Fireworks On the Fourth.

Yeah, so technically it's after the 4th of July right now. Today I felt remarkably apathetic. About the holiday, this country, even what Independence day represents. I can't name the reason for what I'm feeling, but that's the way it is.

Today is supposed to be special; we sit back, take a day off, do yard work, have barbecues and reflect on the founding of this country. While it wasn't really the founding, it was more like just separating ourselves from England. I'm no historian, but I wonder if the founders really knew what they were going to do next. After all, it took until 1787 to get the Constitution and the rough outline of the government as we know it today. Did life drastically change for the vast majority of the people in the colonies at that time? Did they realize what they were getting themselves into? Did the common citizen really grasp the self-evident rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness? They were self-evident right? But what truly revolutionary ideas they were to bring on the Revolutionary war. But it really wasn't total freedom for everyone, it was just the beginning and we're still fighting for freedom to this day.

So on this day I wondered what those words on the paper meant, and if America has finally reached the ideals that the founders laid out in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. And sadly, I don't think we've yet reached our true potential. We've gotten close, and the progress that this country has made in 229 years has been astounding, but I'm convinced that we can make it better for all people who may be different colors or have different ideas and beliefs.

Tonight as everyone went to watch or set off their own fireworks, I sat at home feeling unpatriotic and hearing the sounds of cracks and booms through the walls and windows. It sounded like gunfire (and kind of like Jimi Hendrix's Star Spangled Banner - kindof) and I thought of all the men and women over seas that are fighting right now. Say what you will, I know I'm rather cynical and I'm not the only one, but many of our soldiers believe they're fighting for freedom in Afghanistan and Iraq. I'm not going to say it doesn't matter why or under what circumstances we went to war, but I'm going to say that in this case now it's rather pointless to argue. We're there. It's almost as if the President was like the founders, he had a goal, he wanted freedom from fear created by two tyrannical governments, and he bumbled into the current situation with seemingly little realization of what comes next.

Now it's time to be like the boy scouts and leave those two countries better than we found them. And it might not seem like it, but we are and can make a lasting difference in the lives of those citizens. And it's the men and women of our Armed Services that are doing this. It's a big job, an important job, but a job that must be done. And we can do it. A democracy can exist in the Middle East. There is nothing holding it back. They’re just people, not much different from us. And it's up to us to ensure life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for the people of Afghanistan and Iraq.

I woke up feeling unpatriotic, and I will go to sleep believing that this country is great, but can be greater still.

That's my rant of the day, it's not perfect, but few things are, and Hicks is right, it's just a ride. *Bang* *Bang* *Boom*