For the day that's in it, I'm sure you'll all join me in celebrating that greatest of human achievements, the United States of America.
From inventions such as the gas-powered automobile, to manned flight all the way to organ transplants and moon landings, America (as we like to call her) has pushed the boundaries of what mankind is capable of.
She has enabled our noble species to explore inner space by mapping the genome and has taken us beyond our solar system into interstellar space.
Cultural achievements stacking up by the plenty (Rock n roll, hip-hop, jazz, the movie industry - you're welcome, world!), exporting of all manner of civil rights, she continues to be the cutting edge of what we can hope to be.
Plenty of other countries had the resources, plenty had the population, but what America had in abundance was good people of desire, of commitment, of good old-fashioned sticktoitiveness. She never had an empire, and she never wanted one; exceptionalism was her game.
What she did have was the best of us all. Germans by the bushel, Russians by the horde, Irish by the boatload, Mexicans, Italians, Chinese, Africans and so many more great peoples. We even had a few Brits trying to ruin the whole deal, even that couldn't stop us.
But what we had mostly was people that looked at their own misbegotten, broken, class-ridden countries and said to themselves 'Fuck this noise'
The slackers, the arguers, the dividers, the moaners all stayed home. The winners came.
So raise a glass with me, to America, that she may ever be like a shining city on a hill.. (sorry, I promised myself that I wouldn't cry).....God bless these United States of America!
From inventions such as the gas-powered automobile, to manned flight all the way to organ transplants and moon landings, America (as we like to call her) has pushed the boundaries of what mankind is capable of.
She has enabled our noble species to explore inner space by mapping the genome and has taken us beyond our solar system into interstellar space.
Cultural achievements stacking up by the plenty (Rock n roll, hip-hop, jazz, the movie industry - you're welcome, world!), exporting of all manner of civil rights, she continues to be the cutting edge of what we can hope to be.
Plenty of other countries had the resources, plenty had the population, but what America had in abundance was good people of desire, of commitment, of good old-fashioned sticktoitiveness. She never had an empire, and she never wanted one; exceptionalism was her game.
What she did have was the best of us all. Germans by the bushel, Russians by the horde, Irish by the boatload, Mexicans, Italians, Chinese, Africans and so many more great peoples. We even had a few Brits trying to ruin the whole deal, even that couldn't stop us.
But what we had mostly was people that looked at their own misbegotten, broken, class-ridden countries and said to themselves 'Fuck this noise'
The slackers, the arguers, the dividers, the moaners all stayed home. The winners came.
So raise a glass with me, to America, that she may ever be like a shining city on a hill.. (sorry, I promised myself that I wouldn't cry).....God bless these United States of America!