I apologize for not posting in a great while, but my life has become quite busy. I want to take a moment to reflect on Independence Day. And I'm going to do the unthinkable: use this holiday to advance my conservative agenda.

I'm doing this because I believe Independence Day in America is the greatest celebration of conservatism in the world. It celebrates the day that a group of men decided to be free at any cost. The Founding Fathers were conservatives, no question. And I believe the modern government we have today is enough to make them turn in their graves, let alone what people like Barack Obama suggest for our future.

What happened 232 years ago was that a government encroached upon the freedoms of the colony. It was not given the same rights and privileges given to the homelands, and was treated with disrespect and disdain. It was used as a bludgeon against the French just years earlier, after which much of the land the colonists fought and died for was simply given right back to them in the peace treaty. They were taxed unfairly, forced to board troops, and were demanded a tribute.

The point is, the problem was the government. It was too big. It was too powerful. It was a moment where the government began to intrude upon the "certain unalienable rights" every human being has. And it was intolerable. Luckily for all of us, there was a group of men brilliant enough to recognize these crimes and demand justice.

What was the cost? It was steep. The cause of freedom resulted in a war with the most powerful nation in the world, with an army of great skill, technology, and numbers. At many points throughout the Revolution, one might say all hope was lost. But what Reagan would later describe as a "shining city on a hill" kept the colonists, or rather, the Americans, focused on their goal.

It was almost an act of God that the Americans won the war. Against a massive army of highly trained soldiers, a group of farmers, which Cornwallis would describe as a "rabble," was able to secure victory in the name of democracy, and defeat for tyranny. This epic struggle resulted in the greatest nation in history.

What makes America so great? It isn't its youth; it isn't its location; it isn't its geography. Sure, we're lucky to have so many natural resources, but I don't think that's it. I don't even think our Constitution is the reason. It is our people. It is what we have been shaped to believe about humanity and the world. A simple term can describe the source of our greatness: self-reliance.

The Constitution, the Declaration, and the Framers all helped shape our mentality of self-reliance, but it is that very concept that has kept our nation great. By working hard on our own behalf, by believing that we have to earn a good living, but yet that it is always within reach, is what has kept us going for over two centuries.

How does this apply to modern times? It is essential that this sentiment of self-reliance not be lost. What will happen if it does? We will end up like Europe, Canada, and many other nations. And we are not many other nations. We are America.

The USA has been different forever. This difference is why we rule the world.

Self-reliance is conservatism at its core. Privatizing social security, fighting national healthcare, keeping taxes low; these are all superficial details. The goal is to keep us free. Liberalism's goal is hardly this.

What liberalism seeks to do is change self-reliance to government-reliance. By depending on the government, liberals within it will gain power. They want to control the thought of citizens from day one: socialized hospitals to socialized day-care to socialized schools to socialized college to government-supplied jobs, while taxing you even beyond the grave. Liberalism is a crime against humanity. It seeks to infringe upon the very rights our Founders set in stone.

The recent Supreme Court decision about guns is an example. I will explore the ruling in more detail when I am finished analyzing the opinions. But the Second Amendment is very clear: The right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. This was designed to give us the ability to protect ourselves from the government should the time come that it becomes too powerful. That time will come if people like Barack Obama keep getting elected. We cannot let this happen. And the fact that four Supreme Court justices wanted to erase one of our rights, one of the main ways we have to protect ourselves from an overly powerful government, is proof that liberalism seeks to keep us from being free.

Independence Day is, as I said before, a celebration of conservatism. It is in memory of the self-reliance our Founders displayed when they made that difficult decision to go to war for freedom. And it embodies a concept that cannot be forgotten or cast aside lightly by those who wish to do so. Silver tongues and empty suits cannot trick their way into power in this country, and I am confidant freedom will be preserved in 2008. But beyond, who knows?

The Constitution and the Declaration of Independence are mandates of conservatism. So is the voting pattern of this country. It's about time we get a leader out there to recognize this and take up the charge against tyranny.

God bless conservatism, God bless America.