Good Morning

The Writer, Vernon Wade

Vernon Wade is a poet, author and freelancer. He has been published in The Gorge Literary Journal, Dualsport Rider Magazine, Hack’d Magazine, The Sidecarist, ROB Magazine and The Hood River News.

The world fills him with wonder. When he looks at the sky he is lifted into flights of fancy, when he stares at the earth he is drawn beneath its surface. He is delighted to find the macrocosm and the microcosm equally mesmerizing.

7/4/26 7:00 60F (15.5C) Calm air, clear, blue sky.

It may be precarious, in this polarized society, when jingoism and patriotism are so easily confused, to express reservation about elevating the flag to a position of worship, but I feel I must.

Don’t get me wrong. I have, since a young age, believed and held in high esteem the ideals of this country.

Those ideals are clearly detailed in the declaration of independence, the constitution, and the bill of rights.

I do recognize that as a country and a society we have repeatedly failed to live up to those ideals, but until recently, I felt the majority of Americans believed in them and as a society we were making progress towards those aspirations. At a painfully slow rate, but progress nonetheless .

Now I am not so sure.

I do believe a representative republic is a good form of government, with the potential to represent the populace fairly and with built in mechanisms to damp extremes and protect minorities.

But that is not what we have now.

Did you know the legislature doesn’t use Robert’s Rules of Order? They ditched it in favor of their own parliamentary procedure, custom tailored to give the majority control of the dialog.

With that, combined with open bribery being accorded the privileged status of free speech, we no longer have the representative government our forefathers envisioned and fought for.

We have an oligarchy . A corpracracy. With hints of theocracy thrown in, mostly as window dressing and bait for Christian Nationalists support .

I was at an event recently where we were called upon to recite the pledge of allegiance. At the end a man behind me said amen in a loud voice. If there is anything creepier or more undemocratic than a loyalty oath, it is a loyalty oath becoming a public prayer.

Trump is the festering manifestation of the sale of our republic which has been going on for a long time. The last vestiges of the checks and balances that ensured our government was one of the people, by the people, and for the people, have been removed or so weakened that they can be ignored with impunity. When they finally scrape Trump’s fetid decaying carcass from behind the presidential podium, the machinery of fascism will be eager and ready to rise from the ruins of our democracy.

So I wonder, what are we celebrating today? 250 years of freedom? Or the end of the noble experiment?

Should I fly Old Glory this Fourth of July? Perhaps in my ambivalence, I will hoist it to half mast, doff my hat and bow my head in remembrance of lost ideals, and have a few friends and family over for a BBQ.

Good morning and happy 4th of July.