This Memorial Day, I read a number of articles, heard a couple of podcasts, and listened to several songs that were sent to me. All focused on one thing, the sacrifices many have made to protect our freedom, our liberty. I was struck by two emotions, quite different. One was a great deal of pride in the US. It remains the only nation founded on a set of political principles, "that all men are created equal." That was a very radical concept in the late 18th Century, as was the idea that people could rule themselves. I know, I know..... We have had flaws, some major ones. And perhaps we don't move quickly enough in some areas. But the US and Americans continue to grow, to expand the meaning of "all people are created equal." Can anyone reasonably argue that the US doesn't lead the world in freedom and liberties? Note my qualifier, "reasonably." That so many Americans gave their lives for this radical idea, that we could govern ourselves, is to be celebrated and commemorated. I genuinely feel terrible about those Americans who died for the political ambitions and egos of politicians, not to protect our freedom. The other emotion was sadness, that those liberties and freedoms we should be holding most dear, for which many gave their lives, are eroding, gradually being taken from us. Look at the last 15 months of the CoVid fascism. Yes, I said it, "fascism." Political leaders took our freedoms all in the name of "following the science," when in reality many of them didn't and, in fact, the science was never settled, never clear. Oh, some people can and still believe it was. But it never was. Look how many times Fauci, the CDC, the WHO, and other "experts" changed their minds on what to do. I'm not blaming them for not knowing what to do. I am blaming them for issuing autocratic orders that harmed so many people. I'm also asking why so many of "them" were able to ignore their own orders when they found such orders inconvenient. Why were so many Michigan business owners, especially those in the restaurant and bar businesses, fined and even jailed for failing to follow the arbitrary orders, yet the governor ignored them when she found they got in her way? And yet many bobble heads refer to standing up for our rights, for fighting for our liberties, as "rebellious." Is this what so many Americans in the military died for, so we could so easily cede our freedom? I wonder if these same people refer to the riots, er "peaceful protests," in many of our major cities, the take-over of neighborhoods, and the epidemic of urban shootings and murders as "rebellious." It's not just the CoVid orders. The Democrats are throwing around several trillion dollar budget proposals like they were wedding confetti. And the Establishment Republicans don't seem willing to stand up and say, "NO!" Nope, they are preparing their own budget proposals, ones that include only a trillion dollars or so. You know, that new kind of money, "only dollars." Such will also steal our freedoms and liberties. We can tax corporations and the billionaires at a tax rate of 100% and still not bring in enough revenue to pay for such outlandish spending. So, who's next? We are, "great unwashed." With less money, that is, after the government legally steals it from us, our freedom will be further diminished. We won't be able to go where we might want. We won't be able to buy what we might want. We won't have enough money to be free to do many things. That, as much as the authoritarian CoVid orders, steals our liberty from us. So very distressing is that, at least in my view, the majority of Americans either favor what has been and is being done or are willing to let it happen with nary a peep. After all, who wants to be identified as having "a rebellious attitude?"