Happy Fourth

[Lucifer_Carroll]

Today we Americans will be celebrating our independence and our collective identities (sorry Brits, but you were such easy targets in your red jackets and we had the French on our side) and shooting off rockets for freedom.

Given that, we should all take some time today and reflect what we mean by these terms. What we mean by freedom. What independence means. What being an American means. What the flag really stands for. What our founding fathers really meant by writing the Constitution. What beer really tastes like with random barbeque dish. Wait no, that was supposed to be something deep.

Sorry, start again. With all the jingoism, the glass-faced patriotism, and every politician worth his salt turning important ideas into meaningless buzzwords. Where cheap Chinese-made American flags are used in some freakish Suburban "my cock is bigger than your cock" dance. Where America seems to not mean anything anymore beyond shallow empty consumerism and hate.

We should all take a moment then, to pause, reflect, and note how that isn't true. We're all Americans here (on the American continent between Canada and Mexico, except for Hawaii and Alaska because they're punks stuck in little boxes off the Californian coast) and damnitt that has meaning beyond the empty parades. It means something when we talk about freedom, democracy, goddamn apple pie (it stands for pie damnitt, really tasty pie), and being an American. Means we stand up for what these things mean and we don't forget it under propaganda.

It also means we like to barbeque. So fire up the grills and enjoy. Just because you're reflecting doesn't mean you can't enjoy the shallower bits of the holiday as well. Ah, pretty popping explosive lights.

 

[oggbashan]

No Taxation Without Representation

It is also worth while remembering that a large part of our parliament agreed with those who signed the Declaration of Independence that there should be no taxation without representation. They wanted the American Colonies to elect Members of Parliament to Westminster. It could have been possible to settle the dispute between the Colonies and Westminster without war but the UK Government of the day wasn't prepared to compromise or even to admit that their opponents might have justice on their side. That is a lesson for the run-up to all wars.

Those British forces who fought in America did so because they were ordered to. The concept of illegal orders wasn't invented until Nuremburg in the 1940s.

While the USofA is right to celebrate, they should remember that there are casualties on both sides in war - and the first of these is truth. What happened to those people in the Colonies that supported the British Crown was nearly as bad as the fate of collaborators with the Nazis in WWII with less justification. Civil Wars are almost always the hardest to recover from and the War of Independence was a Civil War between people with similar hopes and aspirations.

Congratulations on your Independence but don't forget that you had friends and allies and your most significant ally was the French. Other allies included Native Americans who fought for your freedom. What thanks did they get?

Og

 

[McKenna]

Luc, I was smiling and laughing and taking the good-natured ribbing all in stride and feeling kind of warm fuzzy-ish inside while reading your post. America the fucked-up, but still "home" to me.

Then I read Og's post.

Now I'm just back to feeling ... numb.

Good Christ. Does it never end? Not even for one blethering frickin' day?

We can't forget Og, no one seems to want to let us. America may "police" the world, but the world sure as hell plays "Morality Police" to America. Talk about a dysfunctional relationship.

I need some porn. And a beer. Sigh.

 

[AppleBiter]

Today we Americans will be celebrating our independence and our collective identities (sorry Brits, but you were such easy targets in your red jackets and we had the French on our side) and shooting off rockets for freedom.

Given that, we should all take some time today and reflect what we mean by these terms. What we mean by freedom. What independence means. What being an American means. What the flag really stands for. What our founding fathers really meant by writing the Constitution. What beer really tastes like with random barbeque dish. Wait no, that was supposed to be something deep.

Sorry, start again. With all the jingoism, the glass-faced patriotism, and every politician worth his salt turning important ideas into meaningless buzzwords. Where cheap Chinese-made American flags are used in some freakish Suburban "my cock is bigger than your cock" dance. Where America seems to not mean anything anymore beyond shallow empty consumerism and hate.

We should all take a moment then, to pause, reflect, and note how that isn't true. We're all Americans here (on the American continent between Canada and Mexico, except for Hawaii and Alaska because they're punks stuck in little boxes off the Californian coast) and damnitt that has meaning beyond the empty parades. It means something when we talk about freedom, democracy, goddamn apple pie (it stands for pie damnitt, really tasty pie), and being an American. Means we stand up for what these things mean and we don't forget it under propaganda.

It also means we like to barbeque. So fire up the grills and enjoy. Just because you're reflecting doesn't mean you can't enjoy the shallower bits of the holiday as well. Ah, pretty popping explosive lights.

Hear, hear! Happy Birthday, America!! *exploding fireworks* It may be screwed up, but damn it, it's ours and I wouldn't live anywhere else!

 

[AppleBiter]

Congratulations on your Independence

Og

Why, thanks!

 

[Belegon]

I certainly do know that the first casualty of war is truth. and I remember that little to nothing is ever as simple as what the propaganda breaks it down to be...

that said...

Today I will celebrate that I can go out into the street and shout that George Bush is a self-righteous little prick or that John Kerry is an elitist snob without getting thrown in jail for it. I will boil brats in beer and finish them off on a grill, I will drink and eat too much and have to increase my workouts over the next week to make up for it. I will watch a baseball game, play catch with my son, have a tea party with my daughter and just have a blast.

I will celebrate the good things about this country I love. I will raise a glass and remember those who are fighting on behalf of it.

Tomorrow I will go back to worrying about the war and the administration, and their motivations...

 

[oggbashan]

can't[/U] forget Og, no one seems to want to let us. America may "police" the world, but the world sure as hell plays "Morality Police" to America. Talk about a dysfunctional relationship.

I need some porn. And a beer. Sigh.

Have a beer. US brewed beer and celebrate.

We can't forget that we fought you and for what? To try to prevent you having what we had? It was a stupid war only necessary because the UK politicians were such fuckwits. The US won it and deserved to because they had right on their side.

If you think you have guilty secrets that the world can remind you about, what about the British Empire? The Opium Wars? The extinction of Tasmanian Aborigines? Who started killing Native Americans? Many tribes were extinct before the US's independence and only us Brits can be blamed.

Who burned the White House and for what? Another unnecessary war.

The moral crusade emenates from the White House, not from the average US Joe.

Our forces stand beside yours in Afghanistan and Iraq. They share the danger and the blame and are wounded and die.

We celebrate the 4th of July for our friends. We celebrate the 14th July for our French friends. Both events produced more freedoms for more people than just in their own countries. Both events had a cost and those who paid that price need remembering amidst the enjoyment.

I'll even drink Coca-Cola to say thank you for all the US stands for in the world while I remember.

Og

 

[BlackShanglan]

Three cheers for independence and freedom, and I add three for the barbecue. Let's look at the thing for what it is. When I was a child, the Soviets celebrated their revolution by rolling tanks through public squares and displaying large masses of troops and ordinance. We celebrated by barbecuing and having sack races and egg tosses and watermelon-eating contests.

I rather like that about us.

 

[McKenna]

Have a beer. US brewed beer and celebrate.

We can't forget that we fought you and for what? To try to prevent you having what we had? It was a stupid war only necessary because the UK politicians were such fuckwits. The US won it and deserved to because they had right on their side.

If you think you have guilty secrets that the world can remind you about, what about the British Empire? The Opium Wars? The extinction of Tasmanian Aborigines? Who started killing Native Americans? Many tribes were extinct before the US's independence and only us Brits can be blamed.

Who burned the White House and for what? Another unnecessary war.

The moral crusade emenates from the White House, not from the average US Joe.

Our forces stand beside yours in Afghanistan and Iraq. They share the danger and the blame and are wounded and die.

We celebrate the 4th of July for our friends. We celebrate the 14th July for our French friends. Both events produced more freedoms for more people than just in their own countries. Both events had a cost and those who paid that price need remembering amidst the enjoyment.

I'll even drink Coca-Cola to say thank you for all the US stands for in the world while I remember.

Og

Thanks for that, Og. I need one guilt-free day a year.

 

[AppleBiter]

America the Beautiful


O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

O beautiful for pilgrim feet
Whose stern impassioned stress
A thoroughfare of freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America!
God mend thine every flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law!

O beautiful for heroes proved
In liberating strife.
Who more than self their country loved
And mercy more than life!
America! America!
May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness
And every gain divine!

O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

O beautiful for halcyon skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the enameled plain!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
Till souls wax fair as earth and air
And music-hearted sea!

O beautiful for pilgrims feet,
Whose stem impassioned stress
A thoroughfare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
Till paths be wrought through
wilds of thought
By pilgrim foot and knee!

O beautiful for glory-tale
Of liberating strife
When once and twice,
for man's avail
Men lavished precious life!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
Till selfish gain no longer stain
The banner of the free!

O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
Till nobler men keep once again
Thy whiter jubilee!

http://www.webtree.ca/tree/gifs/patriotic/usflag_torch.jpg

 

[BlackShanglan]

Have a beer. US brewed beer and celebrate.

We can't forget that we fought you and for what? To try to prevent you having what we had? It was a stupid war only necessary because the UK politicians were such fuckwits. The US won it and deserved to because they had right on their side.

If you think you have guilty secrets that the world can remind you about, what about the British Empire? The Opium Wars? The extinction of Tasmanian Aborigines? Who started killing Native Americans? Many tribes were extinct before the US's independence and only us Brits can be blamed.

Who burned the White House and for what? Another unnecessary war.

The moral crusade emenates from the White House, not from the average US Joe.

Our forces stand beside yours in Afghanistan and Iraq. They share the danger and the blame and are wounded and die.

We celebrate the 4th of July for our friends. We celebrate the 14th July for our French friends. Both events produced more freedoms for more people than just in their own countries. Both events had a cost and those who paid that price need remembering amidst the enjoyment.

I'll even drink Coca-Cola to say thank you for all the US stands for in the world while I remember.

Og

Og, you're a right good man. Beer and ribs are on me. Pull up at chair at our barbecue any day you like.

Personally, I've always liked that about both our countries - that once the politicians got that stupid war thing over with, the actual people of our countries have always been damned decent to each other.

Shanglan

 

[impressive]

The shrub is in my vicinity today ... and I'm trying not to think about that. Instead, I'll stay home, leave the TV and radio OFF, and have a quiet day of thanksgiving for the freedoms we still enjoy.

 

[cloudy]

Other allies included Native Americans who fought for your freedom. What thanks did they get?

Og

I think I love you.