Tag Archives: July 4

The Best Country in the World

Current Affairs, Reflections, ,

On July 4 we celebrate Independence Day in the U.S. I like the sentiment expressed in this HBO series, from about the third to the eighth minute 3 (3:23 to 8:00). And please stay with it through the positive portion, after the rant, beginning at 6:44). This is from a new HBO series called The Newsroom, which was first broadcast June 25. It’s written by Aaron Sorkin, who also did West Wing and Studio 60, shows I consider thoughtful as well as entertaining. I loved the first episode, and so did most critics; but in respect of full disclosure, some complained that it was too much Aaron Sorkin diatribe.

http://www.hbo.com/bin/hboPlayerV2.swf?vid=1265865

By the way, I’m intrigued by what HBO is doing with the video here. It isn’t stolen. I got it off the HBO website which offered the embed code free, meaning that you are welcome to watch the full episode here or on a lot of other sites (I assume) that chose to embed it. That’s an interesting marketing/commercial decision, no?
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Celebrating Independence? Read the Document.

Current Affairs, ,

Today is Independence Day in the U.S.

This holiday is all about The Declaration of Independence, which was signed on this day in 1776 by a couple dozen or so very brave people who were prepared to risk their lives for the political freedom they believed in.

They were freedom fighters, fighting for their rights.  They changed the world. They wanted to vote instead of just obey.

The signing was courageous. The document they signed is a very beautiful document, very powerfully written.

We hold these truths to be self-evident…

  • that all men are created equal,
  • that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,
  • that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
  • That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,
  • That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

That’s the core of it. Even the introduction is well written …

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another…

So today we celebrate their courage, their resolve, and their revolution. Here’s hoping that the 300-some million of us that live here today can live up to the idealism and courage they showed back then.