Liberal in the Land of Conservative

Today's excessive posting is brought to you by scheduled posting as I, at this very moment, am off enjoying my Fourth of July.

Here are some gems brought to you by Minnesota's conservative representatives:

Today's excessive posting is brought to you by scheduled posting as I, at this very moment, am off enjoying my Fourth of July.

On this 4th I thought it would be appropriate to re-post a speech given by a representative from Minnesota that we should all be proud to call our own:

This is a question that I often pose to those who claim that others are "Un-American". Can you really effectively define what an American is? I daresay you cannot as Americans are every shade of skin color, they are every opinion ranging from left of liberal to right of conservative, and they are religious but at the same time totally lacking any religious belief.

Apart from a group of individuals co-existing in this space we call The United States of America, what is an American?

While this will make my conservative brethren livid as they like to think of an American melting pot where we all eventually meld into one giant bland unit all marching lock step in the same direction, I prefer the notion of the American mosaic. That mosaic is represented in our 50 distinct states with slightly different ways of doing things and it goes down to the pockets of culture you find in different parts of the country. With early immigrants carving out their own parts of the country to today's arrivals generally carving out their own parts of our cities you can see the mosaic in all its glory.

So, What is an American?
What does an American believe?
What does an American look like?

As a young man growing up on the border of North Dakota, fireworks were easily obtained by crossing the border and paying a visit to Jerry's Fireworks stand along I-29. Also, as a young man I had the common sense of... Well, let's just say I didn't have very much in the way of common sense.

The days surrounding the Fourth of July were filled with bottle rocket fights and terrorizing friends with those little guys that spewed different colored smoke. However, on one particular occasion I was particularly stupid and went along in the back of a friends old Chevy pickup to toss firecrackers out the back end. While this in and of itself is not the brightest move and I wouldn't advise anyone to attempt it, there was an increased level of stupidity with this action. You see, my friend had lost the gas cap on his old Chevy pickup and every time we sped around a corner just a little gasoline would spill out of the truck.

So, picture a bunch of irresponsible young men riding around in the back of a truck (that was probably driving entirely too fast in the first place) desperately trying to light firecrackers with our lighters as gasoline spray covered us with every turn. Oh, the stupidity!

Just a reminder: Today's excessive posting brought to you by scheduled posting, the number 232, and the colors blue and red.

I know that it is the Fourth of July and not the birthday of the Constitution but for whatever reason not very many people celebrate Constitution Day (September 17th, by the way). However, this is perhaps my favorite of the Schoolhouse Rock songs and one that my students are forced to sing (it's a great time, honest).

It is a shame that poor William Dawes has been overshadowed by Paul Revere as the midnight rider warning of the approach of the British.

Just a reminder: ALL of today's posts have been brought to you by the colors blue and red and by the number 232. Oh, and they have all been pre-written and set on a timer so that I can be out enjoying my July 4th.

I have to say that mine is, without a doubt, "God Bless The USA" by Lee Greenwood. I recall being in fourth grade and listening to this song to the point that the entire class had it memorized. Do you have a favorite uber-patriotic song? Share it in the comments section...

In a close 2nd place is "Battle Hymn of the Republic". This one I have my students listen to when we are discussing the Civil War. Most have heard the song before but never realized that it was actually born out of that conflict.

This is a video of various celebrities reciting the Declaration of Independence. I love this video and show it to my class when we are discussing the document.