The Fourth of July has become so ingrained into our consciousness as a time to take off work and gather with friends and family for a family cookout, or to take a trip to the beach that we may forget how we got here.

We got here because the colonists through their representatives in the Continental Congress committed what the government in Great Britain called treason.

Those stubborn men had the notion that they should have some say in how the laws which governed them were made and enforced and having failed to make headway in having various onerous taxes repealed, they decided to sever their ties with England.

It was rough going for awhile and had it not been for the help of England’s ancient enemy France, we might still be speaking English today! (You might be hard pressed to convince a Cockney that a Southern drawl represents the same language as his own.)

But throwing off one master for another really means nothing.

Once separated from the mother country by force of arms, we tried twice to create a new framework of government. The Articles of Confederation, proved too loose. The second attempt, our current constitution, proved better and was adopted, although some states refused to sign on until the all important Bill of Rights were added.

Other nations have not fared so well. Take Libya. Freed from their Italian colonial masters in WWII, the country now finds itself in upheaval after decades of despotic rule by strongman Moammar Quadaffi. No constitution, no Bill of Rights, no freedom for the citizens. If they win, things may be better, if their new government includes as ingenious a document as the U.S. Constitution and a guarantee of the citizens’ rights.

But only if their elected officials adhere to the law, a question now being debated over the very topic of Libya, where the president is waging an expensive, undeclared war.

The late Senator Byrd of West Virginia argued that the campaign in Iraq by the former president should have required a Congressional declaration of war. He was right. So does Libya. Congress would do well not to let this moment pass, thus cementing a precedent that further strengthens the (some would say) already inflated power of the president versus Congress.

Power so gained is rarely given back freely.

The library is open!

Here in Goochland library patrons will have noticed the Goochland branch of the Pamunkey Regional Library has resumed it’s former 60 hour week.

Few things were so disappointing as pulling up to the library only to find an empty parking lot and locked doors. This used to be the case on Tuesdays. No more, at least for Fiscal Year 2012, thanks to the anonymous donor’s generosity.

It’s a great example of civic virtue and the secret donor deserves the thanks of all for financing the restoration of full service at the library.