A Cherished Holiday

Peeps......
It's Friday July 1st.  Monday is the 4th of July.
A magical weekend here in Marblehead, MA, where the birth of the United States was a hard fought ordeal with great personal sacrifices.  Men from Marblehead served prominently under General Washington at Bunker Hill, New York and Trenton, and Marblehead privateers served admirably on the seas harassing British Shipping.

The Town suffered greatly with the loss of men and commerce, and when Washington visited after the War, he remarked how worn and delapidated it looked.

He was gazing at the same Old Town structures that we see today, totally refurbished and commanding premium residential prices.  George would be impressed at the present condition of the homes that he lamented about.

We never leave the Town during the Fourth of July.   It becomes busy and crowded culminating with the Fireworks in the Harbor, and there is an undercurrent of excitement, friendliness, and basic contentment.  The sacrifice of our ancestors is the cause of of this.  I hope that in some cosmic way, they can sense that we appreciate what they did.

America was born as a tainted country.... burdened by the existence of slavery.... but with an underlying sense of the goodness that ultimately would be brought by freedom.  The economics of slavery shackled the nation.   Washington and Jefferson knew it was immoral but could not equate the way to divest of it.  Nonetheless, they extolled the virtues of Liberty, even as the hypocrisy of slavery remained.

Now it is gone.... with deep scares that still have not healed.

So it is that our country still has flaws that we must continually address,   And we differ in our view of what these flaws are, and what measures must be done to correct them.

But the beauty of our country is that we have the freedom to debate, argue, insult and cajole in the pursuit of each individual's conception of liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Your MOAM is not adverse from engaging in a little insulting and cajoling from time to time.   I have my distinct ideas  of what is best for the nation.  And I feel free to try to negate those who I think are detrimental to our continuing health and prosperity.

But I cherish the fact  that I have the right, born from the blood of my ancestors, to execute my freedom to express my opinions.

Happy 4th of July Peeps.

It is a holiday that is huge in its importance to our way of life.