While the storm clouds gather, far across the sea
America!
Happy Independence Day, everybody. I’m not one of those scolds who’s going to tell you to feel guilty for engaging in jingoistic acts of revelry, seeing as how there’s so much suffering and injustice not only in the world, but in this very country. There’s two reasons for this, one of which I’ve already written about. For as bad as America may seem to its harshest critics, at home and abroad, it’s still a great place, and with the ability to be greater:
That’s what makes America great, that quest for perfection. Our history as a nation is pocked by almost unforgivable sins: genocide, slavery, war. I say almost unforgivable, because I believe that the American story is a story of redemption. (I guess we’re back to the redemptive power of change.) And whether the redemption is of the ancient crimes of European tyranny, or our own more recent ones, America is a place where that cleansing can happen, where things can be made right. Because even though their application hasn’t always been consistent, the words that actually are our birthright have never changed: that all men are created equal; that our union can be more perfect; that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish. The American story is a long slog; too long, in fact. But the slog inevitably leads to the same place. That’s the genius of America.
The second reason being, it’s America’s birthday, people. Wherever you are, you should probably find a place and a means to party. What I would ask, as I am wont to do on occasions such as this, is to take a moment to say a few words to the close and holy darkness for the men and women who are overseas, fighting under that flag you see above, as well as their families, who suffer in ways that you or I can scarcely imagine.
And so I leave you, treasured readers, as I make my preparations to go down the shore to celebrate America’s independence from the hated British, with the only rendition of our national anthem that ever really mattered. Be good.
Tags: America!, holidays, Jimi Hendrix
This entry was posted on Sunday, July 4th, 2010 at 10:58 am and is filed under Current Events. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.