Happy 30th anniversary of Independence Day, everyone! As we all know, Independence Day is a movie that officially released in theaters on July 3rd, 1996. It was so popular and well received that July 4th, the date that humans collectively fought off an extraterrestrial attack on the earth as one united planet, was forever memorialized as a national holiday here in the US!

I kid, I kid. But seriously: I do enjoy the movie. During this 250th anniversary of the people of the United States declaring its independence from an oppressive, tyrannical government, I hope you all give pause and think about the importance of a government in our lives. We no longer operate under the delusion that a king is meant to rule us; we understand that a government’s primary role is to serve the people, protect them from enemies both domestic and foreign, and to support those who most need it to thrive. We have evolved past rulers and deserve a government body that acts as stewards of humanity’s greatest gifts.

Regardless of your political leanings, I hope you’ll join me in remembering the difficult and, in many cases, unpleasant journey our nation has taken to reach this monumental lifespan. As citizens, we all have the civic and moral responsibility to hold our government accountable to its duties to the people. We deserve a government that knows its primary function is to serve and support the people. We deserve leaders who accept that their government positions, no matter how high up the ranks, are all places of civil service bound by a legally binding oath to act in the best interests of the people, and not to enrich themselves or force their wills upon the people.

Happy Independence Day, everyone! Let us remember the great honor of a country that lasts this long and the responsibility we have as citizens to keep our government leaders accountable to the will and the rights of the people.

And I’m sorry; the next time I plan to publish a blog post on a day other than the scheduled Friday, I’ll be sure to post about that ahead of time. Thank you for reading, and enjoy the holiday!