America, Truly The Beautiful

First off a Happy Independence Day to you! Belated at that, but having trouble with blogger the last couple of days. I was wondering why so many people call it "the Fourth of July" or the "July 4th weekend." Yes, I know that is, of course, the day of this most important Holiday. Yet, we don't say the "25th of December" when referring to Christmas or that we are buying "October 31st candy" for Halloween. Or even, "man I had some hangover last January 1st." But we do see "4th of July mattress sales" and "come to our July 4th extravaganza" advertisements.

So what is the reasoning for this? Are there too many syllables in the word in-de-pend-ence? Are we celebrating it being the fourth day of the seventh month, or something way more important? I believe that not referring to July 4th as Independence Day in the same specific way as the aforementioned holidays diminishes its importance. Get a life, one might say. Perhaps. However, keep in mind how many people there are living in this country who are unable to identify where Iraq is or who the Secretary Of State is. My point being is that there are far too many people who lack a basic knowledge of the country they live in. Why?

There seems to be a sense of guilt in regards to this country's history. It may come across in a subtle way-and I don't know when it began-but there seems to be a great deal of revisionist history and also a great deal of demonizing of our Founding Fathers and what they represented.

Is America's history unblemished?

Of course not.

Does any living soul have an unblemished history?

Absolutely not.

Are people ashamed that wars were necessary to gain and preserve our independence?

Apparently so.

So let's play a game called "It's A Wonderful Life."

If the United States of America had never existed how many people would have lived under oppressive colonial rule? How many more millions of Jews would have been brutally murdered?

No one wants war, but it has been, at times, a necessity for the very survival of this nation and free nations throughout the world. America has been called upon to defeat the evil forces of colonialism, nazism, fascism, totalitarianism, communism, and now islamofacism. Yes, I said it, islamofacism. Terrorism is the means by which bin Laden and company attempt to spread their extremist views. I don't think you will see Attorney General Alberto Gonzales holding a press conference after a cell of Irish Republican Army loyalists from Inwood are busted.

The various colors that light up the sky during fireworks' displays is representative of the many types of people, views, religions, and dreams that make up the USA.

Like the late President Ronald"Dutch" Reagan I believe in America as the "shining city on a hill" in all its glory. America is a beacon of freedom and provides hope to millions around the world, especially the oppressed. By comparison to other nations around the world, America is a young country and sometimes shows its adolescence, but I believe America is by far the greatest nation on the planet.

For the most part we do get along considering the fact that America's diversity is incomparable.

Also, the U.S. has made more progress with racism and inequality in a quicker amount of time than any other society. In addition, for those who believe America is so bad, people are still doing all they can to come here. After all, we have an illegal immigration problem not an exodus issue.

So, I say Happy 230th Birthday America, but most importantly Happy Independence Day.