Happy American Exceptionalism Day

tattered-flag.jpgI’m feeling somewhat grumpy about today’s celebration–not because I don’t love this country–but because the whole separation of powers thing seems to be getting a little slow in its old age and Article II continues to stomp on its siblings as well as some of the Amendments.

That said, what remains vibrant about this country is precisely the kinds of conversations, arguments, rants we have here. You are all very exceptional (yup–especially the Canucks). And for that, I thank all of you, and wish you all a wonderful and safe holiday.

(Photo by BL 1961)

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  1. earlofhuntingdon says:

    And to you, who, along with Jane and others, make these conversations possible and worthwhile.

  2. alabama says:

    Nice to take a breather, because there’s work to be done (you do the work of five, and it’s a joy to behold).

  3. BoxTurtle says:

    Happy 4th to all! I refuse to be grumpy, ’cause I LOVE fireworks!

    Boxturtle (But what does this post have to do with Sarah or Michael? Aren’t you violating some rule?)

  4. skdadl says:

    Well, I can’t speak for anyone else, but as one of the Canucks, I’d say it has been very good for me and my general outlook on humanity to get to know y’all here and to be reminded daily of how deep the commitment to your Bill of Rights — and to those “self-evident” truths that include all the rest of us too — runs among so many Americans.

    You all deserve to be immensely proud of that heritage today.

    Thank you for making us welcome, EW. You are just the best Sherlock I know, the best close reader, and that you and your irregulars are so smart is part of why I love to come here. But more than that, you all are such champions of genuine democracy and liberty, which is even better, and I’m grateful to know you.

    • fatster says:

      Aw, shucks! Thank you, skdadl.

      I left a little link for you on bmaz’s Bullwinkle thread.

  5. plunger says:

    Independence Day was founded on the concept of having been delivered FROM government oppression.

    Increasingly, the 4th feels more like “Dependence Day” than Independence Day.

    We’re all here because we recognize the difference – can point directly to the forces and agendas that have been conspiring to place us in this position, and can clearly recognize just how far we must go to recapture our former identity.

  6. Mauimom says:

    Marcy, quick, look at your “fundraising meter:” it’s $101,776. Love those last four digits!

    I sent your Sarah article to a number of friends yesterday with directions to the “contribute” button and a plea that they activate it. Hope some of these funds are from them and that they become new converts + contributors.

    • Waccamaw says:

      Oh, that is so COOL! Is it possible to do one of those screen grab thingies for something like that?

  7. Rayne says:

    Definitely an out-of-sorts holiday, in spite of having a Democratic Congress and a Democrat in the White House for the first time in a very, very long time.

    It’s not been a progressive year; we take a step forward and take two steps back.

    It’s the first holiday, too, where both of my kids are with friends. Honestly don’t know what to do with myself, and I don’t want to stew on our current situation. Going to have to hope that playing golf with the spouse this evening alone for the first time in a very long time makes up for the weirdness of the day.

    Probably should have asked Marcy to head north with the Mr. Wheel to make a foursome this evening, hmm? It’s 78 degrees and sunny here, pleasant enough for fretting over Article II.

      • Rayne says:

        Front must be between us, as Julielyn tweeted about rain this morning in Lansing.

        You and the Mr. and pup are welcome to drive up, guest room’s open, beer’s in fridge. Might have to settle for something other than Beamish, tho’.

  8. fatster says:

    If they aren’t redacting stuff, they’re just plain losing it.

    INSIDE WASHINGTON: Archives’ many missing items
    By LARRY MARGASAK, Associated Press Writer – 1 hr 25 mins ago

    WASHINGTON – “National Archives visitors know they’ll find the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights in the main building’s magnificent rotunda in Washington. But they won’t find the patent file for the Wright Brothers’ Flying Machine or the maps for the first atomic bomb missions anywhere in the Archives inventory.

    “Many historical items the Archives once possessed are missing, including:
    _Civil War telegrams from Abraham Lincoln.
    _Original signatures of Andrew Jackson.
    _Presidential portraits of Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
    _NASA photographs from space and on the moon.
    _Presidential pardons.

    “Some were stolen by researchers or Archives employees. Others simply disappeared without a trace.

    “And there’s more gone from the nation’s record keeper.”

    http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/200…..ng_history

    • PJEvans says:

      It’s possible some of those items are misplaced, having been taken out for some reason and put back in a different location: inventories won’t tell them that.

      • fatster says:

        I’m holding on to your thought. There’s also this:

        Rare copy of Declaration of Independence found

        By GREGORY KATZ – 2 days ago

        LONDON (AP) — “British researchers have announced the discovery of a rare original copy of America’s Declaration of Independence — just in time for the Fourth of July.
        . . .
        ‘”It is likely that only around 200 of these were ever printed, so uncovering a new one nearly 250 years later is extremely rare, especially one in such good condition,” he said.”

        http://www.google.com/hostedne…..QD996E1K80

    • Waccamaw says:

      Oh, good forkin’ grief! I don’t like paying taxes but it’s one of the things you do to keep the country running….. but dog dammit! It really pisses me off when the people who’re supposed to do their jobs running it are so freakin” incompetent!

  9. stryder says:

    The wapo pay to play pal scenario that characterizes so many of the issues involved with the infomation market(propaganda machine) is one of the best examples that define the importance and unique value of your work.Thanks for the clarity you and everyone here brings to the world.

  10. fatster says:

    Thanks for all you do, EW, including providing a place for us to share. I’m not sure if these words will make you feel less grumpy or more so, but I thought them appropriate for today.

    “Of liberty I would say that, in the whole plenitude of its
    extent, it is unobstructed action according to our will. But
    rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will
    within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others. I do
    not add ‘within the limits of the law,’ because law is often but
    the tyrant’s will, and always so when it violates the right of an
    individual.” –Thomas Jefferson to Isaac H. Tiffany, 1819.

    “That liberty [is pure] which is to go to all, and not to the few
    or the rich alone.” –Thomas Jefferson to Horatio Gates, 1798.

    http://tinyurl.com/nzj2ck

  11. posaune says:

    and thanks to you Dr. Accountability. and Jane and all here.
    first thing I read in the morning, and last thing I peruse at night. You know, it’s the realism check.

  12. Rayne says:

    Here, let’s talk about the other things which are American-born and how we can make them into American successes.

    This technology gives me goosebumps; it’s an ultra low-cost electricity generation system, but unfortunately it’s seen as an opportunity for third world countries rather than our own. Why? Can you think of a good reason we couldn’t take this same technology and power street lights with it? Why can’t we use every overpass and bridge in this country as a generation system?

    Further, as I watched this technology, it dawned on me this could work in any moving current like a river or stream, without obstructing fish or boat traffic if designed properly.

    Is it possible that small devices like this could even be used in low wind regions with the addition of a funnel to create a venturi effect?

    We’re the ones dreaming this stuff up, we just need to go the next step and plug it in here at home.

  13. freepatriot says:

    the wapoop scandal highlights a problem we have around here

    I donated money

    an I dint get no dinner

    not even a cocktail wienie

    on the positive side, I dint have to sit next to dana milbank either

    think dana could bother me by callin me a dick ???

    that’s a compliment in my world

    why thank you dana, and you’re a fucking appendix, asshat

    HAPPY “BLOW SHIT UP” DAY, EVERYBODY

  14. Neil says:

    It is hard to remember, when one is so engaged in a close examination of our government, our rights, and our government’s effect in the world, that we live in an exciting time where individual and group contributions to the debate can be voiced and heard on the ubiquitous network – its not a truck it’s a series of tubes – exciting times indeed. We have seen the work done by Emptywheel and commenters affect the debate in significant ways. No! This is a great reason to celebrate on this fourth of July. We have a great captain who picks the battles and we have a team that will fight like hell for the truth. I’m proud to be a member of this team. Happy 4th of July.

  15. readerOfTeaLeaves says:

    Am I addicted to EW and the eWheelies, being here on a holiday?
    (On the other hand, what better day of the year to be here?)
    The dessert bars are baking and I have time to hope onto the Toobz. Heh.

    As for Article II, as long as it’s not a source of lost revenue for Goldman Sachs, who gives a sh*t anyway, right…? /s

    Perhaps a better documentary evidence ‘monetizing’ the costs of a laggard, lost Article II might help bring it up on the agendas of the elites who run the nationState? Money seems to get their attention faster than just about anything not labeled ‘AQ’.

    I still hold out a dim hope that DiFi may come through with something surprising and weird; and that Sen Carl Levin’s work on Tax Havens will somehow produce enough to reveal the utter corruption and deceit at the core of Market Fundamentalism. (Damn, I want a stake through the heart of that hoary beast!)

    Meanwhile, if you can get your hands on some wonderful cherries from Washington state, we’re having a bumper crop this year. (Which, for farmers — since they’re not in tight with Goldman Sachs — means the price for the product goes down, so the more cherries they’re able to grow, the less money they get per pound for their fruit**. We can all probably rest assured that some commodities brokers are taking a hefty cut, so ‘the markets’ appear to be functioning, even if the farmers get f*cked. On the upside, the WH is starting some kind of ‘rural forum’, so here’s hoping the people from DC get some earfuls from the people who feed this nation — that could brighten the rest of my year ;-))

    Drive safe, everyone.
    And as you eat well, send a good thought for America’s remaining family farms and family farmers.
    —————-

    ** Last week, the price one day for ‘culls‘ (the small cherries that can’t be sold in groceries, so get sidelined for sauces and pies) in one region of my state was 3 cents/#. Now, while it’s true that the entire crop is not ‘culls’, it is also true that probably no one around here would want to work for months, then pay land and business taxes, to make 3 cents/# on their product.

    • Waccamaw says:

      Do y’all grow the Rainier cherries? Absolutely divine! Two of my favorite foods from this time of year are those and Vidalias.

      • readerOfTeaLeaves says:

        Indeed, Rainier cherries are named for Mt Rainier, which is often pictured in the background (along with the Space Needle) any time Dave Niewart or anyone being transmitted by satellite in a teevee interview from the Puget Sound region.

        Rainiers are fine cherries, and I’ve had some premier Rainiers this week!

        FWIW, a friend from my Eastern Wa childhood was part of a huge Spokane, WA family. One of the aunts (or great-aunts) had a huge Bing cherry tree in her yard in Spokane and used to get ticked when her neighbor kid snuck up in the tree and stole some of her fruit. One day, legend has it she caught him up the tree spitting out pits and nicknamed him “Bing”. I’m not quite sure what penance she exacted from the youngster, but the nickname stuck. Y’all prolly know him as the singer of ‘White Christmas.’

        Bings and Rainiers grow on both sides of the Cascade Mountain range. Hope y’all get some!

  16. Loo Hoo. says:

    Happy 4th EW and everywheelie. Least Obama doesn’t feel grumpy, even though he makes some of us feel that way…

    Terry –

    This weekend, our family will join millions of others in celebrating America. We will enjoy the glow of fireworks, the taste of barbeque, and the company of good friends. As we all celebrate this weekend, let’s also remember the remarkable story that led to this day.

    Two hundred and thirty-three years ago, our nation was born when a courageous group of patriots pledged their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor to the proposition that all of us were created equal.

    Our country began as a unique experiment in liberty — a bold, evolving quest to achieve a more perfect union. And in every generation, another courageous group of patriots has taken us one step closer to fully realizing the dream our founders enshrined on that great day.

    Today, all Americans have a hard-fought birthright to a freedom which enables each of us, no matter our views or background, to help set our nation’s course. America’s greatness has always depended on her citizens embracing that freedom — and fulfilling the duty that comes with it.

    As free people, we must each take the challenges and opportunities that face this nation as our own. As long as some Americans still must struggle, none of us can be fully content. And as America comes ever closer to achieving the perfect Union our founders dreamed, that triumph — that pride — belongs to all of us.

    So today is a day to reflect on our independence, and the sacrifice of our troops standing in harm’s way to preserve and protect it. It is a day to celebrate all that America is. And today is a time to aspire toward all we can still become.

    With very best wishes,

    President Barack Obama

    July 4th, 2009

  17. Loo Hoo. says:

    John McCain has a word or two for us as well, wherein he scolds Obama for not taking a harder line with Iran.

    Apparently he thinks everyone’s forgotten his little ditty, and especially the Iranians.

  18. Mary says:

    One the theme, and with the Scheuer/Beck invocation for Bin Laden to kill Americans to *save* America and coalesce government around violence, I read through the full transcript from the Delahunt hearing with Scheuer et al on rendition.

    @22 “Our country began as a unique experiment in liberty — a bold, evolving quest to achieve a more perfect union” and by ordering my Dept of Justice to not investigation, much less prosecute, kidnap and torture, and working very hard to put together a forever and evern on my word only detention program, I just get all tingly thinking about my administration’s contribution to the experiment. We’re like the guy digitally sodomizing a detainee to shove in random drugs and see what the heck happens next. We’ve got our finger on the anal pulse of democracy. God Bless. “

        • acquarius74 says:

          Mary and All here, thanks for all you do to preserve what’s left of our country’s principles, and special thanks to you, Marcy.

          There is another battle to be fought: Secretary of Interior is authorizing the mass slaughter of 33,000 of our wild horses. He’s also authorizing psychological counseling for those who are to carry out the mass murder.

          Here is today’s article at DailyKos on this atrocity. I just posted his/her entire comment as a diary at Oxdown.

          Calling Jim White: You’re needed on the working end of your writin’ pen.

          Hat tip to commenter, “wildhorses” here at Oxdown

          • Mary says:

            It’s too bad the timing on the kos/Oxdown diaries. This is just an unmitigated endrun around Congress, American people and even the still existing law (although the ban was lifted a couple of years back).

            From the corridors of Mr. Transparency’s court, the BLM docs that were obtained under the FOIA state in part:

            “Increased support from public relations and management staff would also be needed to insulate those doing the actual work from the public, media and Congressional scrutiny/criticism.”

            Can’ have the public, the media or Congress scrutinizing what is being done or being given a chance to criticize it, can we?

            FWIW – while Salazar is planning on rounding up the horses for slaughter, they still let “cattle ranchers” use those lands for pretty much no fee and run hundreds of thousands of head, and there are a slew of control options that are cheaper and easier and aren’ being done; and T. Boone Picken’s wife has been trying to get Congress and DOI to let her spend her money on a wild horse sanctuary.

            The law still on the books, The Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971, states:

            It is the policy of Congress that wild free-roaming horses and burros shall be protected from capture, branding, harassment, or death; and to accomplish this they are to be considered in the area where presently found, as an integral part of the natural system of the public lands.

            When Obama administratively interprets that to mean that they can do mass slaughter round ups, it’s not that surprising he doesn’t want *scrutiny*

            • acquarius74 says:

              Thank you, Mary. That SOB Salazar is repaying the cow ranchers who put him where he is and the Big Oil Boys, too, no doubt.

              BlueCrow over at Oxdown reports (diary) that the ‘policy comments’ page at the White House site is down…[honest, I’m mad as hell but I didn’t burn out the wires on that thing.]

              I’m saving your law cites for my letters to Obama, Salazer, my sorry Bush-clone senators and rep – got to cool down first.

              • PJEvans says:

                I didn’t have any trouble with their ‘contact us’ page (outside of it not asking for a subject until I hit ’submit’, at which point it tell me I have to have one – but the field wasn’t there before I submitted).

              • Mary says:

                I remeber it in bits and pieces from the parts that got in the news back then (no innnertubes) but I really enjoyed the link with some extra detail.

                @68 it was more “on topic” than you would have thought, wasn’t it? I did think it fleshed out a detail that we haven’t heard much from other sources and that is that for each rendition victim, the field guy would first prepare an brief on them and the reasons they thought they were impportant and where they were going to take them and it was CIA (and sometimes NSC) LAWYERS who gave the express ok for each grab/rendition.

                If that’s true, that sets up a pretty damn interesting situaton and I have to wonder to what extent those briefing papers and lawyers responses have been subject to any of the discovery requests outstanding or referenced in indexes as being not produced?

                The bizarre assurances that no one had been kidnapped bc he was certain that lawyers would not have let them kidnap anyone, and that rendition to torture for Arar wasn’t a big deal even if he wasn’t al Qaeda bc he was probably anti-American, just gets more disturbing every time you go back to it

    • skdadl says:

      Belated and epu’d, but: That transcript was suddenly right on topic when Scheuer first said that he wasn’t a lawyer so it wasn’t his job to know (what torture is, eg), and then, when Nadler raised the question of rendered persons who turn out to be innocent, said that they weren’t Americans so why should he care.

      I’m very much a Delahunt and Nadler fan, but I thought they were ‘way too courtly to him, perhaps because he also takes positions they agree with. He sure chilled me to the bone.

  19. rhfactor says:

    I’m feeling somewhat grumpy about today’s celebration–not because I don’t love this country–but because

    Wow, Marcy, you described exactly how I feel about today. … I liked your spin on the clever title, but what made me click was the more common meaning of “American Exceptionalism”… I’ve never liked it, and it gets worse as time moves on. If the celebration really was commemorating Independence Day, then quite appropriate — and every country has such high holidays. But it’s generally not about that, but rather a time to praise god for inventing the greatest nation on earth — oh yeah — EVER.

    Growing up it seemed very natural to be proud of the country in which I was born — going to the moon — inventive manufacturing and products — a role model for “freedom of speech” and freedom of dissent. But I just can’t wrap my head around a nation that laments the closing of factories in USA and loss of American jobs, while we simultanously give tax breaks to those corps outsourcing those jobs to third world countries. There’s no way someone can make that make sense. It just doesn’t. So we praise the fake beauty of market economics while subsidizing and tax-breaking those who are killing American jobs.

    QUESTION AT LARGE: Is it treason, or against some kind of law, if one says “I am not proud of my country”? And what if one says “No, I do not and WILL not pledge allegiance to a flag that represents more and more the abuse of freedom when that flag is brought to foreign soils.” And what if one says “I’m fine with most of that pledge, but until they remove the add-on of “under God” and restore the pledge to what it was initially, then I can’t buy into that pledge” ?

    I understand the Walmart-mob reaction to such sentiments, but I’m curious if there are any statutes that require compliance with those 2 things above, or prescribe punishments for non-compliance ?

    It IS cool, as Marcy delineates, how many exceptional Americans there are — the ones who still stand up for the spirit & letter of the law of our US Constitution. A dwindling number, yet still hugely substantial enough to project outwardly to the world “the atrocities you see committed in the name of the USA are condemned by us as well.”

    • PJEvans says:

      Not as far as I know, but I’m not a lawyer. I’d bet there are people who’d like to make it treason, though. (I don’t think they can actually force you to say the flag salute, although they sure try.)

      • bmaz says:

        No, absolutely not. That is the very essence of protected free speech under the Constitution and First Amendment thereto.

        • PJEvans says:

          Thought that was so, but IANAL.
          Oh, yeah, Palin’s lawyer, Van Flein, is threatening to sue everyone who’s talking about a possible indictment, claiming it’s defamation. I’ll let you do the snickering and the analysis.

      • rhfactor says:

        thanks for the reply. Personally, I feel that Axelrod could have, and SHOULD have, let Michelle’s comments during the general election campaign stand without spin-back… and make that point very clear that we, as citizens, should NOT rubberstamp everything this country does as “righteous” and good and deserving of pride. That’s the part of America we seem to have lost.

        There is no way Barack would have OK’d such a media response to Michelle’s perfectly fine high-role-model commentary about how many things in this country not making her/us proud anymore. His election was still risky, and he plays everything safe… and only pulls out some rhetorical brilliance (which reflects his true intellect vs his guarded political persona) when his back it totally up against the wall and it’s fight or flight time — as it was for Jeremy Wright, which spawned one of the greatest speeches I have heard in my lifetime, on race in America, delivered in Philadelphia.

        He’s too chicken-shit, now that he’s President, to use his office as a bully pulpit to drive the issues of morality and rule of law inot forefront. Instead — well — we all know what he’s done instead.

        But Michelle? If SHE were running, or if SHE were President, I don’t think she’d have backed away from the statement… SHe would have expanded it, addimg more context, but I think she would have asked reporters and those pounding her: “Are YOU proud of everything our country has done in the past 25 years? I’d like to know if you are proud of our torture policy? Or that we created a false war to wage? Because if you’re PROUD of that, then you have a very warped view about the America I have known and loved in my lifetime.”

        etc.

        I’d have Michelle as Prez ANY day over Barack. I’ve found that, at the end of the day, smart & talented and strategic as he is, he’s really stricken with a deep narcissism that presumes he alone can bring about a true post-partisan spirit (ABSURD TERM! post-partisan… makes me puke at its phoniness) ,, and that all those before him just didn’t have the right combo of in-between-ness and collegial respect for the other side and yadda yadda yadda. If this were Greek Mythology, he’d need a major comeuppance to drop his exalted view of himself, and instead GET TO WORK doing what we elected him to do and what he promised to do. So far, as it stands, I don’t want a 2nd term of his weasly ways.

  20. scribe says:

    Thx, for this and for everything, EW.

    I’ve been getting some good thinking in, as I pack the accumulation of nearly-20-years-in-one-place of all the stuff tha accumulates around the house, in preparation for the first showing for sale of the beloved condo, come Monday afternoon. Two vanloads to storage yesterday, and another to the basement today.

    Not the most pleasant of chores, trust me. Especially when the only companion in doing it are the dog who wants to be seriously underfoot, all the time (and, when displeased, will fling slobber on the newly painted wall) and the TV. At least they ran a Bruce concert on PBS, so there’s a plus.

    The core problem with the whole American Exceptionalism thingy is that it encourages the illusion of perfection in all we say or do, discourages (often violently) pointing out difficulties and imperfections, and throttles critical thought about both the issues here and now, and the issues from the past and future. It’s the mechanism which pukes up, as its most perfectly distilled products, the former governor of Alaska and her soulmate, Joe the (grandson by marriage of Charles Keating) Plumber. They are the raw maerial which we’re told is the ambergris of the consumer whale which is this country. Sad to say, years of floating on the ocean will not purify them nor turn them from puke into a useful, precious product – they only get more putrid with age.

  21. Public says:

    Marcy, I agree with you, but I don’t understand why firedoglake writers still refuse to comment on some of the more important bigger issues. Especially, with KBDI Denver Public Television now airing documentaries like Aaron Russo’s “America: Free to Fascism” and the Jersey Girls, “9/11: Press for Truth”. And stories like Taibbi’s “The Great American bubble Machine”. This stuff is really important to the future of our country. These subjects go to the heart of the problem.

    Do you simply not understand that steel frame buildings can not and do not collapse at free fall speed into their own footprints (THE PATH OF MOST RESISTANCE), because that’s impossible without a whole lot of preparation! Think about an apple hanging from a tree that’s just about ready to fall and now put a massive steel structure between that apple and ground below. Free fall speed means that there is nothing between the falling object and the ground below. The WTC 7 roof collapsed in 6.5 seconds at free fall speed and the towers were very close to free fall speed. The Bush Official Story is impossible! And the important recent fact that renowned physicists have found military grade nano-thermite in the 911 dust and published scientific papers about it (see thejournalof911studies.com).

    I think you should consider watching these films and learning a little more about what happened that day. It seems all you know is what Bush and Philip Zelikow told you.

    • freepatriot says:

      It seems all you know is what Bush and Philip Zelikow told you.

      fucking brilliant analysis, douchebag

      you must have spent all of 2 seconds reading this blog to come up with a batshit stupid comment like that

      an anal cyst like yourself shouldn’t be “public”

      if you had kept yer mouth shut, we wouldn’t be so sure you’re a fucking idiot

      see how that works

      buy new tinfoil, and find another place to do your trolling

      idiot

      • behindthefall says:

        You know, for the heck of it I followed this person’s line using Google and wound up here, which leads to a download of a PDF that has the most tenuous academic affiliation for its authors, BUT a LOT of pictures and graphs. (A lot more than you could get published in a dead-tree journal, in my experience.) I have to say, it smells a fair amount like data. (But there’s almost too LITTLE variability for my taste …) What the dickens is going on here? I mean, short of outright falsification.

        • freepatriot says:

          it’s a concern troll

          I don’t understand why firedoglake writers still refuse to comment on some of the more important bigger issues

          Like Marcy spends her time on trivial and useless bullshit ???

          combined with a conspiracy theory troll

          Do you simply not understand that steel frame buildings can not and do not collapse at free fall speed into their own footprints

          here’s a hint

          the world trade center was NOT a steel frame building, so who cares what a steel frame building does

          the world trade center buildings were 1000 foot tall PALISADES

          a PALISADE acts entirely different than a steel frame building

          it’s a tinfoil wearing concern troll and probably a plunger sock puppet to boot

          nuff said

    • Gunner says:

      Look Public, I have not seen you around here much Marcy knows her stuff big time. she is brillant. I have read enough at this site to know. so cut the shit man, Oh freep just doin the freep,s job

  22. PJEvans says:

    a slightly different view of the Declaration. Politicians ought to take notice of the word in the largest size of type.

  23. behindthefall says:

    I am starting to realize(kinda late, you think?) that I may be too tame. All the firecrackers I possess are over 40 years old, given to me by my roommate in college. I have never felt I was in the right place together with my firecrackers to disturb the peace since then. (Which is kind of strange, because I had a heck of a good time back in 1959 or so setting off a bushel of everything they were selling in the middle of the main street of Browning, Montana on the Fourth, so the urge is in there somewhere.) I wonder if tonight will be the night.

  24. pdaly says:

    I’m off to see some fireworks.

    Thanks Marcy, Jane, FDL and all the commenters here for keeping alive the intentions and spirit of the Declaration of Independence.

  25. CompLitter says:

    That someone like you (of all people) feels the need for that appositive in your first sentence shows how successful the Republican line since Reagan has been. It makes me sad. Personally, I despise nationalisms of all kinds & find the line running from patriotism to chauvanism mostly grey mist. What matters isn’t nations, it’s lives — no matter where they’ve happened to come into being. (That said, the Declaration and the Biil of Rights are hugely important documents, but the fact that they came into political being here doesn’t automatically sanctify US citizens forever).

  26. fatster says:

    A Letter to Our Readers

    By Katharine Weymouth
    Sunday, July 5, 2009

    “Dear Reader:

    “I want to apologize for a planned new venture that went off track and for any cause we may have given you to doubt our independence and integrity. A flier distributed last week suggested that we were selling access to power brokers in Washington through dinners that were to take place at my home. The flier was not approved by me or newsroom editors, and it did not accurately reflect what we had in mind. But let me be clear: The flier was not the only problem.”

    [and on and on]

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/…..02253.html

  27. Public says:

    I think freepatriot has a crush on Marcy. Quite a temper too, with a very foul mouth. He and others would learn a lot about patriotism by going to Patriots Question 911 and looking at the photos/bios of the men and women listed there.

  28. Public says:

    I know Marcy is very bright. I’ve been following her for years. What I’m saying is she doesn’t know anything about 911.

    • Gunner says:

      Fair enough, I am not sure if she does or does not but I think she has her hands full with what she is very good at and can,t cover everything as bmaz said there are other places that do have time for 9/11

    • bmaz says:

      There are any number of sites that specialize in the discussion you crave; find one. This isn’t it. And having you wander in here to tell Marcy or anyone else what we don’t know is somewhat beyond laughable. We do not come to your home, call you ignorant on subjects, and demand you discuss things you do not wish to discuss; why in the world do you think it appropriate to do that to us?

  29. Quebecois says:

    Marcy, merci for all you’ve done. Most of my american friends feel about the same you do, the idea of celebrating is also affexting their humeur and humour.

  30. Public says:

    So let me make sure that I’ve got this right…if a daily reader of this site wants to express his opinions on Independence Day it’s OK, as long as he doesn’t bring up 911….the most important & defining event of our time. Don’t you find that at all strange?? If someone just mentions 911….or even worse has a question about the Official Story, then they’re immediately unwelcome and their intelligence is questioned. As someone who follows the news very closely, I find it pretty laughable that educated people like yourselves still believe the Bush-Zelikow story, after all that has surfaced about the Bush Administration and their endless lies. You might also have noticed that there has been no open discussion about that day since it happened. Not allowed in America!! What is it that your so afraid of? Could it be the truth that frightens you. Lastly, thanks bmaz for your warm welcome and that uppity tone. It’s good to know that OUR country is in the hands of such smart people.

  31. runfastandwin says:

    You know why we celebrate Thanksgiving right? It’s the day Jesus discovered America…