Independence Day

I sometimes contemplate writing a post in which I would advocate referring to the fourth day of the seventh month as Independence Day, not simply by the date.  Barron has a post on Facespace in which he quotes a friend who sums it up pretty well:

"The holiday is Independence Day, not "4th of July". We aren't Mexicans celebrating a minor battle victory in a long string of defeats. We're celebrating the day we told the King of England to fuck off and then backed it up. I can see why some people might want to downplay that epic middle finger to authority."

Barron actually wrote the blog post I would write, last year: Independence Day… The Minuteman.  (Here's another he wrote on observing Independence Day several years ago: On Independence Day The Minuteman)

Photo by Mrs. Drang, all rights reserved

For all her faults, I cannot imagine growing up and living in another nation.I sincerely believe that America has brought more benefits to mankind in the short time she has existed than any other nation has -- ever.

Long may she continue to do so.

Sometimes it can be hard, when we look at what our alleged leaders, elected, appointed, or self-appointed, say and do, to remember that all hope is not lost, and we can turn the tide. Sometimes we get to bickering over side issues.  Sometimes the side issues seemingly are deliberately promoted to distract us from truly important matters. But the People are still sovereign here, and we might need to go out of our way to remind some of that.

And maybe some fireworks will do the job.

(I'd prefer to post the Bill Daniels version from the movie, but Sony exercises it's copyright claims on such things...)