While celebrating the Fourth of July, sitting around and thanking God for the freedoms that our forefathers fought and died for, I got a chill down my spine. You know, the kind you get when it feels like there is someone else in the room with you but there really isn’t?

A recent study shows that nearly 80 percent of Americans think our founding fathers would be disappointed in where we are as a country today.

As many of you know, I cover some pretty crazy stories on my radio show – stories that would repulse our founding fathers. We now live in a country that supposedly considers the following things to be “bad”:

* Traditional marriage

* Adoption

* Religion

* Strict adherence to the Constitution

* Conservatism

* Moral values

* Child innocence

* Self reliance

* Parental rights

… and these things to be “good”:

* Atheism

* Abortion

* Same-sex marriage

* Polygamy (next)

* Loosely interpreting the Constitution

* Liberal progressiveness

* Moral relativism

* Child sacrifice

* Government reliance

I’m sure some of you are saying, “Joe, what have you been drinking all week?”

Apple juice and water, because I refuse to drink the Kool-Aid provided by the current administration and the progressives.

Need a few examples? Here are a few of my favorites:

We have people picketing “equality for all,” but it’s not really for “all.” It’s only for everyone on the left. And is it really equality they’re looking for, or something else?

Californians have voted twice to protect traditional marriage. The Supreme Court, for clarity, did not rule it as unconstitutional. It ruled that the plaintiffs had no right to fight it. Period.

Supporters of same-sex marriage crying “equality for all” said all they wanted were the same rights as married couples. Apparently they didn’t do their homework, because in 1999 the California Legis-loonies passed a law called the Domestic Partner law. This law is word-for-word the same as the marriage laws are here in California. The only exception is calling out “man and woman” in the marriage law and “same sex partners” in the Domestic Partner law.

A progressive play on words, or a lie? Did they not know they already had “equality” according to the law?

As LGBTQ groups fight for equal rights, they really mean they want to choose what rights “they” have and what rights “we” have. I use those words because “they” divide the words like that. The California Legis-loonies decided that no matter what, business and government agencies will accommodate persons of the LGBTQ community. Sounds good. But let’s take a look at the transgender person on a high school campus.

If a person born with male body parts decides he wants to live as a female while in high school, that young person now gets to share the girls locker room and bathroom while your 14-plus-year-old daughter gets to be exposed a “different” lifestyle. And that young man, who is living as a young woman, gets to play soccer or volleyball or any other sport on an all-female team.

Does that sound fair? I think not. Study after study shows that the physical abilities of males and females are different. Will we now change the Olympics to accommodate?

We are being barraged with laws, regulations and mandates that go against our basic internal values as a country and a people.

We are becoming a society of “me.” If I’m gay, you’d better do it my way or else you’re a “hater.” If I don’t want to work, you’d better take care of me. And if I do work, you’d better pay me what I want. If I chose not to take responsibility for myself, then the government needs to step in and give me the money or the abortion or whatever else I need. But don’t question me about what I’m doing or why. And definitely don’t dare to disagree with me.

These are not the principles upon which this country was founded.

Sometimes it feels like the Earth is spinning in reverse and the inmates are running the asylum. But just because a group is making the most noise does not mean it is in the majority.

Joe Messina is host of The Real Side (TheRealSide.com), a nationally syndicated talk show that runs on AM-1220 KHTS radio and SCVTV [here]. He is also an elected member of the Hart School Board. His commentary normally publishes Mondays.