Ep. 452: Reflecting on This Very Mournful July 4 and America's 250th Anniversary in the Age of Trump

This is a special joint episode of The Chauncey DeVega Show and The Truth Report. Steve Cash is Executive Director of The Steady State, a non-profit advocacy organization whose members are former senior national security officials. He previously served as Senior Advisor to the Under Secretary for Intelligence & Analysis at the Department of Homeland Security, and as Chief of Staff to the Director of Intelligence at the Department of Energy. Cash was deeply involved in drafting much of the legislation that followed the 9/11 attacks, including the USA-Patriot Act, the Department of Homeland Security Act, and the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act (which created the position of Director of National Intelligence).  Steve Cash also served as an intelligence officer with the CIA. On this July 4th — the 250th anniversary of American independence — Cash reflects on a shared sense of mourning and sadness over the state of the country's democracy. He talks about what patriotism and civic virtue mean to him and his peers, and makes the case that every American will need to weigh how much sacrifice and commitment they're willing to bear to help the country survive the Age of Trump and authoritarianism.  For those feeling tired or wavering, Cash offers a gut check: America is in a genuinely bad place right now, but if we rise to meet the moment, we can become the next Greatest Generation, building a much stronger democracy and society from the rubble that can last another 250 years. Chauncey DeVega continues his July 4th tradition of sharing the wisdom of Frederick Douglass. For this 250th anniversary, he reads from historian David Blight's account of Douglass's clobbering of the slave master Edward Covey, and reflects on what that story means for the Black Freedom Struggle. WHERE CAN YOU FIND ME? On Twitter: https://twitter.com/chaunceydevega On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chauncey.devega My email: [email protected] HOW CAN YOU SUPPORT THE CHAUNCEY DEVEGA SHOW? Via Paypal at ChaunceyDeVega.com: Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thechaunceydevegashow https://www.patreon.com/TheTruthReportPodcast