America

Well, ole Johnny boy was a couple days off, but semantics aside, he truly foresaw how America would remember such a prodigious moment in history. To coincide with the awesome fate of a nascent nation, the fourth day of July has had throughout history some fantastic and almost cosmic patriotic parallelisms. Just to name a few: Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, the only signers of the Declaration of Independence to later become U.S. Presidents both left this earth on July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the Declaration. Although not a signer of the Declaration of Independence, but another Founding Father who became a President, James Monroe, perished on July 4, 1831, thus becoming the third President in a row who died on this iconic day. Calvin Coolidge, the 30th President, was born on July 4, 1872, and, so far, is the only U.S. President to have been born on Independence Day.

The Roman constitutionalist Cicero said over two-thousand years ago that, “Those of us who don’t walk around with a sense of history look at the world like a child.” Well, unfortunately that is how my paradigm of this majestic day used to be. I was looking at the gaudy festivities of the 4th with an ignorant and uneducated oculus. I now appreciate the silly activities associated with this magnificent day.

My faith very much dictates the way I view the past, present and future. I believe many men have been inspired from on high to make political, military and social decisions that have resulted in the nation and world we have today. I believe that George Washington was inspired in his endeavors, as I believe were dozens of men that opted to demur the ways of the Mother Nation (Great Britain) in hopes of a better future. With all this patriotic perfection floating through our brains, I wish to take the reader through one last literary hoop.

I am not an especially political human being. I stay educated on policies and political maneuvering, but have never believed that one party or one politician is the panacea for all of our nation’s problems. The reason I love the 4th of July is because it is all American. American T-shirts (well probably made in Bangladesh), American treats, American parades, American rednecks, American pride. So why not reflect a moment on how we are often acting very un-American when we incessantly complain about bipartisanism, or make ridiculous memes demonizing our President. A citizen whose research and political education is limited to talk-radio cannot impeach a president. Just a reminder. So why not support our President and get involved in local politics if you are that eager for change? If you love America so much that you will spend an entire night sleeping on a curbside in hopes of having the best view of a parade, stop bashing the men and women that are actually involved in government, whether you agree with them or not. I guess this time of year makes me a little politically introspective as the New Year makes me goal-oriented and Christmas makes me more Christ like. So, let us stop casting stones at politicians. Let us cease to make a menace out of a man we do not know. Let us start improving America by improving ourselves, then by ameliorating those around us, and the ripples will equate to a better country and better world. Zig Ziglar said it so profoundly when he stated that, “Building a better you is the first step to building a better America.” And let us not forget what the womanizing Bostonian President JFK said: “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.”God bless America.