Happy Fourth of July - maybe

I would like to celebrate the Fourth of July with joy, the way we usually do. But instead I celebrate this year with a sort of sadness that we have come to this: a nation divided into tribes, each suspicious of the other, hoping for better days. We still get along with our neighbors, even though we can't talk politics honestly with each other for fear of the responses we might get.

We have become immune to a President who lies daily, puffing himself up to the third of the nation who either fear their neighbors who happen to be liberals or Democrats, while two-third of the nation knows he is a failure but fear the system will not survive the damage he has done. I have voted for more than 60 years, for the candidates I felt would do the best job regardless of party affiliation, and accepted when it did not turn out the way I hoped, because there is always a better day ahead. Today I am less sure. I volunteered to serve in the military, as did most men of my generation, but would not suggest any beloved family member serve when the commander in chief is a coward who dodged service, and the Secretary of Defense is a would-be warrior with a Patton complex. Despite all this, I will still celebrate with family, beer in hand, around backyard pool with friends and family and grandchildren splashing around. Silently praying for no more wars. My hope for America's future rests with the young. If they fail the way the current generation has, the nation is indeed in peril.