Stop!  Before we party hardy, I would like us to take a few minutes to examine the state of our nation.  I truly hate to break into the revelry with sobering thoughts about the dismantling of the country that was created by the first “revelers” of 1776, but as a loving citizen, I must.  Call it tough love.  Back then, those first soon-to-citizens had real and lethal fireworks with which to contend, with all of those mortar shells flying through the air from the British Army.  But they persevered, and here we are two hundred and thirty three years later, not sure whether to uncork the champagne or leave it on ice.

        Mixed in with the confetti, I am seeing our freedoms fluttering through the air, being snipped with a gargantuan pair of scissors called “change.”  “Change” has come in the form of the government taking over a presumably private company, thrusting the government into the car-making business.  With the takeover of Government Motors, er General Motors, does that mean that the U.S. is joining China in the hybrid business, hybrid as in a mix of capitalism and communism?  

        Speaking of China, maybe as part of this program of “change,” we had all better start practicing Mandarin.  China just about owns the U.S.  Just ask those Chinese students who had a good chuckle at the U.S. secretary of the Treasury when he was on his “hat in hand” tour of China.  I was mortified that a representative of the U.S. government was eliciting laughs as he was expounding about the serious business of finance, trying to engender trust in the current methods of “curing” the financial disease the world is experiencing. Those students were highly amused by the “your money is safe” rhetoric.

        We have arrived at a state of the union where even some students not yet out in the real world of finance realize that a country cannot survive by continuing to print money, sell toxic assets to itself, and borrow and borrow and borrow from a country whose economy was put on steroids by U.S. businessmen and women looking to exploit cheap labor. Those students were probably thinking about which parts of U.S. industry they would take over as their country takes over more and more of U.S. assets.

        The last laugh may be on those U.S. businessmen and women who began turning capitalism into cannibalism by feeding on the financial flesh of their victims, AKA fellow citizens.  The hosts, fellow citizens, have been gnawed down to the financial bone, and cannot afford much of what is being offered, not even the cheap Chinese goods.  According to an Economic Policy Institute study, 2.3 million jobs were lost to China over the past seven years.   I am not going to call for a boycott of Chinese-made/manufactured goods.  As a matter of fact, I am with the Chinese.  If, as a country, you have businessmen of foreign countries knocking on your borders to let them in to exploit, er offer work to your willing workers, it would be foolish to ''just say no.''  When opportunity knocks, open the factories and let opportunity in!   Import U.S. dollars in.  Let them out for purchasing U.S. “securities,” and own more and more of the “land of the free and home of the brave.”  Xie xie (thank you)!

        “Land and assets for sale or for stealing” should be more on the radar than is the case.  Foreign ownership of American landmarks, industry, tolling booths, is at an all time high.  On this day of “independence,” the American people are now more dependent on their government than in any time of their history.  The role of government has been expanded from fixing potholes and maintaining security to taking over car companies, much of the financial industry, and firing Inspector Generals.

        The bailout bonanza was supposed to yield thousands upon thousands of jobs.  A ratio of a little over one hundred thousand jobs “saved or created,” to somewhere around two million “stimulated” right out of the companies that received bailout money, is more deadly than Russian roulette.  Math is not my strong suit, but even I know that millions of folks forced out of work is not going to translate into dollars spent to revive the economy. That “unholy alliance” of jobs outsourcing, “illegal immigrants in-sourcing,” and the slow march to a society of rich and poor, without a middle, is going to lead to a country collapsing on itself.  Are we there yet?  Almost.
 

        Enough of this doom and gloom!  Let’s return to the July 4th parties, now that we have the serious stuff out of the way!  This is such a festive time that the new president has sent out invitations!

        Hold everything!  What is this I am reading, that Iran got an invite to July 4th parties to be held by U.S. embassies around the world?  Why Iran?  Didn’t the president of Iran “advise” America to limit its interference to its own borders?  What part of that is not sufficiently clear?  Are the overtures by the U.S. president part of a wider masochistic foreign policy?  Is it “kick me some more, because I still have one good leg left to stand on?”  My, my. 

        Maybe someone will need to rethink this invite.  There are plenty of fireworks enough going on in Iran.  In a “democratic and fair” election, the president of Iran was declared the “winner” about two minutes after the polls closed.  Now the police are enthusiastically maintaining law and order.  So far, about two dozen Iranians, and probably counting, have been “eliminated.”  A U.S. State Department spokesman has declared that the U.S. needs to know more before condemning the actions in Iran.  I guess the escalating deaths do not merit condemnation.

        Hold the presses!  The policy of not “meddling” has been stepped up an inch.  The Iranian regime was “advised” to let its people freely protest.  This latest admonition has fallen on deaf ears.  The regime and its enforcers are clamping down even more repressively.  The posturing that has moved from “no meddling” to “condemnation” of the crackdown on the protestors in Iran, is turning out to be nothing more than, well, posturing?

        But, hey, the invites, which were never accepted by the Iranians, were retracted!  I admire the smidgen of ''testicular fortitude'' being exhibited by the “retractors,” but that is like inviting someone to a wedding.  They do not RSVP, and you send a letter stating that you are taking back the invitation.  That’ll show them!

        I became sidetracked by that “unusual” overture to Iran, but I mean it when I say that the celebrations shall now begin in earnest!  What can we celebrate?  We can celebrate that we still have young men and women willing to die for us.  There I go again.  I am veering off into territory that is not exactly “party” fare.  Instead of confetti and fireworks, can we light a simple candle for Pvt. William Long, whose life was robbed from him by a “homegrown” Muslim extremist?  I was surprised and yet not surprised by the miniscule coverage that this act of terror received.

        Let us also light candles and place in our windows so that ILT. Michael Behenna can find his way home from Leavenworth prison, to his parents and other loved ones.  His “crime” was shooting a Muslim prisoner in self defense.  Are we to infer from Ranger Behenna’s harsh twenty-five year sentence, that he would have been held in high esteem if he had not protected himself, and had been brought home in a body bag?  Based on the coverage of the murder of Pvt. Long, I don’t think so.  Stolen lives or stolen honor, our warriors always pay a dear price for protecting us.

        I promise that I will end this article with reasons why we can celebrate this birthday. Here goes.  This nation is still the nation where millions of folks from all over the world, if given a choice of homeland, will choose to come.  It is still our freedom that attracts them.  It is still “my country ‘tis of thee, sweet land of liberty!”  It is still the land of opportunity.  It is still a Judeo-Christian country, where countless numbers of citizens still believe in the tenets of the Ten Commandments, and practice them.  It is still the country of the Grand Canyon, Mount Rushmore, Mount Vernon, and Colonial Williamsburg.  On this July 4th holiday weekend, here are some suggestions for paying homage to America.  Please pay a visit.

www.valleyforge.org

www.statueofliberty.org

www.mtrushmore.net

www.arlingtoncemetery.org

www.mountvernon.org

www.colonialwilliamsburg.org

www.musclecarcity.net 

        These and other such monuments are lasting testaments to why there is cause for celebration.  What is the ''secret weapon,'' immortalized in those monuments?  It is the people known as Americans. The U.S. has been bountifully blessed with many citizens of sturdy character, who most assuredly cannot be described as ''summer soldiers'' or “sunshine patriots.”  Quite frankly, it is the grit of its citizens and God’s grace that will go a long way to helping this nation celebrate another birthday with joy and pride!  This land is still the land of millions who love this country, and will gladly give up their lives for it.  Let us celebrate it while we still can.  Light up the red, white, and blue fireworks!  Fly that Flag!

        Happy Birthday, “Land That I Love!”  And may there be many more!