Renee Parsons
With the problematic year of 2026 just a few days away and unless Congress acts with purpose as an integrated branch of government as intended by the Founders, that mid-term election is likely to conclude with acknowledging the Trump Administration as a tyrannical chapter in the country’s history. In that event, there may be little hope of reviving the country’s Founding Documents and its 250 year history as a Constitutional Republic.
On July 4, 2026, the 250th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence will be observed.
The creation of the Founding Documents took a step forward in 1776 when Richard Henry Lee offered an unprecedented resolution to advocate separation from Great Britain. Fifty six delegates unanimously agreed to Lee’s Resolution which was added to the Articles of Confederation. With the Resolution, the Continental Congress appointed the Committee of Five (John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Roger Sherman and Robert Livingston) to draft a Declaration of Independence articulating the colonists’ grievances and to justify their break with Great Britain.
It is no secret that the country’s Founders spontaneously incorporated many of its Christian ethics and principles into their version of government as the Preamble to the Declaration proposed by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness..”
Those principles and celebrated words were not just spontaneous opinions but were borne from a deeply-rooted belief system and ingrained philosophies that defined generations of early Americans creating a self-government that advocated spiritual principles that the Founders lived by and applied to every single human being.
Everlasting sacred words that gave birth to the world’s first great democratic experiment with an independent sovereignty, personal rights and self-rule has resonated through the centuries by all peoples of the world.
After the surrender of Cornwallis in 1781, the Founders revised the Articles of Confederation to create the US Constitution which inspired the world with its First Amendment of free speech which was ratified by adding the Bill of Rights (Article VI) within the Constitution in 1789.
During its years of formative debates, the Continental Congress entertained no frivolous considerations of relocating its Embassy to Jerusalem or creation of a global hegemon built on foreign interference, economic sanctions, regime change, military domination or Zionist interests.
“Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other” said John Adams as state by state ratified the US Constitution in 1788.
There is no simple explanation beyond Divine Intervention to understand how a distinct group of inexperienced Americans, some of whom were thinkers, educated writers, farmers, merchants, radicals and students of John Locke’s “Two Treatises of Government” all understood the concepts of personal liberty and freedom as it applied to home rule and had the persistence to create a whole new country based on an innovative set of principles and moral values.
They began as hard-nosed protestors and grew into skilled pr specialists, perceptive visionaries, uncompromising organizers and finally, dazzling revolutionaries.
They were intuitive trailblazers of phenomenal talent who understood the depth of imperial power, who were united in the moral rightness of their cause. In the face of a Parliament and Monarchy’s harsh replies, the stage was set for the unprecedented creation of Founding Documents to clarify the ideals of self-determination and free expression, then unknown concepts that remain living-breathing entities relevant two hundred and fifty years later.
As if describing a politically dynamic event today, the Declaration’s introduction was prescient as it included the concept of ‘dissolving Political Bands which have connected them with another’ and the “right of the people to alter or abolish it and to institute a new government” as well as “whenever any form of Government becomes destructive to these end.
The Declaration continued “it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it, and to institute a new Government laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to…. most likely effect their Safety and Happiness…..to reduce them under Absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty to throw off such Government” as it cautioned that “Governments long established should not be changed for light or transient causes..”
In conclusion, the Declaration cites civic aspirations defining altruistic precepts embraced by much of the world that “in support for the Declaration: with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortune and our Sacred Honor.”
By 1783, the Treaty of Paris was signed by John Adams, John Jay and Benjamin Franklin as Great Britain recognized the independence of the colonists.
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Given a level of existing chaos within the Federal government, today’s revitalization of the Declaration would send an electrifying message to the American people, that a dedicated national dispatch that would communicate domestic unity and tranquility at a time when the masses would benefit from rekindling the country’s moral standard – an exemplar of its essential allegiance still unique in the world, directed and ruled by free elections which continue to inspire its public spirit of egalitarian sovereignty.
The announcement of President Trump’s Patriot Games referred to as the 250 Initiative as a Federal symbol of recognition for the Declaration’s anniversary is a disappointing reminder that the President may not fully grasp the intent or message of the Declaration.
It is probable that the President whose intellectual prowess remains unproven has ever read the document or has even a passing knowledge about any of the Founding document details. It may also be that perhaps the President has no real awareness of the level of discord in the country today.
While any comparison between the Patriot Games and Hunger Games is totally an inadvertent coincidence with no intentional resemblance, any synonymous connection between the Hunger and Patriot Games are not meant to disparage the Declaration of Independence in any way.
Since the Hunger Games followed the dystopian theme of a tyrannical government in an advanced state of collapse, it may be difficult to distinguish the difference although the Patriot Games are focused on recreational sporting events and related community functions.
“And so it was decreed that, each year, the various districts of Panem would offer up, in tribute, one young man and woman to fight to the death in a pageant of honor, courage and sacrifice.” (The Hunger Games, 2012).
A good guess is that under Trump’s direction, the Patriot Games are limited to events with wide community support, rather than activities that push any political buttons. Trump’s Patriot Games remain divorced from any actual real understanding of what the Declaration meant when it was written and what it stands for today, so many years later as if in isolation from informed public dialogue.
Given Trump’s sinking approval polls in the 35% range, twenty five GOP House Members have announced their retirement which may be a reflection of a looming mid term election cycle creating a somewhat dystopian energy: the Ukraine war grinds on, the country’s $38 trillion debt continues to escalate, the Jeffrey Epstein matter will not go away, an impending invasion in Venezuela with its continued unconstitutional fishing boat attacks, the arbitrary dismissal of US Ambassadors questioning their America First principles which Trump himself dismisses and amid US funding of Israel’s horrific Gaza genocide.
Similar to the Hunger Games, the Patriot Games require participation by two of the “greatest” high school athletes (one boy and one girl) from each state to compete to a ‘final’ conclusion after an intense four day athletic competition. That competition would include “high energy combat sports” which appears to add an extreme element into the Games than just a sports-arena series of events.
There is an eerie parallel of the Trump-announced Patriot Games to the Hunger Games which were a hugely popular trilogy of young adult dystopian novels/movies set amidst a society of extravagant wealth and decadence as well as districts of deprivation, violence and poverty, all surrounded by a corrupt government of brutality and exploitation. The Games were organized by elites to enhance their domination on the younger generation.
Patriot Games comparison to the Hunger Games is destined to bring its association as dystopian and a negative state of the country.
Ambitious events scheduled for America’s 250th national birthday events include a One Nation Under God national prayer gathering, the Sail 4th 250 parade of all ships in the New York Harbor with an international Naval Review, a Great American State Fair on the National Mall with pavilions for all 50 states and a “Salute to America” 250th fireworks celebration as well as lighting of the Washington Monument and a FIFA Fan Fest with a Freedom 250 World Cup Block Party.
Of special interest includes a White House UFC sponsored championship fight as a “spectacular national celebration” on July 4th. It will be the first professional sports event with mixed martial arts to take place on the South Lawn of the White House. The weigh-in will be held at the Lincoln Memorial. There were no details about how a UFC fight at the White House would honor a patriotic celebration of the Declaration of Independence which may prove to be as popular as renaming the Kennedy Center.
With little tinge of interest in how the Declaration contributed to the country’s founding or its America First connotation, the Patriot Games is a theoretical designation of how sporting events instill pride to celebrate the diversity and achievement of each state as a result of the Declaration; as Americans are encouraged to improve the country’s national, moral and cultural identity. The Patriot Games may also serve to divert attention with promises of a “championship-level fight” with no idea how ‘mixed martial arts’ or “high energy combat sports’ combine to convey a patriotic America First message.
Despite Trump’s unabashed narcissistic tendencies, it is curious that with sinking approval and increased voter disapprovals, Trump’s hubris does not make the effort to improve his personal behavior and his political ratings rather than allow his unfavorable polls to drag his adverse policies into the tank with no public support.
With dramatically reduced approval, Trump has allowed his authority and influence to fritter away on self-absorbed blather; whether the Trump Administration ever recovers from 35% approval in time for mid term elections, Trump may be forced to assume responsibility for his decisions.
Renee Parsons has been an elected public official in Colorado, an environmental lobbyist with Friends of the Earth and a staff member in the US House of Representative in Washington, DC. Before its demise, she was also a member of the ACLU’s Florida State Board of Directors and President of the ACLU Treasure Coast Chapter.