Independence Day (The 4th of July) has always been my favorite US-only holiday. I will always remember the large neighborhood picnics we'd have  where we would hang a large US flag across our street and light sparklers and firecrackers while soaking up the Summer sun. Later we'd walk to a local park for the big fireworks show when the sun finally went to sleep. There was nothing quite like the smell of freshly cut grass, hamburgers cooking on the grill and spent gun powder and smoke to make a young boy thankful that he was growing up in America in the 1970s. Of course the 70s had its problems too, but not for me. I was too busy riding my bicycle everywhere, endlessly running through my neighborhood, building various things and vehicles while being fascinated by stories of American ingenuity, rugged individualism, truth, justice and the American Way.

With age and circumstance comes a deeper appreciation of the day and the meaning behind it. I cannot now read nor hear the words, "When in the course of human events…" without a chill, or the hair on the back of my neck standing up just a little bit because I know the words which follow that first Declaration, and the commitment represented by them to the people of a young nation, to become a sovereign entity free from the tyranny of the British Crown and of the hardships to come in winning that sovereignty. Yet through those hardships we persevered, won our freedom and set about building a new nation around a new constitution and, shortly thereafter, a new Bill of Rights which was added to the Constitution in the form of the first 10 Amendments. This family of documents is the obvious foundation upon which our great experiment in democracy was built and, as such, it seems to me they should be treated with care and protected from physical harm and the kind of harm that is more intellectual or philosophical in nature. And, for the most part, they are protected from these threats. The oaths one must take to be sworn in to just about any public office, from President Of The United States to local "dog catcher," contain some form of "Protect and Defend," "Protect and Uphold," "Support and Defend," etc. the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic… Everyone seems to understand foreign enemies but the domestic kind are a different kettle of fish.

Lately, I have begun to notice a trend where prominent people and organizations are downplaying the role of the Constitution and Bill of Rights or suggesting that perhaps they are not really that important after all. For example, the Mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg, recently said that "…our laws and our interpretation of the Constitution, I think, have to change." Mr. Bloomberg is of the opinion that people cannot be both free and safe, they can only be one or the other and he wants to make that decision for us. He wants to determine what we eat, what we drink and how we protect ourselves or if we should even be allowed to protect ourselves. A story out of Illinois, a little over a month ago, reveals that an employee of the state, public high school teacher John Dryden, was docked one day of pay for reminding his students that they have a Fifth Amendment right to not incriminate themselves on a survey of "risky" behavior that was being conducted by the school, an entity of state government. To my way of thinking, this is exactly how a government employee should act and Mr. Dryden should have been given a bonus! (Though I suspect that union rules probably forbid that.) It's not really surprising this would happen in Illinois, the state is not exactly a bastion of freedom, and they are being dragged, kicking and screaming, into upholding all of the Bill of Rights and not just the ones they agree with. I guess the administrators of the high school might be forgiven for their role in punishing Mr. Dryden in that they have probably never sworn to protect, defend or otherwise uphold the US Constitution, but how does one defend the actions of a Supreme Court Justice who travels to Egypt and, while there, disrespects the constitution she has sworn to "support and defend"? "I would not look to the US Constitution, if I were drafting a constitution in the year 2012," said Justice Ginsburg during an interview with Egyptian TV back in early 2012. Really? Then why do you sit in judgement of people whose daily existence is governed by it? What "better" guide(s) does she have? If she is not using the Constitution to determine what is constitutional? One might define that as tyranny and we know where the Founding Fathers stood on tyranny! Don't we? Just look at the state seal of Virginia which proclaims, "SIC SEMPER TYRANNIS" (Thus always to tyrants) while depicting Virtue, with a spear in one hand, a sword in the other and her foot on the chest of Tyranny who is lying on the ground with his crown nearby but clearly knocked from his head. The phrase has been part of Virginia's seal since 1776. The concept has been with the US since its birth. 

A short and elegant definition of tyranny is one I just heard recently. It said that tyranny is the rule of will over the rule of law. Yeah, I think that most people will understand that. As Americans we have been trained to stand a constant vigil against government tyranny. At least that was the case as I was growing up in the 70s. Nowadays there seems to be a sort of stigma attached to having strong beliefs in favor of the Constitution and against government tyranny. Only the "crazy people" talk of the Constitution. Just recently our own President, in his remarks to the graduating class at Ohio State University, said that they, the graduating class, should reject the voices that warn about government tyranny. Really? At a time when specific groups of US citizens are being targeted by parts of the government for financial punishment for what they believe? Now is a good time to drop our guard against government tyranny? This is like having the fox at the lectern admonishing the chickens for feeling uneasy at the prospect of having the many underling foxes guarding the hen houses! The President has very capable speech writers. They know what they are writing and why they are writing it. They could have easily written his speech to say that the graduating class should weigh these voices that warn about government tyranny with voices carrying other opinions and use their young minds to figure out what the truth is. That is not the language that the administration chose to go with. The President said to flatly reject these voices. Why? I have no patience for people who tell me to believe a certain thing but then do not tell me why I should believe it.

Preferring to make up my own mind, as I'm often wont to do, I wondered where I could look for answers to whether or not it is time well spent to keep up one's guard against all forms of government tyranny. Lucky for me, I had just finished inventing a time machine (no joke!) which turned out to be a big help in determining if I should continue to be aware of government tyranny in all of its forms or if I should flatly reject those voices who warn us of it. Though I would have liked to have traveled all the way back to 1776 for this research, there are problems with time travel that I cannot overcome and, because of these problems, I found it difficult to go much further back than 72 years. I did find what I was looking for just 72 years ago though. Let me set it up for you.

And this is the big payoff for all of my above ranting and rambling. Just my way to lead you down to today's big feature, a radio show that I want you to hear. It is an hour long but it is well worth the time, not only for you but for your kids, neighbors, friends, anyone who you can get to listen to it. It is a unique radio show featuring the biggest Hollywood stars and the President of the United States. However these Hollywood stars, and I'll just name a few you may have heard of, include Lionel Barrymore, Walter Brennan, Edward G. Robinson and Corporal Jimmy Stewart! The President of the United States is Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) who, I might add, was also a big "D" Democrat.

The date is Dec. 15, 1941. Earlier, a man named Norman Corwin wrote this radio show which explored American values and he wrote it for the purpose of commemorating the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Bill of Rights. Hence it was set to air on Dec. 15, 1941. But then, just a week before the show was to air, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and the US was headed for war. Fearing that the President would no longer have the time or that it was no longer prudent to go on with such a show, Corwin asked on Dec. 7, that "date which will live in infamy", whether the show was still on. He received back a wire (a telegram to you youngsters) that said, "The President thinks it's more important now than ever to proceed with the program." So the show aired live on Dec. 15, 1941. It was the first time that all 4 major radio networks simulcast the same show together and they broadcasted it to an audience of approximately 63 million people which was half of the US population at that time! Understand that this show about American values was not put together by the 1941 equivalent of a bunch of rabid Tea Partiers, this show was commissioned by the US government itself under the direction of the Office of Education! It is a great hour of history worth listening to and Mr. Corwin won a Peabody award for his efforts. You can make up your own mind as to which is the best course of action. Keep the vigil to prevent government tyranny or reject those voices who ask us to do so.

So now, without further rambling, I give to to you this historic masterpiece -- We Hold These Truths...

https://archive.org/details/NormanCorwinWeHoldTheseTruthscombinedAmericanNetworks15December