The "Don't Tread On Me" flag, like much of American history, has been deceitfully portrayed as a symbol of things it never was. Its misrepresentation is part of the fabric of lies we have come to expect from the fifth column left in this country. But it represents something uniquely amazing about America, from its Revolutionary days to its 250th anniversary: the ability to shed our old skin and regenerate a new one while remaining in essence what we were created to be.

As the greatest experiment in human history moves forward, America seems to be threatened like never before from within, except during the Civil War era. However, what also seems true is that, like the generations preceding them, the heart of our nation — America-loving, traditionalist patriots of all stripes — are coming together to rise to the newest threat. 

We have suffered under the relentless attacks of leftists in every captured institution in the land. But we are now attempting to molt and regenerate. Each time we have gone through this, which has been more frequent than you may realize, the resulting America is a little different looking, but the same.

Today, we see a series of self-inflicted wounds. The catalyst for these stems from the infestation of America's educational institutions via the cancer of mutating forms of Marxism and America-hatred. Because of that, the cancer has metastasized to the media, public schools, corporate America, Hollywood, pop music, the healthcare industry, professional associations, nonprofits, the permanent bureaucracy in Washington and many states, and now with the complete capture of the Democratic Party.

While certainly the Chinese, Russians, and, to a lesser degree, other foreign enemies of America use this cancerous movement to divide and destabilize America, most of it is domestic, and more recently imported through legal and illegal immigration. The damage that has been wrought is painfully obvious; it has weakened our nation as it was intended to do. A review hardly seems necessary.

But the good news is that while much of America has been sleeping as the cancer spread, that slumber has ended, and the awakening is just in time. The seemingly odd and unexpected coalition that came together to support President Trump and give Republicans control of the House and Senate stands out as the most substantial evidence that America is rising to the challenge and regenerating.

Consider that the Trump/GOP coalition included disaffected Democrats — some of whom now serve in the Trump Administration — traditional blue collar Americans paired with Silicon Valley tech billionaires, increasing minority support, particularly among Hispanics, and young men. Not surprisingly, the most strident enemies almost universally come out of universities, the sites of the original contagion.

All the "smart" kids in academia and newsrooms gleefully told us a few decades ago how demographics were destiny because Hispanics voted heavily Democrat, and that would result in a permanent Democratic majority. But a funny thing happened. Turns out they became Americans like so many previous generations and awakened to the threat that the leftist-driven Democratic Party posed to their hopes for their future and their children's future.

Demographics are not destiny — ideas are. And the idea of America is enduring. The longing for hope, for equality under the law, for open vistas of opportunity, for a better future. It all stands on the foundation of freedom. And in all of the history of the world, where it has been found — and frankly, it is historically rare — freedom has always been under assault.

President Reagan famously explained this reality: "Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free."

A few years ago we were living through the last part of the Reagan quote. However, we are now engaged in the ongoing fight represented in the first part. And that is worth celebrating this Independence Day.

Rod Thomson is a former daily newspaper reporter and columnist, Salem radio host and ABC TV commentator, and current Founder of The Thomson Group, a Florida-based political consulting firm. He has eight children, seven grandchildren, and a relentless hunger to fight for America on their behalf. Follow him on Twitter at @Rod_Thomson. Email him at [email protected].