Some food for thought on Independence Day...
Happy Independence Day to you folks out in cyberland!
Being in a foreign land on your country's big national holiday gets you thinking about all the cool Fourths celebrated in the past, since there is little celebration going on here, other than the upcoming World Cup match tonight between Germany and Italy. Deutschland! Deutschland über Alles! Or at least over Italy! It will be a sad day here tomorrow should Jürgen Klinsmann's men fail.
So instead of the customary fireworks and picnics, I am stuck here at work! I really miss the traditional Exira, Iowa, Fourth of July which I grew up with: 2-hour parade at 10:30 a.m., followed by picnic dinner (or lunch, if you will), an afternoon of carnival if you're a kid or beer drinking if not, followed by a dance in the evening and fireworks. Very cool.
Some other interesting Fourths I've celebrated were in the early 1990's. In 1993, I spent the Fourth on the Gettysburg battlefield with amateur Civil War historian extraordinaire Tony Bochicchio, where we enjoyed the 130th anniversary of the battle by watching a reenactment with 10,000 dudes playing soldier. Probably the coolest thing, however, was walking the actual avenue of advance of Pickett's charge against the Union lines. I have never felt so vulnerable as walking up that hill toward the copse of trees, as fully exposed as a Confederate infantryman to the imagined guns and troops of the Union on the ridge. What a needless waste of human life! In 1992, Jim, Ivy, Guy and I went on a wandering adventure through the outskirts of Ames, Iowa, ending up at a fireworks display which could have easily been sponsored by the John Birch Society. Why can't people just enjoy the fireworks without playing political propaganda over loudspeakers? The patriotic music was OK (the sound system sucked), but the sentimental bullshit about the US fighting for freedom around the world was corny and overdone. This was right after the Gulf War, so patriotism was at a fever pitch. I can only imagine how it is today with the neverending "war" on "terror", with its "you're either with us or against us" mentality.
To emphasize the dangers of the path upon which America is treading in this confrontational age, I provide to you this food for thought on Independence Day. It is an essay by a Unitarian minister, David Loehr, from Austin, Texas, and I find it to be thought-provoking and a must read for true American patriots.
Being in a foreign land on your country's big national holiday gets you thinking about all the cool Fourths celebrated in the past, since there is little celebration going on here, other than the upcoming World Cup match tonight between Germany and Italy. Deutschland! Deutschland über Alles! Or at least over Italy! It will be a sad day here tomorrow should Jürgen Klinsmann's men fail.
So instead of the customary fireworks and picnics, I am stuck here at work! I really miss the traditional Exira, Iowa, Fourth of July which I grew up with: 2-hour parade at 10:30 a.m., followed by picnic dinner (or lunch, if you will), an afternoon of carnival if you're a kid or beer drinking if not, followed by a dance in the evening and fireworks. Very cool.
Some other interesting Fourths I've celebrated were in the early 1990's. In 1993, I spent the Fourth on the Gettysburg battlefield with amateur Civil War historian extraordinaire Tony Bochicchio, where we enjoyed the 130th anniversary of the battle by watching a reenactment with 10,000 dudes playing soldier. Probably the coolest thing, however, was walking the actual avenue of advance of Pickett's charge against the Union lines. I have never felt so vulnerable as walking up that hill toward the copse of trees, as fully exposed as a Confederate infantryman to the imagined guns and troops of the Union on the ridge. What a needless waste of human life! In 1992, Jim, Ivy, Guy and I went on a wandering adventure through the outskirts of Ames, Iowa, ending up at a fireworks display which could have easily been sponsored by the John Birch Society. Why can't people just enjoy the fireworks without playing political propaganda over loudspeakers? The patriotic music was OK (the sound system sucked), but the sentimental bullshit about the US fighting for freedom around the world was corny and overdone. This was right after the Gulf War, so patriotism was at a fever pitch. I can only imagine how it is today with the neverending "war" on "terror", with its "you're either with us or against us" mentality.
To emphasize the dangers of the path upon which America is treading in this confrontational age, I provide to you this food for thought on Independence Day. It is an essay by a Unitarian minister, David Loehr, from Austin, Texas, and I find it to be thought-provoking and a must read for true American patriots.
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