by iampunha | 7/04/2008 08:00:00 AM
Every July 4 brings the standard fare: overeating, mosquitoes, patriotic songs, Ye Overacting Re-enactor (hint: it ain't ye. It's THE) and fireworks.
And every July 4 has columnists around the country saying "My, what a glorious country are we. We NEVER make mistakes!"
And every year around this time, I wonder how and why people get so delusional. It's not like this country is sentient, not like this land has feelings. (If it had any, we killed them long ago when we started mass deforestation and mass Indian killings.)
Well, scratch part of that. I don't wonder how and why people forget so much. I wonder how and why they have the stomach to pretend. So this year, I've put together a little tribute for those people who think America invented sunshine, kittens and afterglow.
For FOIA, signed by President Johnson 42 years ago today.
And for those whose service, military or otherwise, gave and gives the freedom I so brazenly employ here.
My infinite thanks.
For FOIA, signed by President Johnson 42 years ago today.
And for those whose service, military or otherwise, gave and gives the freedom I so brazenly employ here.
My infinite thanks.
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!
O beautiful for pilgrim feet
Whose stern impassioned stress
A thoroughfare of freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America!
God mend thine every flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law!
Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hail'd at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thro' the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watch'd, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof thro' 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?
"While the storm clouds gather far across the sea,
Let us swear allegiance to a land that's free,
Let us all be grateful for a land so fair,
As we raise our voices in a solemn prayer."
God Bless America,
Land that I love.
Stand beside her, and guide her
Thru the night with a light from above.
From the mountains, to the prairies,
To the oceans, white with foam
God bless America, My home sweet home.
My country, 'tis of thee,
sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing;
land where my fathers died,
land of the pilgrims' pride,
from every mountainside let freedom ring!
And every July 4 has columnists around the country saying "My, what a glorious country are we. We NEVER make mistakes!"
And every year around this time, I wonder how and why people get so delusional. It's not like this country is sentient, not like this land has feelings. (If it had any, we killed them long ago when we started mass deforestation and mass Indian killings.)
Well, scratch part of that. I don't wonder how and why people forget so much. I wonder how and why they have the stomach to pretend. So this year, I've put together a little tribute for those people who think America invented sunshine, kittens and afterglow.
For FOIA, signed by President Johnson 42 years ago today.
And for those whose service, military or otherwise, gave and gives the freedom I so brazenly employ here.
My infinite thanks.
For FOIA, signed by President Johnson 42 years ago today.
And for those whose service, military or otherwise, gave and gives the freedom I so brazenly employ here.
My infinite thanks.
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!
O beautiful for pilgrim feet
Whose stern impassioned stress
A thoroughfare of freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America!
God mend thine every flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law!
Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hail'd at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thro' the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watch'd, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof thro' 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?
"While the storm clouds gather far across the sea,
Let us swear allegiance to a land that's free,
Let us all be grateful for a land so fair,
As we raise our voices in a solemn prayer."
God Bless America,
Land that I love.
Stand beside her, and guide her
Thru the night with a light from above.
From the mountains, to the prairies,
To the oceans, white with foam
God bless America, My home sweet home.
My country, 'tis of thee,
sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing;
land where my fathers died,
land of the pilgrims' pride,
from every mountainside let freedom ring!
Labels: iampunha
Thanks for taking the time to put this together.