July 4, 2020~a troubled time for celebrating our nation’s beginnings.  Everyone claims to revere the ideals of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for all, and yet we have seen evidence of inequality in so many instances.  And we have seen broken promises, powerful people reversing hard-won laws and regulations, directives that have in the past moved us closer to the kind of shared union we have proclaimed we have always wanted America to be.  People in positions of power who turn their backs on the people who have helped make this an admired and potent nation remind me of the skipper in The Golden Vanity, a folksong from the days of sailing ships.  The foe is no longer some mythical “Turkish enemy” but rather our own leaders who fail to protect, serve, and cherish the people of this democracy.  Vote them out.