What the USA Needs
M Alan Roberts

Ah, Independence Day - a time when we can look back on the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776 and praise the day when we established ourselves as a separate entity from the Kingdom of Great Britain. Did you know that the original document was destroyed during the arduous printing process and the serving document is a remake? Just interesting - that's all. Most people don't know that. Most people don't know very much at all come to think of it. That's the way that the government likes, and keeps it. The makeshift document was signed by Hancock and the rest of the delegate crowd on August 2, 1776.

Most people associate Independence Day with family fun; fireworks; carnivals; picnics; parades; barbecues and colorful clowns that try diligently to entertain the masses. I believe the clowns are pissed because they are stuck in ridiculous costumes, suffering in the sweltering heat, getting laughed at by drunken celebrators and generally just miserable. Have you ever really looked past the face paint of a clown to watch his or her mouth? Their mouths stretch, grimace, curse and grit as they perform their clownly duties - all disguised by a super sized smile that is painted on. Those clowns aren't working for free, people. They need money to pay for gasoline like the rest of us.

The patriotic overtones of the July 4th festivities are, like our government, completely fictitious. People group together, sometimes in crowds of more than a million, to watch the explosives drench the sky in stunning hues. Famous symphony conductors deliver piped-in orchestral masterpieces in sync with the fireworks and the crowds are temporarily transported into another space. Adults and children alike ooh and aah as the color bursts and resounding booms consume their senses. They stand in awe - oblivious of the real plot being played against them.

These celebrations are a distraction from the realities that are present every day, all day long throughout the rest of the year. That's why people love them so much; they are reprieves to the punishment of being constantly subjected to the abusive American governmental patterns of operation. They take us away from the pain of humiliation and disrespect.

George Washington had it correct when he celebrated the 4th with double rum rations and an artillery salute for his soldiers. Back then, the American government was an entity of greatness for real. Patriotism was not faked. It wasn't forced. It was a natural reaction to being part of an independent, free-thinking nation that honored its people above all except God. People used to truly get down on the 4th because they were experiencing true elation - without angry clowns.

The politicians will be out tomorrow, showing their best faces to the cameras and trying to "win" votes. They understand what the masses don't - that's why they are the politicians and the masses are not. That's why they are rich and the masses are impoverished. That's why they will leave the celebration smiling like face-painted clowns. They know that they are befuddling the people. They understand that the millions who stand in awe of the pyrotechnic displays will go forth, after the long weekend, to proudly serve them more and more just like every year. After they charge us up with patriotism, they then are free to continue their plots for totalitarian control over us.

I like to consider all of the popular patriotic tunes that we will hear, for weeks, before and after the 4th. Here are a few: "The Star-Spangled Banner", "God Bless America", America the Beautiful", "My Country, T'is of Thee", This Land is Your Land", "Stars and Stripes Forever", Yankee Doodle", "Dixie" and my favorite, by Michael McDonald, "Proud to be an American". It's just my humble opinion, but these songs mean very next to nothing today in the company of our corrupt leaders and their evil foreign policies. I only wish that there was something left besides learned facts, and for some older folks, memories, to be rightfully proud of.'

I wish you all a very happy Independence Day 2008, grubstreet readers. I truly do. May you all prosper and be healthy.