Zona

The 4th of July ranks somewhere down towards the bottom on my top ten list of important days for me. Sure I'm a proud American who enjoys a day off and fireworks but I hate parades, MOST parades anyway and large gatherings in parks.

It's like Christmas in a way. Everybody remembers to party but few remember the argument over the Declaration of Independence and then how all the signers of the document had to flee their homes because they were now traitors in the eyes of the crown and would certainly be hanged if apprehended.

Few remember that about half of all white people in the colonies were opposed to independence and that the colonies got along together about as well as thirteen women all reaching for the same wedding dress on the sale rack.

Few people know that George Washington was 6'3" making him a giant both physically and figuratively. Many people look at Thomas Jefferson as a strong character when in reality he rarely spoke during sessions of the continental congress and many, when they found out he had been tasked with writing the Constitution, thought, HIM?!?!?!?!

Few Americans realize that the Constitution was not a independent creation of thought by Jefferson but was largely based on European, mainly French, ideas.

And what bothers me the MOST is that the Constitution really opens up our freedoms and lets us express who we are in a manner of our choosing free from government meddling for the most part, but the last few congresses and the current president have sought to add amendments to the Constitution that exclude a group of people from the pursuit of happiness soley based on who they fall deeply in love with, and limit somebody's freedom to express their opinion by setting fire to a piece of cloth that is a symbol. A symbol that can survive a little fire and still represent a people who are proud.

Wow, this post ended up being entirely different that what I had in mind when I started. I WAS going to talk about going to the bank, getting sushi for lunch, and watching the Italy vs Germany game.

// posted by sinner @ 8:46 AM