When All Is Said And Done

Tomorrow, July 4th, 2019, we celebrate the 243rd anniversary of the founding of the United States of America.

It's been a long road. Much has changed. 243 years ago, this land was ruled by King George of England. We were simple country folks, mostly unwanted at home, who had the courage and guts to strike out for new lands. We made a lot of mistakes... we treated the native peoples inhumanely, some would say criminally. We used slaves. We cleared out millions of acres of unspoiled wildlife to make room for dirty cities and industries. We tried to control each other. We fought against tyranny in our own government. We started wars, we instigated wars, and we supported wars.

But we also were instrumental in the Industrial Revolution. We overcame slavery. We learned to co-exist. We tamed a continent. We helped feed the world. We fought tyranny and oppression around the globe. We brought both world wars to an end.

As we did both the good and the bad, we left in the wake of time memories of our history... statues, tributes, legends. Today, we exist not as a rag-tag bunch of dirt farmers, but as the most technologically advanced, compassionate, and developed country on the face of the planet. But we have new challenges: we face perhaps the most insidious challenges we have ever faced: ourselves.

So let me say, despite the problems we have had, I am proud today to be an American. I am proud to be able to hear viewpoints from others, without anyone having to fear that their ideology will be persecuted by the government. I am proud to be able to say my piece without fear of my own government. I am proud to have the choice to attend the church of my choice or not. I am proud to know that my door will not be broken down in the middle of the night and I will not be dragged off to some forgotten camp in the middle of nowhere with never an explanation even asked for by anyone. I am proud that, even if someone were to try, I have the ability to at least try and defend myself and my family.

We're not perfect. There are those who would gladly take away those rights, and some who have partially succeeded. There is violence in our streets. There are people who are homeless and indigent, starving, helpless in our midst. But we're so far doing better than about any other country overall, and we still have our freedom this year. I pray and believe we will have it next year as well.

So whether you are a Republican, a Democrat, or like me, an Independent voter, whether you are white, black, Asian, or just a visitor from Alpha Centauri in an earth suit, I urge you to take a moment... just a moment, just a pittance of time... and count your blessings this Independence Day. When all is said and done, none of the above separations matter in the least. We are all Americans, and our choices this coming year will determine to some extent whether or not we will all be Americans next time the planet takes this position relative to our sun. United, we will stand; divided, we will fall.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands: one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.



TheRedneck

Well said, sir. It pretty much sums it all up.

Happy 4th!

There are times when I think Trump audits ATS threadsfor material to think about.
Your post is one I wish he would.

Happy 4th

T

originally posted by: Metallicus
Well said, sir. It pretty much sums it all up.

Happy 4th!

He does, his men that is. They star me. I've said many positive and suggestive things to his men that read this.
The last one if you read one of my last post has to do with homeless, well, guess what, homeless is on his agenda now. Other stuff I've mentioned over the last 2 years has caught the attention of his ss men. I've said he's welcome to visit here and see how an American lives in Japan.
Now, let's see if that happens also. Clinton visited and American business here while visiting so anything positive can happen and besides I live where Abe went to school.

a reply to: TheRedneck

Email:

The Fourth of July

Independence (From England) Day




Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence? Probably not but here it is...

Five signers were captured by the British as traitors and tortured before they died. Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army, another had two sons captured. Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War. They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor. What kind of men were they?

Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists. Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantation owners, men of means, well-educated. But they signed the Declaration of Independence, knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured.

Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts and died in rags. Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him and poverty was his reward.

Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton.

At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson, Jr., noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters. He quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt. Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife and she died within a few months.

John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying. Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished. A few weeks later he died from exhaustion and a broken heart. Norris and Livingston suffered similar fates.

Such were the stories and sacrifices of the American Revolution. These were not wild-eyed, rabble-rousing ruffians. They were soft-spoken men of means and education. They had security but they valued liberty more. Standing tall, straight, and unwavering, they pledged, "For the support of this declaration, with firm reliance on the protection of divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor."

They gave you and me a free and independent America. The history books never told us a lot of what happened in the Revolutionary War. Our forefathers didn't just fight the British. They were British subjects at that time and they fought their own government! Some of us take these liberties so much for granted... and we shouldn't.

So, let's take a few moments while enjoying our 4th of July holiday and silently appreciate these patriots and thank the God who moved them. It's not much to ask for the price they paid.

At least 4 generations in my family have been veterans before me.

All of the folks that live here and then criticize this great nation are usually people that have never been anywhere else in the world.

To those people I say go do some traveling. Go see how the rest of the world is. Then come back and talk about what a horrible country you live in.

Good thread Red, S and F.

And happy birthday America, God bless the USA baby.

a reply to: 727Sky

I wonder how many of us would have the courage to do something of that sort?

Most of us will say no.

But they were, when all is said and done, just like you and me. Ordinary men, thrust into extraordinary circumstances, and doing what men and women have done throught out time, and history. Doing what's necessary.

Lawyers. Farmers. Shopkeepers. Craftsmen. History is full of those men and women. Were the signers of the Declaration of Independence remarkable men? Hell, yes, they were. Remarkable for the sheer ordinariness they processed.

Kind of odd to consider them "ordinary" when what they did was extraordinary. Our parents and grandparents were mostly ordinary...yet they helped defeat Hitler. Helped keep Stalin at bay. Our great-grandparents helped settle a wilderness.

Ordinary men and women. But their feats were extraordinary. ...and that is still within all of us. We just need the right, or wrong, circumstance to bring it out of ourselves.