I forgot to post this yesterday. Sue me. But yesterday was Independence Day, damn it. It's the day the Continental Congress voted unanimously to break ties with England, and sent the Declaration out to be engrossed for printing. The Fourth was just the day the Declaration was signed.
As John Adams put it, on this very day 235 years ago:
The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.*
So there. Celebrated with guns, even. (Yes, I know he meant cannon. "You call them handguns, shotguns, and rifles. We call them cannon." Whatever.)
I was gifted the DVD set of the HBO miniseries John Adams for Father's Day. Adams was a most remarkable man.
The scene where the Congress was finally convinced to pass the Declaration nearly brought tears to my eyes.
I plan to finish it this morning.
Obnoxious and disliked.
But vitally important to the cause of Independence. The sine qua non, if you will.