While Americans are busy enjoying ice cream, hot dogs, cold
drinks, and fireworks on July 4, I’m sure very few consider the
following questions: What would the Founding Fathers say about
the modern United States, and what is the meaning of
independence? Certainly the United States would not be here
without the Founders, the greatest generation in American
history, but perhaps a better way of answering the questions is
by simply considering whether the United States is the federal
republic of the Founders’ design or has it been “remade” as
Barack Obama continues to suggest. The dichotomy between the
Founders’ republic and the federal leviathan in Washington D.C.
could not be more pronounced than it is in 2009. The Founding
Fathers would all be considered conservatives today, even the
most ardent centralizers in the bunch. They recognized the need
for government, but with few exceptions believed in local and
state sovereignty and as little government as possible. They
would not have accepted the rash of federal