Independence Day…

I’ve written about Independence Day many times before.  Honestly, go take a peek at those posts if you haven’t read them before.

It’s not the 4th of July, well it is literally, but it’s our Independence Day.  That is what we are celebrating, not just some random day of the year.  I don’t celebrate the 4th of July, I celebrate our Independence.  I celebrate the men who in that Continental Congress that hot July 2nd 1776 voted unanimously to declare the following:

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

Re-read that last sentence and let that sink in for a a second.  These men were committing treason according to the British crown.  Those men had we lost would have been hung for what they did.  One man’s riot is another man’s rebellion.  It is important that we all remember those facts.

As you celebrate our Independent with family and friends today, don’t forget about those men who took the ultimate risk to secure your liberty, both then and now.  At the same time, you might want to ask yourself, “When was the last time I took a risk to preserve the liberty of myself and my country men.”  Currently there is a man on the run who exposed a serious overreach by our government.  Many in that government have called him a traitor.  He gave up everything to expose the wrong our government was doing.

I know for the most part with this last statement I’m mostly preaching to the choir, but when was the last time you were politically active and engaged?  When was the last time you contacted your legislators and expressed your opinions in an effort to make them represent you instead of themselves? When was the last time you spend researching a political topic and didn’t just trust the media for the information on the subject?  When was the last time you shared the skill, joy, and freedom that comes with firearms with someone else? All of those items merely require the sacrifice of time, nothing more.  If we aren’t careful though and we don’t start fighting back hard, the sacrifices that will have to be made in the name of liberty and freedom will be considerably higher and more costly.

"The price of liberty is eternal vigilance."

And given the day, you should at least watch this once…

Independence Day 2012 Part II

So Sebastian said the following on Monday.

I think it’s the right of every American to celebrate our nation’s independence by blowing up a small chunk of it.

At which point I started laughing because honestly not everyone can effectively blow up a chunk of America.  The good news is, I am capable and have resources to do exactly that.  Not only do I have resources though, but the method of detonation provides a method of celebration endorsed by John Adams himself.

However, it must be said, please do not attempt to recreate any of this.  I am trained and experienced in mixing and handling explosives.  Just watch Caleb’s PSA.  Where ever he says “Gun”, replace it with “Guns or Explosives”.  

So without further ado, I give you the 4th of July, Boomershoot style.

I’m sure Mr. Adams would have approved.

As a note, it seems Sebastian knows this, but I still think my graphical display helps spread the joy.

*Sorry for the delayed post, Murphy hates me.  YouTube was constantly quitting mid-download.  I finally achieved success using IE.  I left to go to a BBQ and my computer went to sleep.  Thus it finally went up a day late.

Independence Day (2012)

Every year for the past couple years I have done a decent Independence day post.  It was never really intended to be an ongoing theme.  I will say that I love this day, mainly because I love the fact we sent a formalized letter to Bastard King George saying we can, and have the right to tell him to go screw himself.

As a quick rundown, here’s the posts I’ve done on independence and liberty over the past couple years.

I love this day, more specifically I love the history of it and the significance of it.  When else in history did someone formalize a letter like that telling them, and rightfully so, to go piss up a rope.  There are a lot of people who attempt to trivialize or even discredit both the people who achieved independence as well as the history surrounding it.

There were a lot of things that happened just right, and even more importantly many of the right people with the right attitudes were in a position to make things happen.

So today, celebrate the fact that a bunch of men took a risk upon themselves, pledging their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor to give you the opportunities you have today.  Many probably wouldn’t be interested in spending the time learning the details surrounding it.  My wife used to be one of those, however I have converted her to enjoying history instead of hating and despising it.  I love learning history much the same as I love learning about anything.  I’m glad I’m not the only one with that view of learning.

I don’t feel like giving a history lesson today.  Instead all I ask is at some point if you haven’t watched it before, watch the John Adams miniseries.  It provides a good window for those who aren’t as apt to pick up a book or just generally enjoy history.

So a thank you to the obnoxious and disliked Mr. Adams.

Look forward to Part II later today.

Ear Worm Wednesday–7/4/2012

Considering today is the day America recognizes as having declared their independence.  When in truth we merely formalized the letterIndependence was actually declared two days earlier.

I think I’m just going to have to post this every year.