Thoughts on Independence Day

She's the USS Constitution, Old Ironsides, the oldest commissioned warship in the Navy. And, she's not a bad picture to capture our thoughts on the Fourth. The old ship has been meticulously preserved and maintained through the years since a famous poem and a bunch of determined school children rescued the never defeated warship from her demise and destruction. Today, only about eight percent of Old Ironsides is original. The rest of her is all exactly according to scale and specification, carefully replaced as necessary through the years. But to walk her decks today, she still looks ready for the high seas and ready for battle.

I'm not sure we have done as well preserving and maintaining our country, the nation the old ship defended so bravely. How close do we come today to the original, the specifications of our founders and builders? Are we still fitted out with the same ideals and dreams, or have we replaced the costly old values with cheaper, easier substitutes? I wonder. And as I take an honest look, I am fearful for the future of America. Outwardly powerful, inwardly decaying. Somebody better do something. Somebody should write a poem. Somebody needs to rebuild her.