The 4th of July, continued.

Yesterday was the 4th of July, a day celebrated in the United States of America utilizing exploding objects probably made overseas to commemorate our division from Great Britain, specifically England. On said day (in theory) our nation was born, a birthing process consisting of much bloodshed, much loss of life and many, many tears. In theory, the child was a new nation, "…one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

Horse-hockey. If you prefer, Bull! (Which word didn't you understand?) The above quote is from (as if you didn't know) The Pledge of Allegiance. "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and Justice for all."

In my humble opinion, not much of that "pledge" applies anymore, if it ever did. "One nation" According to Webster, a "nation" is (among other things) a territorial division containing a body of people of one or more nationalities and usually characterized by relatively large size and independent status. Well, I won't dispute the body of people, the multiple nationalities or the large size. Independent, on the other hand is yet to be seen. Again, according to Webster, "independent" means (among other things) not dependent: as a (1) : not subject to control by others. It also means, "not requiring or relying on something else". I rather doubt that we, as a people, are not dependent on the rest of the world. What do we NOT import from other countries? The only thing I can think of off the top of my head is grain. Almost everything else is, at least in part, imported. I'm not saying this is "bad" or that this should change. I'm just saying that it is so.

"Under God" That's a tough one. If you read the short history behind the link above, you'll note that this portion was added somewhat after the original release and against the wishes of the original author. In order say if we are or are not "under God", I would have to define "God". I am neither capable nor qualified to do so. Nor, I might add, is any other "human" on this planet. I'll leave that one for later…much, much later. See me in a couple of hundred million years and I might be able to give you a rough outline, assuming I'm between lives.

"Indivisible." I am somewhat surprised that the original author put this word in the pledge. Obviously the nation is divisible. It has been divided before (See circa 1861 through 1865. Warning: Some of the photos on here are pretty nasty.) and remains divided in many ways. There is still a North and a South and more often than not, the two have significantly differing opinions. There are also the classes, lower, middle and upper, also usually with significantly differing opinions. There are the "haves" and the "have nots". There are a significant number of people who believe that our current president was elected in a fair and lawful manner. (It just goes to show that some people will believe anything. ;-)) There is even a goodly share of people in this "nation" who think that the war on Iraq was both justifiable and necessary. (I am not one of those, by the way.) My point is that no matter how you slice it, we as a "nation" and as a people are divided.

"With Liberty and Justice for all" If you think that there is liberty and/or justice for all, just open your favorite search page and type in the words "Mike Hawash" or "Jose Padilla". I've provided some interesting links in case you care.

Jose Padilla:
http://www.chargepadilla.org/
http://www.warblogging.com/archives/000605.php

Mike Hawash:
http://www.freemikehawash.org/
http://www.wired.com/news/conflict/0,2100,58326,00.html

Etc.
http://civilliberty.about.com/library/weekly/aa101501a.htm

So, am I being unpatriotic for pointing these things out? Probably, depending on whose book you want to look in. Do I wish these things would change? You bet. Am I saying that the USA is a horrible place to live? No, I'm not. I know that we as Americans (United Statesians?) share a tremendous amount of freedom in comparison to other countries around the world. That doesn't mean that it couldn't be better and that doesn't mean it has to get worse.

I'm going to close this little rant with one of my favorite quotes: "People who are willing to give up freedom for the sake of short term security, deserve neither freedom nor security." -Benjamin Franklin, statesman, author, and inventor (1706-1790)


(This has been a work of fiction. All statements in this work are both ridiculous and blasphemous and should be ignored. Any similarity between reality and the statements made above is purely coincidental. All links above have been fabricated by the author of this work, especially the one from Wired. All of the definitions above have been chosen specifically for their ability to further the positively silly statements made by the author. Please do not write to the author to tell him the he is an idiot, prick, jerk, bastard, wanker, hair-brain, poopsidoodle, numb-nuts, dork or any other not-so-nice thing as he is already aware of this and doesn't need reminding. Thank you and have a nice day.)