Getting it wrong on the 4th: the tail wagging the dog

I noticed today that many on Facebook treated Independence Day as if it were Memorial Day.  They paid homage to our Troops in Combat and our First Responders. Not that that gesture is bad because we probably don't think of them enough. The 4th of July, however, is to honor those men AND women who laid it on the line by facing down the King of England: Not with weapons but the pen. Signing the declaration was the ultimate measure of the new Patriots.

You see, we turn to honoring soldiers because they are the only group that all of us support!  As Jimmy Buffett sings:

"The rockets in the air and people everywhere

  Put away their differences for a while"

July 5 arrives as James Robbins said in today's USA Today:

"America's 237th birthday arrives with the country deeply divided. Whether over politics, policies, or lifestyles, Americans see to be gravitating into distinct and irreconcilable camps. In Washington, partisanship in the halls of Congress has grown to levels not seen since the Civil War. Public confidence in national institutions such as the government, the news media, big business and big labor is at an historic low. Civility is in short supply.  The country is hanging together, but who knows for how long."

and

"The Constitution put compromise at the center of every aspect of government."

If you have read the story of John Adams, Thomas Jefferson or George Washington, you know the give and take, the compromise necessary to create our country.  What is even more amazing was the the citizens BACKED them!

Today we honor our soldiers but not our leaders.  The soldiers volunteered and the leaders?