Two hundred and fifty years ago, a group of men put their names on a document that told the most powerful government on earth: Enough!
Enough taxation without representation. Enough rule by people who never had to look you in the eye. Enough greed and corruption. Enough being treated like subjects instead of citizens.
They understood that self-government only survives when citizens are willing to confront power directly, demand accountability, and refuse to accept contempt as leadership.
They named the abuses and the people responsible. And then they pledged everything they had to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
One of the men in uniform that day was my own ancestor, Joseph Wellman, who had participated in the Siege of Boston and went on to serve for 3 more years in the Continental Army. He believed in the dream of a free United States and put his life on the line to achieve it.
His sons and grandsons have continued that tradition ever since.
Those words that those brave men signed under resonates all the more today. That is what is worth remembering this Fourth of July as we celebrate the 250th anniversary of that fateful day.
Because, we are in an ENOUGH moment right now.
Enough watching Washington protect itself while families pay more for groceries, prescriptions, and rent. Enough calling your representative and getting nothing while other people’s calls sail right through. Enough corruption dressed up as business as usual. Enough watching the billionaires bleed our working folks dry. Enough contempt from people who have confused keeping their seat with doing their job.
The founders didn’t wait to feel ready. They named what was wrong and they signed their names to it.
If the good people of Missouri’s 2nd District send me to Congress this November, that’s what I intend to do. I am running to serve.
We face a moment of American history rife with skyrocketing costs, outrageous corruption, and total chaos in our government.
The solution is courage.
Courage to step forward and take the barbs and arrows. Courage to tell the truth even when it will cost you your livelihood. Courage to know that the attacks will be relentless as those with money and power will stop at nothing to keep it.
Courage to stand in the breech and hold the line.
I spent 22-years in the Army learning that nobody outranks the Constitution and service should be above self. I left the uniform and fought for those that had sacrificed for their nation to live those values. I kept trying to live with courage driving to New York City during COVID to help those suffering from the deadly outbreak, and in St. Louis when Afghan allies arrived with their lives in a few bags and nowhere to turn.
When the need was there. I had skills that could help. So I got to work.
That work continues today. The promise is worth fighting for.
We can all fight in our own way. We work peacefully but courageously to shape a nation that lives up to it’s founding principles and the dream of those who put their lives, and signatures, on the line for that ideal.
We keep up the fight.
Happy Fourth. Happy birthday, America.
Now let’s get to work to keep it going another 250.
Courage is what we need. I promise to live it.
Fred
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