OPINION/LETTERS: Let's remember what Independence Day is really about

I would like the general public to remember what the holiday on July 4th is really all about. It's not about cookouts, parades, or fireworks. It's about "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

That is why we should not "Celebrate the 4th." Instead, we should "Celebrate Independence Day" as our Founding Fathers called it.

The Founding Fathers of this great country voted for independence from the British government on July 2, 1776. The Declaration of Independence was a written explanation to their fellow colonists as to why the Continental Congress had voted this way. This document was formerly adopted by Congress on July 4, 1776, but it was not signed until August 2, 1776.

I am inviting the public to participate in reading the Declaration of Independence at 9 a.m. on Monday, July 4th at the WWI Dough Boy statue in the Bicentennial Green in front of the old Stone Bridge in Tiverton. We all need to remember why we enjoy the freedom we have in this country, and why the Congress declared our independence as a separate country from Britain.

I will have a supply of Declarations available to read from (please remember to bring your reading glasses, as everyone has a chance to read a part of it aloud), but you are welcome to bring your own copy.

I hope you will share your experience at this public reading with others who could not be there — and why it is called Independence Day. This event takes about 30 minutes or less, but it may be the most important 30 minutes of the day. Then you can go to your cookouts, parades, and fireworks knowing why it is such a great American holiday.

Susan E. Anderson, Tiverton

Middletown Town Council should deny schools' budget hike request

Middletown is a nice place. The Town Council has given citizens trustworthy governance, affordable taxes, and has practiced responsible fiscal stewardship.

That trustworthy image has been shattered by the school administration's loss of control of its $40 million budget. Over the last six months, the School Department discovered that they were operating with a $1.6 million deficit which has been accruing for two years. Residents are now burdened with an unplanned expense and increased tax.

The council is trying to identify the root cause of and accountability for the Middletown School Administration’s $1.6 million surprise. It has not yet provided answers.

Middletown and Newport voters, and Wall Street need those answers and assurance that the school deficit did not result from any fraud, waste or abuse. Voters will be asked to approve hundreds of millions of dollars for construction of new schools for Middletown and Newport, and Wall Street will be asked to issue those bonds.

The Middletown Town Council should deny the school administration's request for a 4% budget increase.

Paul Mankofsky, Middletown

Attacks on Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision are dangerous

It is at once both sad and unsettling to see President Biden, former president Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Maxine Waters, Elizabeth Warren and multiple other top Democrats level vitriolic attacks against the Supreme Court and individual justices in the wake of the Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Such overheated, malignant rhetoric is not only reckless and irresponsible, but downright dangerous.

We would all do well to remember that it wasn't that long ago when Donald Trump was routinely condemned for his "attacks" on the judiciary and individual judges and justices when he disagreed with rulings that didn't go his way.

Those on the left and in the liberal media would wring their hands and insist that such attacks were dangerous, corrosive to one of our most cherished democratic institutions, and raised safety concerns for judges.

Multiple federal judges took it upon themselves to release statements blasting Trump's attacks, and institutes such as the Brennan Center for Justice likewise issued statements of condemnation. Mr. Trump's broadsides had everyone in meltdown mode.

Yet in the aftermath of the Court's decision overturning Roe, Joe Biden and his fellow Democrats are now engaging in the VERY types of attacks for which they routinely pilloried Trump. Is it suddenly OK to "attack" the judiciary? Will the Brennan Center and those aforementioned federal judges issue similar statements of condemnation over Biden's and his fellow Democrats' attacks?

Again, regardless of which side of the issue or political aisle we're on, we ALL need to strongly and immediately condemn Democrats for their dangerous attacks on the Court, and their frenzied efforts to delegitimize it. Such opprobrious and injurious behavior should not, and cannot, go uncontested. We have to be better than this.

By all accounts, Democrats seem to have a problem with applying their principles uniformly, and often engage in the very behavior for which they condemn their GOP counterparts. I am reminded of an apt quote from famed English writer M. Somerset Maugham, who many years ago said, "The most useful thing about a principle is that it can always be sacrificed to expediency." Indeed.

Michael J. DiStefano, Jamestown

Some Republicans have shown to be heroes

Studies in psychology show these effects: people Obey (Milgram 1963), Conform (Asch 1951), and Comply (Zimbardo 1971). But not everybody, and to those who have the courage to resist authority, we owe stability and change for the better.

In this regard, we have national heroes from the 2020 election. They are Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers; Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger; and fellow Georgia officials, Gabriel Sterling and Shaye Moss. Thankfully, there are others, and we certainly include Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois. No pushovers, they.

These principled individuals have defied authority, presidential authority, no less. This is not easy to do. Could you and I have done it?

It is disturbing to hear of the vicious treatment these public servants have received as a consequence of their integrity. Fellow citizens have a duty to stand with them and to prevent the further erosion of law and decency, a most unfortunate consequence of Trumpism. The authentic Republican party and Trumpism are distinct, in my view.

Given the extensive record of obstruction, conspiracy, and fraud, the Justice Department should proceed in court with criminal charges against Donald Trump. He is responsible for this wrongdoing and for an ugly climate, not befitting “the land of the free and the home of the brave.” Heroes figure in our national history, literature, and lore. We still have them! And so also villains, but that’s why we have prosecutors.

William C. Rives, Newport

This article originally appeared on Newport Daily News: LETTERS: Let's remember what Independence Day is really about