The Summerland Advocate-Messenger - Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community

As we gather to celebrate Independence Day, it's a good time to reflect on how our most fundamental freedoms have served this nation well.

It's an even better time to think about what would happen if those liberties were taken away.

Sadly, the latter doesn't take much imagination in 2022. Your closest video screen will show you scenes of Russian troops pummeling Ukraine with the support of a majority of the Russian people.

The Russian public has been told that their country is doing noble work ferreting out "Nazis" and that the West is engaged in its usual persecution of Russia and its people....