On July 3, 1776, when the Declaration was actually ratified by the Continental Congress in Philadelphia, things were going pretty good. We had victories at Bunker Hill and everyone was in good spirits. Six months later after crushing defeats at New York, and the winter setting in, things looked bleak. The rebel army was shrinking as the soldiers' commissions were about to expire. And in December of 1776, Thomas Paine wrote the crises which begins as follows:
"THESE are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated."
Those patriots who stayed on, ended up providing a key victory at Trenton on Christmas Day 1776 which was a turning point for the cause. But I write about Thomas Paine's words. America today as a result of the storm surge caused by 1960's era liberalism has become a country of Sunshine Patriots. We're surrounded by Sunshine Patriots. You see them in the media, the New York Times especially. You see them at all these protestor rallies. You see them in Hollywood. And you see them in the music industry. When the war on terrorism began, everyone was gung ho. When it became evident to them that this was going to be a long war, they all cower to their SUV's in a 1960's throwback.
The Revolutionary War lasted more than 10 years. Had the people of the colonies had the same wherewithall many of those have today, we'd had made a peace deal with Britain and remained subjects of the British Crown.
Hopefully the tide will turn before it's too late.
Have a safe and happy Fourth of July.
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