Born on the 4th of July..
Another routine shift at work today on the holiday over and done with.. No fanfare, no fatalities, no drama.. (thank goodness) I got lucky today....
I'm sitting clacking away at my noisy keyboard here in my Miami apartment nursing ( yeah, right.. ) a sweating longneck beer, waiting for the geriatric AC unit to drop the temperature a bit. But , such is life when you are a renter as opposed to an owner of property.
But I realize today that I have it good. I realize that I live like royalty in some third world countries. Why, because I've lived in a few of them. ( Iran, Korea, and Alabama -only kidding- kind of..)
How so, you ask?
easy...
I can walk to a supermarket in under 5 minutes if I choose not to use my luxury edition 4 wheel drive to get me there. (really..) I can buy premium meats, treats, liquor, and any hygene products my vanity desires. I can order food of any exotic origin and have it delivered right to my door in 45 minutes or less, and not have to worry about the "screaming mimi's"...
The water out of the tap is safe to drink, there are toilets that flush, you can have cars that don't explode or aren't lined with bullet proof glass, and people that won't empty your pockets and take your shoes off your feet if you are injured and lying on the ground. No one will whip your mother with a car antenna just for being American as you scream for help and recieve none .. ( don't ask me how I know..)
I can speak out if something irritates me, complain, and demand justice be done on my behalf. I have the right to a jury of my peers, and an attorney if I cannot afford one.. I can remain silent.. I cannot be compelled to bear witness against myself in a court of law... In short, I have Rights...
I can protest without the risk of being taken out of my home at gunpoint in the middle of the night to some deserted field in the middle of nowhere and be silenced with a bullet. I can lobby, I can vote, I have the freedom to disagree, and do something about it.
I can worship as I see fit..I can be Christian, Jewish, Native American, Muslim, Buddist, Agnostic, Athiest, or any other of the hundreds of religions, or belief systems on the planet and be treated equally in the eyes of the Law, and the Government.
I can be straight or gay and afforded governmental protection so that I am not discriminated against, denied helthcare, or otherwise ostricised.
I have a Constitutional right to pursue Happiness as I see fit (within limits)
I can keep and bear arms for my own self protection..
Why do I/we have it so good?
Because some really good men got together and laid it all on the line for You and I in 1776.. They defied one of the most powerful governments in the history of the planet at the time. Blood was shed, shots were fired, and many lives were lost so that we could enjoy the freedoms that so many of us ( myself included ) take for granted every day.
But it wasn't just the blood shed in the revolutionary war that has secured, and also ensured our freedom, not buy a long shot.... It was, and has been shed at places like Gettysburg, Hamburger Hill, Omaha Beach, the Battle of the Bulge, Battan, Iwo Jima, Pearl Harbour, Tarawa, Khe Sahn, Laos, Cambodia, Hanoi, Da Nang, Saigon, the Mekong Delta, South America, Beruit, Ethiopia, Bagdad, Afganistan, Bosnia, and a hundred other places that you and I will never hear about... Thousands of men and women have gasped their last dying breaths in forgotten shitholes so we have these freedoms today..
The defense of democracy is an ongoing process, and it evolves constantly.. It allows us to go to Wal Mart, vote if we choose to, and do a thousand things that inhabitants of other countries would die to do.. (literally)
So Before you Light that Roman Candle, or Sparkler, or Black Cat... Before you swing at that Piniata, or bite into that watermelon slice ( hopefully with salt sprinkled on it, for God's sake!!) take a second to bow you head and remember, and think about all of those that have, and are still giving their all so that you can enjoy the freedoms afforded to you here in the US.
HOOAH!
(steps down off of soap box..)
I'm sitting clacking away at my noisy keyboard here in my Miami apartment nursing ( yeah, right.. ) a sweating longneck beer, waiting for the geriatric AC unit to drop the temperature a bit. But , such is life when you are a renter as opposed to an owner of property.
But I realize today that I have it good. I realize that I live like royalty in some third world countries. Why, because I've lived in a few of them. ( Iran, Korea, and Alabama -only kidding- kind of..)
How so, you ask?
easy...
I can walk to a supermarket in under 5 minutes if I choose not to use my luxury edition 4 wheel drive to get me there. (really..) I can buy premium meats, treats, liquor, and any hygene products my vanity desires. I can order food of any exotic origin and have it delivered right to my door in 45 minutes or less, and not have to worry about the "screaming mimi's"...
The water out of the tap is safe to drink, there are toilets that flush, you can have cars that don't explode or aren't lined with bullet proof glass, and people that won't empty your pockets and take your shoes off your feet if you are injured and lying on the ground. No one will whip your mother with a car antenna just for being American as you scream for help and recieve none .. ( don't ask me how I know..)
I can speak out if something irritates me, complain, and demand justice be done on my behalf. I have the right to a jury of my peers, and an attorney if I cannot afford one.. I can remain silent.. I cannot be compelled to bear witness against myself in a court of law... In short, I have Rights...
I can protest without the risk of being taken out of my home at gunpoint in the middle of the night to some deserted field in the middle of nowhere and be silenced with a bullet. I can lobby, I can vote, I have the freedom to disagree, and do something about it.
I can worship as I see fit..I can be Christian, Jewish, Native American, Muslim, Buddist, Agnostic, Athiest, or any other of the hundreds of religions, or belief systems on the planet and be treated equally in the eyes of the Law, and the Government.
I can be straight or gay and afforded governmental protection so that I am not discriminated against, denied helthcare, or otherwise ostricised.
I have a Constitutional right to pursue Happiness as I see fit (within limits)
I can keep and bear arms for my own self protection..
Why do I/we have it so good?
Because some really good men got together and laid it all on the line for You and I in 1776.. They defied one of the most powerful governments in the history of the planet at the time. Blood was shed, shots were fired, and many lives were lost so that we could enjoy the freedoms that so many of us ( myself included ) take for granted every day.
But it wasn't just the blood shed in the revolutionary war that has secured, and also ensured our freedom, not buy a long shot.... It was, and has been shed at places like Gettysburg, Hamburger Hill, Omaha Beach, the Battle of the Bulge, Battan, Iwo Jima, Pearl Harbour, Tarawa, Khe Sahn, Laos, Cambodia, Hanoi, Da Nang, Saigon, the Mekong Delta, South America, Beruit, Ethiopia, Bagdad, Afganistan, Bosnia, and a hundred other places that you and I will never hear about... Thousands of men and women have gasped their last dying breaths in forgotten shitholes so we have these freedoms today..
The defense of democracy is an ongoing process, and it evolves constantly.. It allows us to go to Wal Mart, vote if we choose to, and do a thousand things that inhabitants of other countries would die to do.. (literally)
So Before you Light that Roman Candle, or Sparkler, or Black Cat... Before you swing at that Piniata, or bite into that watermelon slice ( hopefully with salt sprinkled on it, for God's sake!!) take a second to bow you head and remember, and think about all of those that have, and are still giving their all so that you can enjoy the freedoms afforded to you here in the US.
HOOAH!
(steps down off of soap box..)
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