HAPPY FOURTH: On the occasion of the 4th of July, I offer these words, which seem even more appropriate today as when they were first spoken, seven years ago. Here's President Thomas J. Whitmore (Bill Pullman) from the film "Independence Day":
We can't be consumed by our petty differences anymore. We will be united in our common interests. Perhaps it's fate that today is the Fourth of July, and you will once again be fighting for our freedom...Not from tyranny, oppression, or persecution...but from annihilation. We are fighting for our right to live. To exist. And should we win the day, the Fourth of July will no longer be known as an American holiday, but as the day the world declared in one voice: "We will not go quietly into the night! We will not vanish without a fight!" We're going to live on! We're going to survive! Today we celebrate our Independence Day!
Mike Silverman also has a list of 50 reasons to be proud to be an American.
AND ON A MORE SERIOUS NOTE: This July 4 I'll be thinking of Milton Hallman, the father of my childhood friend Gus and a wonderful man who passed away earlier this spring. Mr. Hallman, every year on the fourth of July, used to lead a caravan of cheering and flagwaving revelers on bikes around Minneapolis' Lake of the Isles, shouting "Happy Fourth!" at everyone they passed. The ritual (and the man) will greatly be missed by all.
I'll likely be taking the next few days off from blogging; happy Fourth of July, and (as always) God Bless America.