YESTERDAY (July 4) was the American Day of Independence, and the celebrations this year were even more patriotic and raucous than usual.
Many will say that America’s long record of imperialism and meddling in other countries’ afffairs over the years always throws a deep shadow over these occasions. Others might well think that the overblown nature of yesterday’s celebrations sum up the in-your-face nature of Americans, as well as the bombastic character of its present President come to that!
A celebration of a nation’s potential
But even so, Independence day is Independence day for every single country however chequered its history has been. For in effect, it’s all about a celebration of a nation and its people’s potential for the future. A day for a nation in its totality, beyond any political tribalism.
Incredibly, this year the mainstream media in the US such as CNN, ABC and NBC decided not to cover the celebrations at all such is their vitriol towards the incumbent President.
In days gone by of course, this would have been fatal for any such event, but with the mainstream media leaking viewers to such an extent( CNN down 33% this year alone) it hardly seemed to matter, with so many Youtubers providing their own coverage of the events anyway.
Welsh influence on the Declaration of Independence
It’s always worth remembering of course that Welshmen formed the largest ethnic group amongst the signatories of the Declaration of Independence signed in Philadelphia on July 4 1776.
No fewer than 16 of the signatories were of Welsh descent and indeed, the third President, Thomas Jefferson’s family hailed from Eryri(Snowdonia).
And watching the coverage from Wales seemed to have a deeper import this year, in view of the fact that the Welsh Independence Campaign is growing exponentially on a month to month basis here.
This week, Caernarfon Town Council became the 8th local council to declare for Indy( following the example set by Machynlleth, Porthmadog, FFestiniog, Nefyn, Llanymstumdwy, Llanuwchllyn, Bethesda and Trawsfynydd).
Town Council’s timely decision
Caernarfon’s declaration seemed most appropriate in view of the fact that it came almost 50 years to the day that the Investiture of Charles Windsor was held in the town.
And went some of the way to counteract the embarassing comments of its Plaid Mayor earlier in the week when he expressed his disappointment that Charles Windsor wouldn’t be visiting the town as part of his “Welsh tour” this week.
The declaration was also very appropriate in view of the fact that the second national independence march is due to take place in the town on July 27. The rally is being organised jointly by AUOB, and YES Caernarfon.
A roadmap for Independence
No representatives of any political party have been invited to speak this time, with an emphasis placed on the artistic and cultural expressions of Independence.
But for those who want some more political beef as part of the event, an additional event is being organised after the rally itself.
A “Roadmap to Independence” forum will be held at Y Copa, with invitations extended to all three pro-independence political parties: Plaid, Sovereign Wales and GWLAD.
The political parties will be invited to consider how Cymru can practically move towards independence over the next few years and maximise the pro-independence vote in different areas in the next Welsh Election in 2021.
Hopefully, it can lay the ground for a Welsh Independence Convention which can bring together all the parties and groups who are in favour of Independence. Such a Convention has been part and parcel of the Scottish political scene for many years and has played a big part in the strength of pro-independence cause in Scotland today.
And such a convention would be a further expression of Thomas Jefferson’s wise words concerning the necessity for periodic rebellion in the political world of every nation.