Fourth of July

So it is, happy Independence Day, Americans.

The Cato Institute weighs in on supporting the principles of Independence Day:

"In these and countless other ways, in the name of helping us, government throws us all in a common pot and decides for us. We "pursue happiness" not as individuals but collectively -- through government. We've turned Jefferson's order on its head. Is it any wonder that so many of us are "unhappy" with the programs we get, with the choices government makes for us? Imagine if government chose our national religious program. When government chooses everything, individuals choose nothing. Look at North Korea for the extreme example of that."

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"It is certainly rather a curious thing, that after more than eighty years of national existence, we should have hit upon no better way of celebrating the birth-day of our nation than by a clumsy imitation of the old Roman saturnalia," a New York Times editorial complained in 1859. "By one of the most whimsical freaks imaginable," griped the editors, "the burning of powder has become the one significant ceremony of the national patriotism in keeping its highest Saint's day." --from The Patriot Act the Right's op-ed piece by Jonah Goldberg, editor at large of National Review Online

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"If you are one of those who love what President Bush has done for this country and believe you must blindly follow the president to deserve to fly the flag, you should ask yourself some difficult questions about just how proud you are of the America we now inhabit:

Are you proud that one in six children lives in poverty in America?

Are you proud that 40 million adult Americans are functional illiterates?

Are you proud that the bulk of the jobs being created these days are low- and minimum-wage jobs?

Are you proud of asking your fellow Americans to live on $5.15 an hour?

Are you proud that, according to a National Geographic Society survey, 85% of young adult Americans cannot find Iraq on the map (and 11% cannot find the United States!)?

Are you proud that the rest of the world, which poured out its heart to us after Sept. 11, now looks at us with disdain and disgust?

Are you proud that nearly 3 billion people on this planet do not have access to clean drinking water when we have the resources and technology to remedy this immediately?

Are you proud of the fact that our president sent our soldiers off to a war that had nothing to do with the self-defense of this country?"

-- The Patriot Act, the Left's op-ed piece by Michael Moore.

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Meanwhile, back in Gotham City, Some 36,000 fireworks will burst in the New York sky tonight to celebrate the nation's independence

In addition, a 20-ton chunk of granite from the Adirondack Mountains in upstate New York will be placed inside the 70-foot deep foundation of what used to be the WTC, launching a five-year construction plan for a 1,776-foot skyscraper that will become an iconic symbol for the New York City skyline, The Freedom Tower, or, what might later be known as the world's largest terrorist target.

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Wondering how Saddam will be celebrating? Perhaps with a game of Rock, Paper, Saddam

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4th Of July
Chris Cornell, Soundgarden

Shower in the dark day
Clean sparks diving down
Cool in the waterway
Where the baptized drown
Naked in the cold sun
Breathing life like fire
Thought I was the only one
But that was just a lie

Cause I heard it in the wind
And I saw it in the sky
And I thought it was the end
And I thought it was the 4th of July

Pale in the flare light
The scared light cracks & disappears
And leads the scorched ones here
And everywhere no one cares
The fire is spreading
And no one wants to speak about it
Down in the hole
Jesus tries to crack a smile
Beneath another shovel load

And I heard it in the wind
And I saw it in the sky
And I thought it was the end
And I thought it was the 4th of July

Now I'm in control
Now I'm in the fall out
Once asleep but now I stand
And I still remember
Your sweet everything
Light a Roman candle
And hold it in your hand

Cause I heard it in the wind
And I saw it in the sky
And I thought it was the end
And I thought it was the 4th of July

Music: Cornell; Lyrics: Cornell

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And perhaps most importantly of all on this 4th of July, Todos por Portugal! as we await kickoff this evening of the Portugal-Greece final of the Euro 2004.