Independence Day Open Thread - And Fun Facts About the Founding Fathers

Happy Birthday America! (4.00 / 2)

This is the first Independence Day I will celebrate since Bush and Dick were selected by the Felonious Five in 2000.  For 8 long years I longed for the "My Country Tis of Thee" promised us by our constitution.  For 8 long years I longed for the "Sweet Land of Liberty" and to have my democracy back.  For 8 long years I longed to "Let Freedom Ring" all over this land. 

I wept as we waived our rights while waving our flags.  I wept as our sons and daughters died and were wounded or maimed for life in Iraq. I wept for our country.

So today I will dry my weeping eyes and celebrate the rebirth of Liberty and Justice for All with Long Island Iced Tea, good food, friends and family and thank God the bells of freedom are ringing all over this land. 

God Bless America!

The work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives and the dreams shall never die.~Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D. MA)

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by: Redeye @ Sat Jul 04, 2009 at 12:19:16 PM CDT

July 4, 1776 (4.00 / 1)

Some of the most beautiful words ever penned, in this language or any other, emphasis mine:

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.  ...

The 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence were fed up with the status quo and put their lives on the line for CHANGE.  At the signing of the Declaration, Benjamin Franklin said "We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately."  Many of them are not well known, but if you browse a bit at that link you will find that even those with unfamiliar names were leaders in their states and communities, serving the common cause with no hesitation when the need arose.  

Work harder and work smarter!

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by: mooncat @ Sat Jul 04, 2009 at 14:28:23 PM CDT

Another fun fact about George Washington: (4.00 / 2)

He was arrested in December, 1789 - while he was President - in Connecticut, for riding a horse on Sunday.  He was on his way to church in New York.  He had planned to arrive on Saturday night, but lost his way and stayed Saturday night in Connecticut.  He got up early, saddled up, and galloped for the state line, but was caught and cited by a Connecticut tithingman (whose job it was to enforce the Sunday blue laws of the time).  The President was able to talk his way out of the ticket by promising that he would go no further than the church in New York that he had promised to attend that Sunday.

The burning question in my mind is, who ratted out George Washington so the tithingman was laying for him by the state line?

"The War in Iraq is not the disease. The War in Iraq is a symptom. Arrogance is the disease" - Bill Richardson

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by: herding old cats @ Sat Jul 04, 2009 at 14:52:43 PM CDT

so with a good enough story (4.00 / 1)

you could get out of tickets - even in 1789?

"Yeah officer, I was on my way to church and didn't want to miss the sermon.... really!"

Never try to teach a pig to sing.  It wastes your time and annoys the pig.

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by: countrycat @ Sat Jul 04, 2009 at 15:27:18 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Or, in today's world, an Alabama legislator (4.00 / 2)

is stopped by an officer for driving nearly 100 miles per hour and (the rest is entirely fictional – the product of my idle mind) the officer can tell that the offender is inebriated, and that he has an open container of the “official Alabama Spirit” right beside the open fly of his trousers. But this esteemed public servant is allowed to continue on his merry way because he has legislative immunity if he is going to or from a legislative session. He couldn’t tell the officer which way he was going because of his condition, but he insisted he was going either to or from the session and the officer didn’t realize that the session had ended weeks earlier. Besides, the perp allowed the state trooper to take a healthy swig from his bottle and to snatch a deep kiss (and a grope or two) from the trophy babe, NOT his wife, who was seated beside him. “Sweet Home Alabama”.     J

"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge...."      Hosea 4:6

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by: driq @ Sun Jul 05, 2009 at 07:49:57 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

frisky today, aren't you? ;-) (4.00 / 1)

Never try to teach a pig to sing.  It wastes your time and annoys the pig.

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by: countrycat @ Sun Jul 05, 2009 at 09:07:28 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

I don't know, but I suspect Old Prosecutor (4.00 / 2)

A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.
Margaret Mead  

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by: piggieheart @ Sat Jul 04, 2009 at 20:58:11 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

What do you mean (4.00 / 1)

"you don't know" - you were the cop at the State Line back then weren't you?

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.
Edmund Burke

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by: Old Prosecutor @ Sun Jul 05, 2009 at 11:41:06 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Yes, and I recognized your voice in that darkened tavern. (4.00 / 2)

A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.
Margaret Mead  

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by: piggieheart @ Sun Jul 05, 2009 at 17:34:00 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

One if by land, two if by sea (4.00 / 2)

yes that was the signal, but I believe it was a donut shop, not a tavern.

BTW, I always admired how you got your horse to wear that blue lantern on its head.

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.
Edmund Burke

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by: Old Prosecutor @ Sun Jul 05, 2009 at 17:52:07 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

You guys are killing me (0.00 / 0)

Somehow, in an obscure way, it is comforting that the Father Of Our Country was caught in a state police speed trap.  OK, it wasn't a speed trap, it was a religion trap.

Still, though, there is a familiar feel to the whole episode - the perpetrator trying to get away early in the morning, the law officer waiting in the wee hours to catch the perp, the plea bargain...doesn't it just sound like the same old same old to you guys, PH and OP?

"The War in Iraq is not the disease. The War in Iraq is a symptom. Arrogance is the disease" - Bill Richardson

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by: herding old cats @ Sun Jul 05, 2009 at 22:26:49 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

You are so right, hoc. It's the damn lawyers. (0.00 / 0)

A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.
Margaret Mead  

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by: piggieheart @ Mon Jul 06, 2009 at 09:25:51 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Wait a minute (0.00 / 0)

The Pres sweet talked the cop out of a ticket and its the lawyers fault. Typical police mentality.

The cop probably didn't want to go to court on his day off.

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.
Edmund Burke

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by: Old Prosecutor @ Mon Jul 06, 2009 at 19:46:50 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

I always found it interesting as well as disturbing that even back in 1776, our founding (4.00 / 1)

fathers were stymied by the southern delegates that held up the passage of the Declaration of Independence until language denouncing slavery was removed...seems even back then, they were interested more in protecting their curious institutions than doing what was right.

 

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by: BlueSeeingRed @ Sat Jul 04, 2009 at 21:09:08 PM CDT

So true BlueSeeingRed (4.00 / 1)

Even "back then" as they are today, the status quo would rather lose than stand up for the rights of black people.  I wonder what's up with that also. 

"There is not right (pun intended) way to do the wrong thing". 

The work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives and the dreams shall never die.~Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D. MA)

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by: Redeye @ Sun Jul 05, 2009 at 11:36:38 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Independence Day (4.00 / 1)

I was reading David Kaib's thoughts on Independence Day, nodding and agreeing with him :

It recently struck me how odd it is to refer to the day by its date - the only holiday I can think of we do that for. Is there any doubt that his is because of its political content - like so much political language, this seems to be an example of "blunt[ing] the too sharply pointed."

From there, I hope that we can reconnect with the meaning of today (this post by Paul, and Mike's above, are great starts) and other holidays - like MLK and Labor Day. Perhaps we might also use this day as a chance to think about the ways we have yet to root out royalism / aristocracy in our culture - whether that be the way we treat presidents, senators, celebrities, or the rich.  Or perhaps maybe (it's a small thing, I know), I could go to the grocery store and not have to see magazines detailing the lives of British princes

When Paul Rosenberg mentioned Independence Day, written by Gretchen Peters and famously performed by Martina McBride my ears really perked up.  If you ever listen to Sean Hannity, you've heard the chorus of this song.  I'm probably the only person in this community who didn't know the context of that snippet Hannity uses to hawk his propaganda.  Totally shameless!  I suppose most of his audience doesn't know or doesn't care that it's a song about the death of an abused woman, from the viewpoint of her daughter, but Hannity is bound to understand the context.  

Chorus: Let freedom ring.
Let the white dove sing
Let the whole world know that today is a day of reckoning.
Let the weak be strong.
Let the right be wrong.
Roll the stone away. Let the guilty pay.
It's independence day

Well she lit up the sky that Fourth of July
by the time the firemen came they just put out the flames and took down some names
And send me to the county home
Now I ain't sayin' it's right or it's wrong,
but maybe it's the only way.
Talk about your revolution. It's Independence Day

Independence Day music video here.

 

Work harder and work smarter!

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by: mooncat @ Sun Jul 05, 2009 at 00:03:23 AM CDT

I sometimes slip up, (4.00 / 1)

but always try to use "Independence Day" for yesterday's holiday.

Oh, and no, you aren't the only person.  I had never seen that next verse of "hannity's song" either!

Never try to teach a pig to sing.  It wastes your time and annoys the pig.

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by: countrycat @ Sun Jul 05, 2009 at 07:24:44 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Republicans just don't get it (4.00 / 2)

Reagan used to play "Born in the USA" by Springsteen until someone told his campaign Bruce is pictured pissing on the flag on the album cover, and the song is a Viet Nam veteran lament, and an album crying for an America that never existed.

"Born down in a dead man's town,
The first kick I took was when I hit the ground.
You end up like a dog that's been beat too much
'Til you spend half your life just covering up.

Born in the U.S.A."

Now, before the Huntsville pinheads (over 75% of them didn't vote in the last Special Election?) think I am unpatriotic or anti-American, which they think since I am a "Liberal," I am not commenting on anything other than the historic and ongoing stupidity of the leaders of the Republican Party (it almost matches the followers). 

I am as patriotic as the next person. I gather with my relatives, we do not read the Declaration of Independence or mention the Constitution, I picnic, I eat high-fat meat, I watch fireworks--and occasionally I run into one of the 1% of Americans who are directly involved in the perpetual Middle East conflicts we are engaged in. I didn't run into any this year or last year, but maybe next year?

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by: yellowdog @ Sun Jul 05, 2009 at 09:27:21 AM CDT