The Saving Principles

For the mainstream media and its heroes, the July 4 weekend has become a festival of national self-flagellation. This is their new tradition, their way of celebrating the holiday: churning out another round of hot takes on why America is not such a great country, why the American Revolution was a mistake, and above all, why the Declaration of Independence is sexist and racist.

This year, that perverse form of commemoration was both started and ended by failed quarterback turned "woke" celebrity Colin Kaepernick. He started the whole thing off by pushing Nike, which foolishly chose to chain their brand to his, into cancelling a special Fourth of July edition sneaker adorned with the Betsy Ross flag, which is suddenly considered a symbol of white supremacy for reasons nobody can quite articulate. He capped it off by posting an excerpt from a famous 1852 speech by the former slave and abolitionist firebrand Frederick Douglass, which offers a stinging rebuke to America.

What have I, or those I represent, to do with your national independence? This Fourth of July is yours, not mine.... There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices more shocking and bloody than are the people of these United States at this very hour.

Given what Kaepernick has said in the past, I am sure he does not intend this to be taken in the past tense. He means it to apply today.

Senator Ted Cruz responded to Kaepernick by describing that quote as being taken out of context because "Douglass was not anti-American." He then encouraged us to read the whole speech.

He is right on both counts. The speech is definitely worth reading, and its message is the opposite of what Kaepernick and other admirers on the left imagine it to be.

Read the rest at The Bulwark.