At the risk of sounding PATRIOTIC...

[SoonerDave]

...Here's hoping EVEYRONE has a SAFE and FUN Fourth of July...

...and please, in the midst of your hot dogs, your fireworks, and your families, please take time to remember the untold thousands who have died and are dying to make this day possible for the rest of us...

..We owe them a debt of gratitude we can never repay..

Happy 230th Birthday, America!

-SoonerDave

(closest thing I could find to fireworks)

[writerranger]

...and please, in the midst of your hot dogs, your fireworks, and your families, please take time to remember the untold thousands who have died and are dying to make this day possible for the rest of us...

..We owe them a debt of gratitude we can never repay..

Absolutely.
Have a Happy Fourth!

[fromdust]

oh, you hatemongers. j/k.

i reflect back on this time and i see 13 little colonies beating the crap out of the world super power that was britain. have a great independece day!

[quailcreekgal]

I see the 13 little colonies as the beginning of the attempts to wipe off the face of the earth the Native Americans.

[sweetdaisy]

Wow. How pleasant, QCG. Thanks for your heartfelt patriotism.

[quailcreekgal]

WOW can't handle a different view of history without jumping to conclusions?
My American flag is flying on my front porch, how 'bout yours, SD?

[MadMonk]

If that's all you view our history as you are missing quite a lot.

[SoonerDave]

I see the 13 little colonies as the beginning of the attempts to wipe off the face of the earth the Native Americans.

I love how easy it is today for someone to climb a presumptive moral high ground and grab a politically correct retrospective notion of social indignation as a consequence of history while gladly living as one of its direct beneficiaries.

I think of members of my family who have served in the military from World War II to Vietnam, and did everything from packing parachutes, to serving on naval vessels, to fighting as ground troops in the midst of Agent Orange defoliant, and am consequently humbled at the sacrifice they made not at the behest of flag-waving or drum-beating, but because they felt it was their responsibility. And it sickens me to see their efforts and their sacrificed trashed by a pithy quote from a 21st century yuppie tapping platitudes on a PC who almost certainly knows *nothing* of that magnitude of personal sacrifice.

You have the privilege of moral reflection and condescension. They bought it for you. And guess what? The blood of those Native Americans is on your hands, too, as is the blood of thousands of some 200,000 Japanese bombed out of existence in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, too, and to the untold thousands of dead of other races. If you want to feel agony of the victims of war, feel for all of them, not just the ones that might hit the top of your most recent round of sensitivity traning. If you find the treatment of Native Americans offensive, QCG, I propose you find an bloodless, unconquered corner of the world where your moral gloves can remain white.

My American flag waves proudly in my front yard as a symbol that freedom has come to me, to my family, to your family for a price, a heavy price, not all of it pretty. It is something to be cherished. And I will not, in the recognized luxury of my air-conditioned office and my comfort-laced, peace-surrounded home, stand on the graves and pass judgment over those 230 years my senior for the means they chose to secure it.

-SoonerDave

[quailcreekgal]

Wow SoonerDave, thank you so much for clearing that all up for me. I feel so much better and it's like you know the real me. As I ride my pony home tonight and sit in my air conditioned teepee, watch cable television, answer a few emails, kill my own dinner and cook it over an open fire, send a couple of smoke signals to my grandparents (they don't even have a phone), count the stars through the teepee's skylight, I'll think of you and your kind words.

[MadMonk]

Nicely said SoonerDave!

[sweetdaisy]

WOW can't handle a different view of history without jumping to conclusions?
My American flag is flying on my front porch, how 'bout yours, SD?

I'm very well aware of our history, no matter how shameful it can be at times. However, I also think it's nice to get off the soapbox long enough to be thankful for the freedoms we have. Devoting a day to being appreciative without being snitty isn't too much to ask.

And my American flag is still flying high as well...but of course, I wasn't the one belittling anyone's pride in their country.

[quailcreekgal]

Wow. How pleasant, QCG. Thanks for your heartfelt patriotism.

Nothing snitty or belittling there, sweetdaisy, just assumption and judgement from the soapbox.

[Martin]

when i first read this post a couple days ago i didn't understand why its title was a bit apologetic. it just didn't make sense why anybody would have to preface patriotic comments with a few words of warning. well... after reading the subsequent posts, now i understand and it's pretty sad. within fifty years ago we lived in a place where one didn't have to be ashamed to be proud of his country. now we live in a place where one is mocked for having that same pride.

i, for one, am proud of the impact that those 13 colonies have had on our world and i'm not ashamed to say it. -M