Today is Independence Day for the United States of America, or sadly
what it has become known as – the 4th of July. To be honest, I don’t know what it was like
to live under British rule and taxation without representation…oops! Maybe I should leave that one alone.
I am thrilled that our Congress, which satisfactorily
represents us doesn’t mess with my religious rights by telling preachers what
they can or can’t say, or strong-arm and manipulate the press and newspapers to
skew the truth. I am especially giddy
how our government addresses the will of the people over global and
Capitalistic goals.
I’m rolling my eyes
so much as I write this that I’m getting as dippy as Nancy Pelosi.
Our forefathers gave us law-abiding citizens the right to
own firearms and to form militias for one reason and one reason alone. Because under British rule, the citizens had
been abused and they knew our right to bear arms was so we could rise up, if
need be, and expel our leaders – read: overlords. Thankfully, our elected officials know this
and wholeheartedly agree with the 2nd amendment of the Bill of Rights. Right?
Help me here.
Way back there when the Bill of Rights was enacted, people
had the right to a speedy and public trial.
The public part is still there for the most part, but the speedy has
left the building. Lawyers. Rules.
Laws. Anything and everything to
stall going to trial is the rule of the day; then there is the sentencing and
if a person is actually sentenced to death row, wait another 14 years and maybe
they will get a stay of execution to prolong their sentence.
Back in the Bible days, lawyers were called scribes. Weren’t scribes one of the three vocations
Jesus was always condemning? Scribes,
Pharisees, and publicans – yup. Nothing
has changed there. Lawyers,
self-righteous religious leaders, and tax-collectors are still a bone of
contention to most.
Sorry Judge Don Coffey; there’s bound to be a hotdog, or a baseball
in this column somewhere, I swear. No personal
offense intended. Don is a friend and a major
fact contributor to BaytownTalks.net and much appreciated. He is just one of a number of city officials
and experts who make the new forum a wonderful source of information.
And I’ve voted for Stephen DonCarlos for mayor of Baytown... 6 times when I
was a Democrat.
Now we get to this danged 10th amendment. “The
powers not delegated to the United
States by the Constitution, nor prohibited
by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.” Geeze, is it me, or should we just go ahead
and bury this one? I mean, come on. Does our Federal government still have a copy
of this amendment? Can I call the White
House and talk to the president and ask him?
“Hello, this is Grover Cleveland, the President of the United States. May I help you?”
“Mr. President, are your people still using the Bill of
Rights to make sure they don’t violate the will of the people?”
“Yuppers, we sure are.
Gotta go; got another call coming in.”
I remember growing up playing baseball and eating hotdogs in
and around Independence Day. It was very
happy times. I was blissfully ignorant
about the Middle East and our dependence on
fossil fuels, which by the way is about the only real reason we are fighting
over there. Folks like to believe it is
about our support for Israel,
but it’s not. It’s about global selfish
interests and the bottom line.
As a kid, I lived the life of the boys in the movie,
“Sandlot” to the tee. Fireworks,
sunshine, the shaky grill with burgers and dogs, corn on the cob, and lots of
soda waters, which at the time we called Pop, was what the 4th of
July was to me. This was before I
learned about double time, or double time and a half, or the US military and
being stationed in a far away country on holidays.
Independence Day became a work holiday for me and just another
day where my hourly wage was doubled or more and for many years, this was all
it was – like Christmas, sadly. Sure, we
flew our flag at home, but most of the time, it was flown without me, as I was always
working.
For the first time in my life, the 4th of July
will truly be Independence Day, as I am now my own boss and happily
retired. Today will not pay me anything extra
except the satisfaction of knowing I am blessed to live in this wonderful
country. A country whose independence
was bought with blood and sacrifice of those who went before me into battle to
secure those rights I am writing about.
I am also happy to say I contributed to our freedom in the U.S. Air
Force.
No longer blissfully ignorant and like you I watch our
Federal government and wonder if the 2nd amendment isn’t more relevant than
ever. I would love to return to the days
of hotdogs and baseball, but unless things begin to change, I’m afraid that is
about as likely as Barry answering the White House phone.
.
