Happy Birthday United States

I'm having too much fun enjoying the weekend with the Keene Friend, et al to waste time writing about it. I'll do that tomorrow when I'm trying to recover - I promise a full rundown. As a place holder I'll re-blog thoughts from prior 4ths. Some truths are self-evident, I've heard. 

Independence Day always leads to thoughts of what it means and looking back on the history of the day.  It’s fascinating to ponder what the founders would think of what they created.  I think they’d be a little astounded that they generated such an imperfect yet wildly successful proof of the power of human freedom unrestricted by the yoke of the European class system that produced it.  Even when we’re poorly led this country shines as a fountain of possibility.  I think that’s what the medieval thinkers of radical Islam hate most about us; the power of belief.  The genie of free thought can never be put back in the bottle after its released; the taste is too sweet and that’s why they’ll never succeed.  Happy Birthday America, I thank God every day I was blessed to be born here and allowed to defend you for a quarter century.  The honor was mine.