There have been other Independence Days in my lifetime when times were tough, when the economy was bad, the job market was tight and people were hurting. But the big difference between those years and this one is that then we knew that things would be better by the time the next Fourth of July rolled around. This year, this really bad year, could be a year we look back at longingly for this could be the last year the country is the America our founders envisioned on that Fourth of July 233 years ago.

Continued...

Will there be more Fourth of July holidays in our future? Of course. The date will still be on the calendar and the significance of what happened in 1776 will still be acknowledged. But will the founding principles of the United States still be alive and well if more of the Obama administration's policies are put into effect? I doubt it.

The time when talent and hard work are rewarded, when starting your own business is a dream that can come true, when the individual is in charge of their own destiny could easily pass into bittersweet memory. The time when America stood for freedom and courage against oppression could be replaced by a reputation of weakness and a refusal to get involved for fear of what others might do or say. We may have to tell our children and grandchildren what life used to be like when living in America meant endless opportunities and pride in our national identity. And they will look up in wonder until they feel the sting of government oppression themselves and just walk away in sad disbelief.

Someday those grandchildren may even look at us with disdain and we will deserve their scorn if it was us who sat back and allowed their opportunities to be taken from them. Not taken by some foreign enemy that was too strong to vanquish; but by our own selfishness, apathy and refusal to stand up and heed the words of President Ronald Reagan who said:

"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same."

Instead we are standing by while President Obama is, in his own words, "remaking America".

Are we going to be the generation who passes on a debilitating tax structure and crippling regulations under the guise of euphemisms such as "cap & trade" and "health care reform"? Will we be responsible for a foreign policy legacy that goes beyond weakness and into collaboration with those who would do us harm while we leave our allies to fend for themselves? And will we bequeath an overwhelming lack of leadership that turns our nation from a proud and prosperous people to a collection of sniveling, dependent cowards?

No one knows what future July's will bring. But I think what happens between this one and the next will have a more powerful and lasting impact than most years.