Tag Archives: civic duty

It’s Past Time to Go Back to Basics

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BY MICHAEL S. JOHNSON  |  JUL 31, 2026

Normally, important anniversaries such as the Fourth of July, or national crises such as 9/11, tend to reignite national pride, patriotic fervor, and a temporary truce between political combatants.

There has been that. In my neighborhoods, there were backyard parties, fireworks (some I am not sure were legal), and porches draped in patriotic bunting. Old Glory waved from the front door frames. A couple of streets close by were lined with small flags all along the block.

Now, here comes that overused qualifier…In spite of that…

It was unlike the 1976 Bicentennial. I fortunately got to observe that 4th celebration from the White House South Lawn as a new and naïve member of the Gerald Ford What House staff.

Even though the nation was amid turmoil—the end of the Vietnam War; social and racial unrest; a bad economy (President Ford’s slogan was Whip Inflation Now, replete with WIN buttons); and a Richard Nixon hangover—there was a national calm and a sense that our worst days were behind us. President Ford made speeches, but his purpose was to keep the focus off of him and on the country. Continue reading →

250th is a Departure from 200th Anniversary of Independence

BY MICHAEL S. JOHNSON  |  JUN 20, 2026

I celebrated America’s Bicentennial of the Declaration of Independence−our formal separation from the British Empire−on the South Lawn of the White House, July 4, 1976.

I stood there waiting for the fireworks to begin, and looking up at the second-floor Truman Balcony I saw President Jerry Ford, in whose humble employ I was, First Lady Betty Ford, Vice President Nelson Rockefeller, and Second Lady Happy Rockefeller. They were waiting, too, along with other dignitaries. The figures on the Balcony were backlit but still recognizable in the faint yellow glow of twilight.

When the sky did finally come to life with loud booms and patriotic colors shooting out from the ground, there followed oohs and aahs, applause and cheers. There was even a laser projection from the Washington Monument.

For me it was an out-of-body journey into a place and time I thought I would never experience growing up in South Dakota. It was all surreal, accompanied by a burst of patriotism and appreciation for just being there, an eyewitness to history. In 1976, I was fresh out of the corn and bean fields of downstate Illinois, where I was the editor of a daily newspaper. Continue reading →

Random Thoughts to Take Your Mind off the Deeper Stuff

BY MICHAEL S. JOHNSON  |  ARP 2, 2026

Deep thinking can give you a headache.

While peeling a bright red hard-boiled egg during Easter time, a random thought creeped in. Where did the tradition of the Easter Bunny and the colored eggs come from? I turned to the Internet and found more than I cared to know.

The Easter Bunny was first introduced by German immigrants to Pennsylvania in the early 18th Century. The origins actually dated back to an ancient pagan festival that celebrated the goddess of fertility. The bunny laid colored eggs for the children. The egg is a symbol of life, spring, rebirth, and renewal. During the Christian observance of Lent, a 40-day-long period of prayer, fasting and charity, eggs were not eaten, and after the observance, were and are now adorned with bright colors and decorations in celebration of the resurrection of Christ.

Easter to Christians is of course a sacred celebration of their spirituality and eternal life reminding the faithful that death is not the end of life, but a new beginning. It is this holiday that should serve as the renewal of our devotion to the teachings Christ preached during his time on earth, which serve as the essence of our human experience and the promise for everlasting life.

And now a return to the daily grind: Continue reading →