Photo: Kabir Bakie

The Fourth of July is nominally a holiday of brash actions and non-partisan patriotic zeal. Americans of all colors, creeds, and political parties step out onto back lawns, grilling hot dogs and veggie burgers, drinking beer and sipping cola. We strike matches and set off miniature missiles of exploding color, smoke and sound—well, at least in the 19 states in which fireworks are pretty much unrestricted.

But this Fourth, I suggest we take a cue from another great American holiday and give thanks for the freedoms we all enjoy and the sacrifices some have made to retain this freedom for the rest of us.

We should be thankful for the sacrifices and successes of our soldiers abroad. Iraq seems to be emerging as a stable Muslim democracy in the Middle East. Much work still needs to be done, but it looks likely that the Obama Administration will be able to adhere to the deal signed by the Bush Administration last year and withdraw all American forces from the country by the close of 2011.

We should be grateful that American soil has been free of Islamic terrorism for eight years. We should be grateful for the patriot soldiers who dropped everything and traveled half a world away to fight for you and me.

And as the economy struggles, we should remember how lucky we are to live in a country which believes in the power and possibility of the free market. When our leaders seek to bankrupt individual Americans through high taxes and crippling regulation, the American people can speak by voting, relieving the offending politicians of their duties.

As the Iranian people protest their fraudulent presidential election and reveal Ayatollah Khameini for the theocratic dictator he is, Americans should remember in wonder that for 220 years we have elected our national leaders under the auspices of the Constitution—and power has transferred from hand to hand in a mostly peaceful manner.

Our Constitution protects the basic, enumerated rights of all Americans from government intrusion. Even though the mainstream media has a blatant liberal bias, the First Amendment right to a free press is strong and safe.

Yes, some in Congress want to reintroduce the so-called “Fairness Doctrine.” But when the Obama Administration planted a question at his news conference—only one instance of its tight control over Obama’s public appearances—Helen Thomas, a staple of the liberal media establishment, defended the independence of the media, making a fool of Press Secretary Robert Gibbs.

I never thought I’d say this, but kudos to you, Helen Thomas.

The United States of America stands strong, a powerful nation protecting the intrinsic freedom of its people. We do not mean to demean the other peoples of the world, but rather to present an example of how freedom and the protection of freedom enhance the material, philosophical and spiritual well-being of mankind.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower once said, “Freedom has its life in the hearts, the actions, the spirit of men and so it must be daily earned and refreshed—else like a flower cut from its life-giving roots, it will wither and die.”

The freedom we enjoy in this country is impressive, but not impregnable. We must always be vigilant of challenges to this liberty, both foreign and domestic.

So in between sips of beer and the booms of fireworks this Saturday, take a few minutes out of the festivities to think upon the significance of our nation’s birth. Your beer won’t get too warm in the meantime.

The internet and talk radio are in danger of increased government regulation, a national pollster and former radio host said yesterday at a forum held by the conservative Heritage Foundation.

Bestselling author Brad O’Leary said Americans should be wary of radio and internet regulations because they tend to disadvantage the conservative media.

“Bills being introduced into Congress will bring a fairness doctrine to the internet,” he said.

Repealed during the Reagan Administration, the fairness doctrine was a Federal Communications Commission policy that required broadcasters to present both sides of every issue.

O’Leary said that talk radio and the internet are the only way for conservatives to express themselves. Conservatives, O’Leary believes, would be unfairly disadvantaged by the re-implementation of the fairness doctrine.

“Newspapers and the news country are completely biased,” O’Leary said. “Obama could count on wonderful press and glowing stories during the election. He could not count on that with talk radio or the internet.”

But some Democrats in Congress want to re-regulate the airwaves.

“I think it’s absolutely time to pass a standard, whether its called the fairness doctrine or something else, but it’s time to be bringing accountability to the airwaves,” Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., said in an February interview. “I have already had some discussions with colleagues.”

Other legislation being considered could force talk radio to feature more local coverage and diversify their ownership.

President Obama has said he does not support a renewal of the fairness doctrine, but he does support other measures to increase the number of viewpoints on the air.

“Obama supports media-ownership caps, network neutrality, public broadcasting, as well as increasing minority ownership of broadcasting and print outlets,” said Obama’s former campaign press secretary Michael Ortiz.

O’Leary said new regulation would violate the free speech clause of the First Amendment. He also said the FCC might not renew the licenses of broadcasts that were considered not diverse enough.

“They believe talk radio does not belong to the people, it belongs to the government,” O’Leary said.

The Broadcast Freedom Act, which would have forbidden the FCC from establishing a fairness doctrine, was blocked in 2007.

In 2009, it was added to the bill to give the District of Columbia a representative in Congress.

“The press that uses air and electrons, should be and must be as free from government control as the press that uses paper and ink,” former FCC Chairman Mark Fowler said in a February interview with radio talk-show host Mark Levin.