Revolutionary spirit is still alive
While visiting my native Dublin and walking the old roads of Temple, I felt the quiet whisper of the Spirit of ’76 underfoot — stone walls, cellar holes, names carved in weathered granite. These weren’t relics; they were neighbors who once risked everything for the bold idea of a fiercely participatory democracy.
I watched a group of wonderful citizens gathered at the intersection of 101 and 202, holding signs declaring “No Kings.” I wouldn’t be surprised if many were descended from this region’s original revolutionaries. And honestly, I don’t wonder what those old Yankees would make of today’s velvet-cloaked despots and gilded jackanapes (top-shelf 18th-century insults ) pretending to lead. They’d know what to do — gather in the town hall and get to work.
Maybe the American Revolution never ended. Maybe it’s just waiting in places like this for us to breathe it back to life.
Chris Briggs-Hale
Colorado Springs, Colo.