4th of July
When I was a kid, my favorite holiday was 4th of July.
I was raised to be patriotic and proud of my country and it's accomplisments.
I remember the Bicentennial celebrations in 1976 were a huge deal. I was standing on the side of the road watching a parade a miles long pass by. Everyone was in the spirit and knew what we were celebrating.
Everyone I knew had a Father or Grandfather that fought in WWII. These Veterans ran our corporations, filled our legislature and were the backbone of our country
That was a completely diferent era.
It seems a majority of folks these days have no idea what is being celebrated and just treat the 4th like any other holiday, a day off from work or an excuse to have a barbecue and drink beer.
231 years ago A group of men with testicles larger than beach balls realized that England had targeted the colonies for taxation without offering any additional benefits, so they decided to rise up and start a revolution.
The revolution was not a popular idea at first. The colonists considered themselves Englishmen first and foremost and weren't interested in fighting because the colonies were thriving. But, the idea of revolution picked up steam once the British began quartering soldiers in colonial homes without compensation and the king started using heavy handed tactics against everyone for the actions of a few patriots.
When the declaration of independence was written and signed, it may as well been a death warrant for those who chose to stake their lives and fortunes for the idea of an independent nation which most of their fellow Americans did not fully understand or believe in.
Does anyone in this country have that kind of courage and foresight in this day and age?
What England did to the colonists is nothing compared to the grievous eradication of inalienable rights that has occurred in the last 40 years.
Not many are paying attention to these disturbing trends.
America is thriving, for the most part, we have foreign enemies and overseas wars to worry about. We have big screen TVs, Cell phones, Ipods, and a bunch of slutty, brain dead celebrities to keep our minds occupied.
Is this the country our founding fathers envisioned?
Just something to think about as we celebrate Independence day.
posted by Bill Rowland @ July 03, 2007
38 Comments
38 Comments:
That was a great post about the history behind the 4th...we forget that and what it truly means!
I love this post buddy. I also remember the bicentenniel. My folks even took my brother and me to Philadelphia (which wasn't very far) and I shuddered when I passed by the Liberty Bell.
Today if you're patriotic some people will call you a racist, xenophobe. Pity really. The new patriotism is to hate ourselves for all our mistakes and to conveniently forget all the good things we stand for.
Civilization is clearly imploding.
Rise and Fall of the Fourth Reich or something like that.
Who do you think will be the winners next? The Muslims? the Chinese? We live in interesting times.
Used to be that people stood up for others, even died for them. Now a person can be being beat or even murdered in a crowd and you would be hard pressed to find a single person that would help. Makes me sad, maybe I should have been born in an earlier generation. Our morals, of helping women, children and elderly are so "out dated" is what we are told. Our loving this country is so "ancient times" Just ticks me off that people feel that way.
All true, Hammer, and with all the screwed-upedness that's in this country, it's still better than lots of other countries. That's a scary thought to me.
I used to just be scared of the power of the IRS, but now there are whole new agencies with what amounts to limitless power.
actually...they don't need to come into your home to load a keystroke recorder...it can be sent and enabled via an email msg.....and the phone tapping can be done without the B&E also....
Amen! Thanks for the reminder!
Peace
"...an excuse to have a barbecue and drink beer."
Don't forget shooting off illegal fireworks over your neighbor's yard!
I lament the same things. I don't think anybody remembers WHY we celebrate this holiday anymore.
Larger than beach balls.... what a great way to put it.
Thank you for reminding us of the freedoms (and lack thereof) we take for granted. May you find peace this holiday.
I think if our founding fathers were transported through time to the present, some of them would be outraged. Some of them would shrug and say, "See, I told you so." And all of them would be fomenting some serious rebellion.
Well said....
Oddly enough, if things keep going this way, my personal viewpoint was that we might have another rebellion on our hands pretty soon.
Not sure whether I'd want to be around for that one, but I know where I'd stand.
- ISU Tinkerer
I miss sitting in the park listening to a band playing in an actual bandstand (Sousa, not some drug induced crap) until dark when the fire works started. The vets all sat in chairs up by the front of the stand. It made me feel safe to see them.
Now we live in 1984.
Love it Hammer...well said.
This is not what they invisioned - I'm sure.
We have let it slip away and I'm afraid God will take it from us in short order.
The British have a lot to answer for.......
I didn't know what July 4th meant - except that it was Independence Day. So thanks.
The world is a scary place these days. But there's still lots of good in it.
Wonderful Post. Happy 4th of July.
Hammer... I'm gonna link this, as you've said it FAR better than I could...
I remember the bicentenial too.
My grandma ran a home for veterans, and I took care of WWII vets and even one WWI vet who was lived into his mid nineties.
I am also aware of our rights eroding as we stare fascinated at Britney's hoo-hoo.
I put up the declaration of independence , and if you read it, you will see that many of the things we originally were declaring independence from are currently being put into place.
I am also going to link to you.
Good job.
You have been tagged.
High Five Hammer- most excellent as usual. You said the other day we were thinking alike- well- yep- same type of thread in mine but yours is much more better worded- gonna send some people by!!
much more better worded means it purty gud i think..
Thanks Bro- Your one Solid patriot!
John
Jeebus! I think I live in a much better place for rights and liberties. What a scary atmosphere! Why dont you guys utilise that second emendment?? Happy july 4th to you all from this side of the pond.
please Hammer, don't hurt 'em!
good post!
nice work! the founding fathers risked everything they had for liberty.
i think you have said why we are where we are today. complacent lazy and taking it all for granted.
came here by way of rotating chaos
to all: have a nice reflective day
Nice post, Hammer ! Very good things to think about !
Now you're gonna have me wondering whether somone put a keystroke recorder on my keyboard all day....
And thank goodness I run out of cash so fast that they couldn't possibly accuse me of having drug money !
No matter how bad things are, I'm still glad I live in America and am an American !
Happy Independence Day to you !
Happy Independence Day to all my American friends and allies, from one Canadian who is both honoured and proud to know America will never fail with such good people.
God Bless our Troops and you all on this special day.
Veritas et Fidelis Semper
Well done sir, well done!
infini sent me this way ... to read this post...
can't say i agree with all of it - but certainly with the essence. as a whole, we are not who we should be and we are not living up to our ideals. sigh.
i used to get teary-eyed during fireworks on the 4th - filled with pride and love. but now, it is, for me, a day of merely bbqs and empty symbolism. i am not proud of my government, nor of my people as a whole (who have either out of complacency and ignorance, or greed and power, allowed our country to come to the state its in now). sigh.
yes, we do need a rebellion. but we are so jaded and cynical now...i doubt it will happen.
But, we like slutty, brain-dead celebrities. Hope yours is a good one, Hammer.
When it comes down to physical altercations, I'm a total chicken shit (and I'll admit it), but I think if enough people rise up and actually try to regain this country, I will do my best to stand by them physically - there's no doubt that I will agree with and support their cause.
Great post.
As long as there are people like you around, there's hope.
Have a safe and happy (hopefully unbugged) celebration.
Been watching The History Channel all day. Ben Franklin, The Revolution etc. I like to be reminded of what our forefathers endured during that era and just wonder how many of today's youth have even heard of or understand what The Stamp Act and the Boston Tea Party et al, were all about and what the colonists really went through for our independence.
I can't help thinking Independence Day is just a Will Smith movie to the "gen X" crowd.
Happy 4th of July, Hammer. Well done as usual.
glad my friends stopped by. hope they become regular readers.
I couldn't have said it better myself.
This is a fantastic post my man.
Fantastic post hammer. Hope you had a great holiday. This is one Canadian that loves America, stands by you and prays for us all,especially these days.
Hammer, excellent post, but I'll add a couple of things, one of which might be a correction of sorts. The other is a specific example of that which you write.
The Stamp Act, the Townshend Act, the Intolerable Acts, all gave fuel for the War for Independence, but the actual spark was gun control. General Gage had come to take the firearms of the Colonists, and succeeded in Boston. But word got out, (Paul Revere, of course) and the people of Lexington and Concord were ready. Then the "Shot Heard 'Round the World was fired, and so began our War.
The other incident was this: my college-age son called me from his work the other day, and blindsided me with, "Dad, why do we celebrate the 4th of July?", to which I responded, "ARE YOU SERIOUS???" My son quickly set me straight that HE knew. It turned out that he and his co-workers were arguing about it. One was unconvinced about its true meaning, and could not give an alternative explanation, while the other four, including my son were trying to convince him that it marked our declaring our independence fom England. It's hard to believe that anyone could not know what Independence Day celebrated, but then again, the Communists in our school systems have done their work well. (I also found out that this one guy was the type that had one too many hits on the bong!)
Hammer, excellent post, but I'll add a couple of things, one of which might be a correction of sorts. The other is a specific example of that which you write.
The Stamp Act, the Townshend Act, the Intolerable Acts, all gave fuel for the War for Independence, but the actual spark was gun control. General Gage had come to take the firearms of the Colonists, and succeeded in Boston. But word got out, (Paul Revere, of course) and the people of Lexington and Concord were ready. Then the "Shot Heard 'Round the World was fired, and so began our War.
The other incident was this: my college-age son called me from his work the other day, and blindsided me with, "Dad, why do we celebrate the 4th of July?", to which I responded, "ARE YOU SERIOUS???" My son quickly set me straight that HE knew. It turned out that he and his co-workers were arguing about it. One was unconvinced about its true meaning, and could not give an alternative explanation, while the other four, including my son were trying to convince him that it marked our declaring our independence fom England. It's hard to believe that anyone could not know what Independence Day celebrated, but then again, the Communists in our school systems have done their work well. (I also found out that this one guy was the type that had one too many hits on the bong!)
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