Independence No More

SUBHEAD: I say be a pirate and put a blade between the admiral's ribs. Then you can celebrate.

By Juan Wilson on 4 July 2013 for Island Breath -
(http://islandbreath.blogspot.com/2013/07/independence-no-more.html)


Image above: A pirate in the Americas. From (http://www.paravia.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=10_21_40&products_id=121).

I hate the July Fourth Holiday! For me it has come to mean the worst of America's excesses in today's world. It certainly has little to do with the successful guerrilla war against intercontinental British imperialism.

Compare and contrast the words to "The Star Spangled Banner" and "America the Beautiful".

Star Spangled Banner
O say can you see by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming,
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there;
O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave,
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

What the fuck! "Rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air."

America the Beautiful
O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

Oh wow! For purple mountain majesties above the fruited plain!

Given the sorry state of our empire it's no wonder that the Star Spangled Banner is our national Anthem and America the Beautiful just another song.

America revels in some of its worst habits on Independence Day; consuming charcoaled greasy hamburgers and hotdogs and washing them down with quarts of brewski while being entertained with uncounted sulphurous explosives as a background to NASCAR races.

Today's news headline from (http://www.sbnation.com/2013/7/4/4494386/nascar-daytona-2013-dale-earnhardt-jr-coke-zero-400): "Tired of finishing second, Dale Earnhardt Jr. plans to be more aggressive in search of his first Daytona win since 2004". More aggressive? That'll do it.

You remember the old unattributed quote:

"If brute force isn't working, you're not using enough of it."

Bottom line: As we simmer in our own sweat as fires blaze and ecosystems fade, we can celebrate our American Execptionalism and forget about the uncomfortable truths that lurk in the shadows.

Or, I say, you can be a pirate and put a steely point between the admiral's ribs. Then you can celebrate.

See also:
Ea O Ka Aina: Merciless Indian Savages 7/3/11
Ea O Ka Aina: Don't Drink the Green Cool Aid 7/4/10
Ea O Ka Aina: Rockets Red Glare 7/1/09
Island Breath: Recapturing the Spirit of Independence 7/4/08
Island Breath: Happy Oil Dependence Day 7/4/08

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