Note: This “Moore to the Point” commentary aired on NewsTalkSTL on Tuesday, April 19th. Audio included below.

This year, Tax Day came on April 18^th – of course, normally, it’s on April 15^th, but since that was Good Friday and a holiday, the official deadline to pay your taxes was pushed to the following Monday.

Ironically, April 18^th also marked the 247^th anniversary of the Midnight Ride of Paul Revere. While the poem penned by Longfellow may have taken some dramatic license, the underlying story remains an integral part of our nation’s history – Revere, along with William Dawes, set out on horseback to alert fellow patriots and the Minutemen that the British were on the march.

Then, of course, the following morning, the shot heard ‘round the world kicked off the Battle of Lexington – and with it, the American Revolution. We fought for – and secured –our freedom then, ensuring that we would no longer be ruled by a monarch, but instead would institute a government of the people, by the people, for the people.

That’s especially important to remember these days, when too many people seem to default to wanting to be ruled – to having the government tell us what to do, say, and think. So, as we reflect on these critical points in our history, a timely reminder: “Americans don’t get ruled.”