This (above) is a short video I made a couple of years ago to express what I felt about the Fourth of July. I considered remaking it, but after watching it again I concluded that I'm not likely to improve on it, so here it is, in all its 2008 glory.
While I'm at it, I'll throw in this nifty opening title from HBO's John Adams series.
Last, but not least, here's (above) a brief excerpt from that series where John Adams publicly commits to the ideal of liberty. I always get misty-eyed over stuff like this.
Hey Eddie. What happened to that post you did yesterday? I liked it a lot, and I was really disappointed to see it gone.
Oh well, what the hay? Happy 4th of July. 2008 wasn't really too long ago for me really, though. I still remember that year perfectly as it were yesterday, and that was because it was before high school started to eat up a lot of my time.
I'm gonna watch Mr. Smith Goes to Washington right now...
I don't know Eddie, I've started to back off a bit with my enthusiasm for the 4th of July. Do people in this country really want freedom?
Take a look my this article by talk show host Neal Boortz. Here. He's a libertarian, so some of his ideas are conservative, and some of his ideas are liberal. Though some of his facts are suspect (ie, that the majority of Colonists did not want the war), and he made at least one typo (1883 should be 1783), his ideas proke thought.
He includes a questionaire. He includes questions on whether there should be laws against flag burning (he's against them), questions on minimum wage (he's against it), questions of FCC regulations (he's against them), and questions on sodomy laws (he's against them.
I've always had a crush on John Adams. I got it from seeing 1776 on TV when I was about 12, then reading his letters to Abigail, which started before they were engaged to be married. My god, he was so funny! A great, dry sense of the absurd. Also a very earthy man, also a spiritual one in the most intellectual sense of the word if that makes any sense. I go off on him because he better than anyone else then or since (with Lincoln as a notable exception) expressed feelings about the birth of America that move me and make me "misty-eyed". For the ideals and dreams that he and his colleagues and so many others had-for that, and the people who have borne it out over the centuries with their work and lives-I think of this as a special day and not just a jingoistic rah-rah excuse for a day off.
Roberto: Thanks for telling me that the astronomy pictures were missing! I immediately reinstated them!
Austin: An interesting site! Thanks for the link. I think most people want freedom. If it seems like they don't, it may be because they also want something else and don't realize the contradiction.
Jenny: A crush on Adams!? Good for you! That's when a man has arrived...when he's the subject of crushes after he's been dead for 200 years.
Aaron: Thanks! I'm thinking of doing some more videos sometime soon.
Thank goodness for the philosophy of our founders and the courage and fortitude of those who fought for individual liberty. I think its great that we celebrate the day we declared our independence rather than the day we ratified the constitution as it makes it seem we are celebrating the idea of liberty, which seems far grander than the lawful start of our country.
I can't help but wonder what the founders would think of the country we have become though. We have become an empire without much of our citizens realizing it. We are out there nation-building and we have allowed a central bank to seize hold of our currency again. I can see Thomas Jefferson shaking that finger at us all in a scolding manner. But I suppose the rest of the year is there to ponder such question, July 4th is a day of celebration.
Hey Eddie. What happened to that post you did yesterday? I liked it a lot, and I was really disappointed to see it gone.
ReplyDeleteOh well, what the hay? Happy 4th of July. 2008 wasn't really too long ago for me really, though. I still remember that year perfectly as it were yesterday, and that was because it was before high school started to eat up a lot of my time.
I'm gonna watch Mr. Smith Goes to Washington right now...
I don't know Eddie, I've started to back off a bit with my enthusiasm for the 4th of July. Do people in this country really want freedom?
ReplyDeleteTake a look my this article by talk show host Neal Boortz. Here. He's a libertarian, so some of his ideas are conservative, and some of his ideas are liberal. Though some of his facts are suspect (ie, that the majority of Colonists did not want the war), and he made at least one typo (1883 should be 1783), his ideas proke thought.
He includes a questionaire. He includes questions on whether there should be laws against flag burning (he's against them), questions on minimum wage (he's against it), questions of FCC regulations (he's against them), and questions on sodomy laws (he's against them.
Maybe you will find him interesting.
I've always had a crush on John Adams. I got it from seeing 1776 on TV when I was about 12, then reading his letters to Abigail, which started before they were engaged to be married. My god, he was so funny! A great, dry sense of the absurd. Also a very earthy man, also a spiritual one in the most intellectual sense of the word if that makes any sense.
ReplyDeleteI go off on him because he better than anyone else then or since (with Lincoln as a notable exception) expressed feelings about the birth of America that move me and make me "misty-eyed".
For the ideals and dreams that he and his colleagues and so many others had-for that, and the people who have borne it out over the centuries with their work and lives-I think of this as a special day and not just a jingoistic rah-rah excuse for a day off.
I like and miss your youtube vids.
ReplyDeleteRoberto: Thanks for telling me that the astronomy pictures were missing! I immediately reinstated them!
ReplyDeleteAustin: An interesting site! Thanks for the link. I think most people want freedom. If it seems like they don't, it may be because they also want something else and don't realize the contradiction.
Jenny: A crush on Adams!? Good for you! That's when a man has arrived...when he's the subject of crushes after he's been dead for 200 years.
Aaron: Thanks! I'm thinking of doing some more videos sometime soon.
That first clip says it for all time.
ReplyDeleteThank goodness for the philosophy of our founders and the courage and fortitude of those who fought for individual liberty. I think its great that we celebrate the day we declared our independence rather than the day we ratified the constitution as it makes it seem we are celebrating the idea of liberty, which seems far grander than the lawful start of our country.
ReplyDeleteI can't help but wonder what the founders would think of the country we have become though. We have become an empire without much of our citizens realizing it. We are out there nation-building and we have allowed a central bank to seize hold of our currency again. I can see Thomas Jefferson shaking that finger at us all in a scolding manner. But I suppose the rest of the year is there to ponder such question, July 4th is a day of celebration.