Some of us still aspire to uphold these ideals in their most encompassing sense.
With AutoInformed still reeling from the revelations of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, our approach to this Fourth of July is one with a renewed sense of patriotism.
No more sunshine patriot or summer soldier behaviors in these times that try all our souls; Rather we have a renewed commitment to travel the road we set upon 246 years ago when the Continental Congress approved the final wording of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.
Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Roger Sherman and Robert R. Livingston comprised the Committee of Five that drafted our enduring manuscript. Jefferson, properly regarded as the clearest, most eloquent writer, created what remains one of our core documents. It simply states that all of us equals could work at Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.
Actually the document was signed weeks later on August 2. The signatories, immigrants to North America or descended from immigrants, risked their lives to pursue a still profoundly liberating vision to escape from the manacles of the past that included, among other absurdities and outrages, a false belief that Kings had a “divine right” to do what they please.
Well, neither Kings nor Presidents, nor ex-presidents have any such power under our Constitution that subsequently came out of our Revolution when our Articles of Confederation proved unworkable given our growing prosperity. It is odd that conservative institutions still maintain that anything the president does is legal in blind defiance of the words of the Constitution.
Here look closely again at what actually did emerge in Philadelphia: They were and are words to eternally live by; words that have since expanded our sense of all “white men” are created equal, as many of us now understand to mean that all people are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights – among them life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
This enlightenment ultimately included slaves, which many of the founders, of course, owned. Slaves built the White House. The vile institution of Slavery was present in the “new world” starting with the Jamestown colony in 1609. It took a Civil War against confederate seditionists to clarify that view. Although, the powerful and privileged represented by the Supreme Court ruled that Dred Scott was property that should be returned to his (false) owner, and subsequently undercut that truth with Plessy versus Ferguson, which falsely asserted that separate by equal was OK.
Some of us still aspire to uphold these ideals in their most encompassing sense in our conduct. It’s the reason what was once unthinkable – a standing British army, arguably the finest, best equipped the world had seen, was forced to surrender in the field for the first time in history to a mere group of ill-trained state militias and the rag-tag Continental Army.
Unthinkable. But the ideas they were fighting for were bigger than the despots, Redcoats, Hessians and other mercenaries. We overcame oppression against the odds. We can continue to do so.
We say nay to those who would subvert our ideals. Nay, again to violent insurrectionists. Equal means equal with no separate whatsoever in the Liberty Equation. Equal means all people have the right to vote, to choose their leaders. Finally it means WE must work together to address hidden, covered-up or emerging issues.
With our collective actions we can on future Fourth of Julys celebrate our Union and our collective progress. These too will be Independence Days that build on our past. However, they will be ones that embrace a movement toward an even more independent future, a stronger economy that embraces all, not just the ultra, non-tax-paying rich and celebrates yet unknown non-summer soldiers and stormy weather patriots. Don’t tread on our ideals.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
July 4th 2022: An Unhappy 246th Birthday for Our Democracy
Some of us still aspire to uphold these ideals in their most encompassing sense.
With AutoInformed still reeling from the revelations of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, our approach to this Fourth of July is one with a renewed sense of patriotism.
No more sunshine patriot or summer soldier behaviors in these times that try all our souls; Rather we have a renewed commitment to travel the road we set upon 246 years ago when the Continental Congress approved the final wording of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.
Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Roger Sherman and Robert R. Livingston comprised the Committee of Five that drafted our enduring manuscript. Jefferson, properly regarded as the clearest, most eloquent writer, created what remains one of our core documents. It simply states that all of us equals could work at Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.
Actually the document was signed weeks later on August 2. The signatories, immigrants to North America or descended from immigrants, risked their lives to pursue a still profoundly liberating vision to escape from the manacles of the past that included, among other absurdities and outrages, a false belief that Kings had a “divine right” to do what they please.
Well, neither Kings nor Presidents, nor ex-presidents have any such power under our Constitution that subsequently came out of our Revolution when our Articles of Confederation proved unworkable given our growing prosperity. It is odd that conservative institutions still maintain that anything the president does is legal in blind defiance of the words of the Constitution.
Here look closely again at what actually did emerge in Philadelphia: They were and are words to eternally live by; words that have since expanded our sense of all “white men” are created equal, as many of us now understand to mean that all people are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights – among them life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
This enlightenment ultimately included slaves, which many of the founders, of course, owned. Slaves built the White House. The vile institution of Slavery was present in the “new world” starting with the Jamestown colony in 1609. It took a Civil War against confederate seditionists to clarify that view. Although, the powerful and privileged represented by the Supreme Court ruled that Dred Scott was property that should be returned to his (false) owner, and subsequently undercut that truth with Plessy versus Ferguson, which falsely asserted that separate by equal was OK.
Some of us still aspire to uphold these ideals in their most encompassing sense in our conduct. It’s the reason what was once unthinkable – a standing British army, arguably the finest, best equipped the world had seen, was forced to surrender in the field for the first time in history to a mere group of ill-trained state militias and the rag-tag Continental Army.
Unthinkable. But the ideas they were fighting for were bigger than the despots, Redcoats, Hessians and other mercenaries. We overcame oppression against the odds. We can continue to do so.
We say nay to those who would subvert our ideals. Nay, again to violent insurrectionists. Equal means equal with no separate whatsoever in the Liberty Equation. Equal means all people have the right to vote, to choose their leaders. Finally it means WE must work together to address hidden, covered-up or emerging issues.
With our collective actions we can on future Fourth of Julys celebrate our Union and our collective progress. These too will be Independence Days that build on our past. However, they will be ones that embrace a movement toward an even more independent future, a stronger economy that embraces all, not just the ultra, non-tax-paying rich and celebrates yet unknown non-summer soldiers and stormy weather patriots. Don’t tread on our ideals.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn. He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe. Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap. AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks. Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.