Happy Fourth of July! Here are today’s temperatures:
Logan: 55 - 85° ⛅
Salt Lake City: 69 - 91° ⛅ | 20% 💧
St. George: 74 - 104° ☀️
Consider the following:
The nation's second president, John Adams, and third president, Thomas Jefferson, both died on July 4, 1826.
The nation's fifth president, James Monroe, died on July 4, 1831.
The turning point of the Civil War, following Confederate defeats at the Battle of Gettysburg and the Fall of Vicksburg, fell on July 4, 1863.
The nation's 30th president, Calvin Coolidge, was born on July 4, 1872.
Coincidence? I think not!
Also on our mind: The troubling health cost of the "energy transition," thousands protest in Iraq for a second day over the burning of a Quran in Sweden and Utah’s own Simon Smith is headed to Portugal for the Trampoline World Cup.
Deseret News Editorial Board: Reflections from a century of American Independence Days
A century ago, Americans had just emerged from a world war and a crippling pandemic. But the author of the main editorial in the Deseret News on July 4, 1923, talked about none of that. He was instead filled with boundless optimism and gratitude, and he wrote as if he couldn’t imagine a better time.
“As President Harding has pointed out in his speeches, no other country involved in that conflict (WWI) has shown such remarkable recovery, and no country has greater reason to feel thankful for blessings received,” he wrote.
Would editorial writers and the rest of the nation still feel the same 10 years later, after the prosperity of the ’20s had melted into the depths of the Great Depression?
That’s easily answered.
A decade later, the paper’s main editorial emphatically declared, “The people of America, with few exceptions, believe that our form of government, despite its faults, is the best in the world. We believe that the common man has greater opportunity and greater advantages in America than in any other country in the world. We believe that the individual’s right to do as he pleases, so long as he does no injury to his neighbor, is worth more than any privilege which can be granted by king or dictator.”
The past century has been filled with challenges — economically, militarily and in every conceivable sense — but the arc through it all has been a steady progress upward. Someone from a century ago would be awed by our progress, but he or she likely would be aghast at how we are treating such fortune.
Amid the appropriate celebrations of liberty and freedom on this coming Fourth of July, every American ought to take time to ponder blessings, give thanks and examine how he or she can work to ensure that the future contains still better days, for everyone. The nation’s future depends on it.
Read more about the optimism of our ancestors and why now, more than ever, optimism is both warranted and necessary.
"Politics today strains against the Constitution," writes John Yoo, the Emanuel S. Heller Professor of Law at the University of California, Berkeley, in this month's issue of Deseret Magazine.
Examples to support Yoo's claim are easy to find. He explains: "President Joe Biden claimed that the Covid-19 pandemic gave him the authority to suspend all evictions, mandate vaccines in the workplace, and cancel most student loans."
But, Yoo cautions, challenges to America's constitutional order aren't coming from just one direction — the left. Just take a look at the other side of the aisle.
"In 2020, for example, President Donald Trump pressured state officials to change electoral votes and then asked Vice President Mike Pence to block the count in favor of Biden."
Yoo continues: "These political attacks on the Constitution, however, seem to exceed the normal jousting of everyday politics. They take up a deeper challenge to our political order."
And that's because, as Yoo explains, the Constitution is the framework that:
"Establishes government institutions and national traditions that foster political and social stability.
"Sets the rules of the political game that allow Americans to pursue their political futures without suffering periodic disorder or even revolution.
"Gives the American people the means to rule themselves and reminds us that we engage in self-government to advance, not regulate, our natural rights.
And, most importantly, "reminds the American people that rights do not come from government, but from 'their Creator.'"
"In this, the American Constitution may be the most exceptional of all," Yoo concludes.
Read more about why attacks on our constitutional order are really attacks on the nation's most fundamental ideals.
More for the Fourth of July
Here’s what the first Fourth of July celebration looked like (Deseret News)
Deconstructing America’s obsession with fireworks (Deseret News)
Fourth of July food faves mostly pricier than last year, but there are a few deals to be had (Deseret News)
Stars, Stripes and Songs: A comprehensive playlist for July 4th (Deseret News)
Health
CDC issues alert as fungal meningitis claims 7 lives after medical procedures in Mexico (Deseret News)
Harmonizing health: The surprising health benefits of joining a choir (Deseret News)
Faith
President Lund urges others to ‘come together as a nation’ and ‘look out for each other’ (Church News)
Thousands protest in Iraq for a second day over burning of Quran in Sweden (Religion News Service)