Happy Fourth of July!

Brought To You Courtesy of the Red White and Blue

Happy Fourth of July, dear reader! 

Today marks America's 250th birthday, and what a time to be alive!

It's hot as hell but star spangle my banner if it isn't a great day anyway.

There's plenty of fun to be had today in the form of costumes, good food, and a financially crippling amount of fireworks but take a moment if you will to remember the moment 250 years ago when a couple of colonists gathered in a stuffy room in Philadelphia to commit high treason against their king.

These men dared pledge their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor to the promise that all men are created equal. Invoking divine Providence, they gazed across the pond at the world's best military and said: "Bet."

In the battle for independence, heroes emerged from our own shores in the like of Washington, Greene, Morgan, and Knox as well as from without in the form of our dear Marquis de Lafayette, von Steuben, Kościuszko, and de Kalb. Alliances were made, broken, and reforged with the Oneida, Cherokee, and Iroquois among others. The years that followed were comprised of glorious victories and, all too often, brutal defeats. Men starved and froze to death in tattered rags through the times that tried mens souls, but, still, they endured.

It is for them that we celebrate today, dear reader. For them and for all who came after because of their tenacity, their will, and perhaps no small amount of American made stubbornness.

Our founding fathers may not have been perfect, dear reader, but neither are we. In embracing that humanity we honor the intent of our Declaration and Constitution by never ceasing to strive for a more perfect union.

We owe doing so to those who came before, those who will come after, and ourselves.

And, hey if that's too heavy for you then just remember Great Britain blew a 13 colony lead!

Try and keep all your fingers and toes, and God Bless the United States of America. 

Until Next Time