by the design of our Creator; natural rights, not for the few, not even for a fortunate many but for all people in all places, in all times.

The world still echoes with the ideals of America’s Declaration. Our ideals have been accepted in many countries and bitterly opposed by tyrants. They are the mighty rock on which we have built our Nation. They are the hope of all who are oppressed. They are the standard to which we hold others, and the standard by which we measure ourselves. Our greatest achievements have come when we have lived up to these ideals. Our greatest tragedies have come when we have failed to uphold them.

Here’s what Barack Obama said on his first 4th of July as President:

Hello and Happy Fourth of July, everybody. This weekend is a time to get together with family and friends, kick back, and enjoy a little time off. And I hope that’s exactly what all of you do. But I also want to take a moment today to reflect on what I believe is the meaning of this distinctly American holiday.

Today, we are called to remember not only the day our country was born -– we are also called to remember the indomitable spirit of the first American citizens who made that day possible.

We are called to remember how unlikely it was that our American experiment would succeed at all; that a small band of patriots would declare independence from a powerful empire; and that they would form, in the new world, what the old world had never known –- a government of, by, and for the people.

That unyielding spirit is what defines us as Americans. It is what led generations of pioneers to blaze a westward trail. It is what led my grandparents’ generation to persevere in the face of a Depression and triumph in the face of tyranny. It is what led generations of American workers to build an industrial economy unrivalled around the world. It is what has always led us, as a people, not to wilt or cower at a difficult moment, but to face down any trial and rise to any challenge, understanding that each of us has a hand in writing America’s destiny.

That is the spirit we are called to show once more. We are facing an array of challenges on a scale unseen in our time. We are waging two wars. We are battling a deep recession. And our economy -– and our nation itself –- are endangered by festering problems we have kicked down the road for far too long: spiraling health care costs; inadequate schools; and a dependence on foreign oil.

Meeting these extraordinary challenges will require an extraordinary effort on the part of every American. And that is an effort we cannot defer any longer. Now is the time to lay a new foundation for growth and prosperity. Now is the time to revamp our education system, demand more from teachers, parents, and students alike, and build schools that prepare every child in America to outcompete any worker in the world.

Now is the time to reform an unsustainable health care system that is imposing crushing costs on families, businesses, large and small, and state and federal budgets. We need to protect what works, fix what’s broken, and bring down costs for all Americans. No more talk. No more delay. Health care reform must happen this year.

And now is the time to meet our energy challenge –- one of the greatest challenges we have ever confronted as a people or as a planet. For the sake of our economy and our children, we must build on the historic bill passed by the House of Representatives, and make clean energy the profitable kind of energy so that we can end our dependence on foreign oil and reclaim America’s future.

These are some of the challenges that our generation has been called to meet. And yet, there are those who would have us try what has already failed; who would defend the status quo. They argue that our health care system is fine the way it is and that a clean energy economy can wait. They say we are trying to do too much, that we are moving too quickly, and that we all ought to just take a deep breath and scale back our goals.

These naysayers have short memories. They forget that we, as a people, did not get here by standing pat in a time of change. We did not get here by doing what was easy. That is not how a cluster of 13 colonies became the United States of America.

We are not a people who fear the future. We are a people who make it. And on this July 4th, we need to summon that spirit once more. We need to summon the same spirit that inhabited Independence Hall two hundred and thirty-three years ago today.

That is how this generation of Americans will make its mark on history. That is how we will make the most of this extraordinary moment. And that is how we will write the next chapter in the great American story. Thank you, and Happy Fourth of July.

We don’t know about you, but we find it creepy that an American President gave a 751 word 4th of July address without once mentioning the words “freedom” or “liberty” or even the American Revolution. To deliberately omit the pivotal words of America’s founding (while choosing to include the undignified term “kick back” and the strange phrase “cluster of colonies”) shows a disdain for the central tenets of the American experiment. It’s really that simple. (Remember that picture?)

And we’re not at all surprised that Obama reduced the greatness of the 4th to a metaphor for his terrible policy preferences. Such egotism! Or that that tiresome straw man trope appeared again. Etc. Etc. Roger Simon is right. These four years can’t end quickly enough.

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 5th, 2009 at 11:41 am and is filed under Democrats, General, Republicans. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.