Can America Survive?
Friday, 04 July 2008
By Alan Caruba

With the advent of the Fourth of July, I know the expectation is that some patriotic prose is expected. I also know there have been many previous Fourths when Americans could have legitimately asked whether the United States of America would survive.

Why now? We date the Fourth from 1776 when the Declaration of Independence was published by representatives of the Colonies who pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.

However, the nation we celebrate began in earnest on May 25, 1787 with a quorum of representatives from seven states met in Philadelphia to draft a Constitution. They met in secret. They were all Christian. They were all white. They were the best and the brightest of their generation and, arguably, of many generations since.

By September 17, 1787 all twelve of the delegations had approved the Constitution. Out of the 42 members present, 39 delegates signed it.

When New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify it, the Constitution went into effect on June 21, 1788. The first Congress convened in New York City on March 4, 1789. On September 25, 1789, Congress approved twelve Amendments, including those known today as our Bill of Rights and sent them to the states for ratification. On December 15, 1791, Virginia ratified ten of the twelve and they became part of the Constitution.

By a single vote of a single Justice of the Supreme Court, we managed to hold onto the Second Amendment just days ago. That is frightening. If Sen. Obama becomes President Obama, the appointment of new members of the Court could do extraordinary damage to the Constitution.

That is why on July 4, 2008, it is legitimate to ask if the United States of America can survive.

There are other reasons to raise the question. Specifically, they are the 435 members of the House of Representatives and 100 members of the Senate of whom only a minority wants to stop the illegal invasion of America across our southern border or begin to drill for the vast amounts of oil and natural gas known to exist in our nation.

When you have a Senate Majority Leader saying, as Harry Reid did, that “oil makes us sick. Coal makes us sick,â€