HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY

TODAY’S WORRY

Happy Fourth of July! I hope you have had a happy day of barbecues, family gatherings and, perhaps a thought about who and what we are as a country. I think one of the things I am proudest about, when it come to being an American, is my everlasting optimism that this country is special and it will do the best thing for us and the world. When I was a college student, I marched on the lines protesting the war in Vietnam, I carried the banner of women’s rights to state legislators, and I felt that if you could just bring the message of what you believed to the rest of the country then they would believe it too. I’m not so naïve now. There is a whole movement afoot who believes strongly in things that I find an anathema to our hard-fought way of life. Many years ago, on a cold early morning trip from Massachusetts to New Jersey, we made up an anthem. Good for lots of countries! Lichtenstein come on board. Does it strike a chord with you?

My country is the best country
All the others suck.
And if you don’t believe it,
We’ll blast you off the earth.

The universal anthem. So many more countries would like to play it today. And, really so adaptable. It could be –

My religion is the best religion
All the others suck.
And if you don’t believe it,
We’ll blast you off the earth.

Attach your own melodic tune. Step march in time. Be proud.

Remember, a democracy such as ours is only as free as we make it.