Sunday, July 4, 2010

Fireworks are Nice, but the Concept is Grand

We drove home from Orange County to Los Angeles and watched the fireworks displays, legal and illegal, on both sides of the highway. It was great, and I hope everyone enjoyed the freedom to risk fingers and eyes setting them off. But how many people thought about the meaning of American independence? Well, at least one person and his readers did. This nation is facing formidable problems but I like the hope and belief that blogger Spencer Ackerman exhibits in today's entry in his personal blog, Attackerman (http://attackerman.firedoglake.com) I also happen to like Spencer Ackerman,whom I have known since shortly after he was born. Here are his words about America:
"You know what the great thing is about a country founded on a set of propositions? About a series of commitments that define what it is to be a citizen of that country? It’s that to be an American is an endless process to show fidelity with those commitments. The frontier never actually closes. We’re never in America yet. America is always yet to come. Like an Englishman once reminded us, the future is unwritten, with liberty and justice over the horizon. If we’re decent and strong and dedicated enough to press onward."
Thanks, Spencer, for reminding us of the founding principles of this country and of what it takes to stick with them.

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