I still love you America. Happy Birthday!
The 4th of July is my third favorite holiday (behind #1 Thanksgiving and #2 Halloween). Every 4th of July I dig my flag out of the closet and celebrate America's birthday by enjoying the hell out of my freedom. I feel kind of obligated to, I mean all these people died back in the 1700's to break free of British oppression so we could all have a lasting freedom. Think of how America has spear-headed progress in so many ways since then. It would be an insult to all those folks who died in the early days if we didn't go out and water ski and BBQ with our friends and families, and celebrate everything this country has given us.
I always had fond memories of 4th of July as a kid. It always consisted of parades or houseboats, definitely fireworks, and usually a BBQ somewhere. I loved it, even up through my 3 years in the U.S. Army. But as I got older and my naive view of the country changed, the 4th of July changed. Friends of mine said they were embarrassed to be Americans and hated the symbol of the American flag. As a matter of fact the American flag I have today was given to me by a friend who had earned the flag as part of his reward for becoming an Eagle Scout. Due to the post 9-11 political landscape many people I knew had developed a hatred for this country and lost any patriotism they ever had. I would read news stories about celebrities like Gwyneth Paltrow telling a Canadian magazine she was embarrassed to be an American, or Alec Baldwin saying he would move to another country because of his disgust with this place. It had suddenly become so unpopular to be American and to be a patriot.
Now let me clarify that I am not a supporter of George Bush or the war in Iraq, far from it, so when it was implied that people who went out and waved their flags on the 4th were somehow supporters of those things I was shocked. I went and took the American flag from my Eagle Scout friend and proudly displayed it off of my balcony. I'll be damned if I'm going to let George Bush or anyone else dictate what the American flag represents to me. Fuck that! You want to know what I see when I look at the American flag? I see the place where I grew up. I see my family. I see my friends. I see everyone I ever loved. I see the 49ers, the A's, the Warriors. I see every great experience I ever had. I see a place full of opportunity and a place that continues to spearhead progress. A place where there's still time to do the right things. THAT'S my America. That's what my flag represents to me. To me being a patriot doesn't mean I blindly support every decision this country has made, it means I support, defend, or fight for the things this country has given to me and continues to give to me. When the government disappoints me and takes this place in the wrong directions I'm not going to be a pussy like Alec Baldwin and just move away, I'm going to take it back!
This 4th of July when we're all busy enjoying the hell out of our freedom and someone is waving a flag, stop and think about what it represents to you. It's okay. It's okay to be a patriot again. Go on, don't be afraid, love it a little.
I always had fond memories of 4th of July as a kid. It always consisted of parades or houseboats, definitely fireworks, and usually a BBQ somewhere. I loved it, even up through my 3 years in the U.S. Army. But as I got older and my naive view of the country changed, the 4th of July changed. Friends of mine said they were embarrassed to be Americans and hated the symbol of the American flag. As a matter of fact the American flag I have today was given to me by a friend who had earned the flag as part of his reward for becoming an Eagle Scout. Due to the post 9-11 political landscape many people I knew had developed a hatred for this country and lost any patriotism they ever had. I would read news stories about celebrities like Gwyneth Paltrow telling a Canadian magazine she was embarrassed to be an American, or Alec Baldwin saying he would move to another country because of his disgust with this place. It had suddenly become so unpopular to be American and to be a patriot.
Now let me clarify that I am not a supporter of George Bush or the war in Iraq, far from it, so when it was implied that people who went out and waved their flags on the 4th were somehow supporters of those things I was shocked. I went and took the American flag from my Eagle Scout friend and proudly displayed it off of my balcony. I'll be damned if I'm going to let George Bush or anyone else dictate what the American flag represents to me. Fuck that! You want to know what I see when I look at the American flag? I see the place where I grew up. I see my family. I see my friends. I see everyone I ever loved. I see the 49ers, the A's, the Warriors. I see every great experience I ever had. I see a place full of opportunity and a place that continues to spearhead progress. A place where there's still time to do the right things. THAT'S my America. That's what my flag represents to me. To me being a patriot doesn't mean I blindly support every decision this country has made, it means I support, defend, or fight for the things this country has given to me and continues to give to me. When the government disappoints me and takes this place in the wrong directions I'm not going to be a pussy like Alec Baldwin and just move away, I'm going to take it back!
This 4th of July when we're all busy enjoying the hell out of our freedom and someone is waving a flag, stop and think about what it represents to you. It's okay. It's okay to be a patriot again. Go on, don't be afraid, love it a little.
posted by firebaum @ 9:57 AM
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