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Thursday, July 03, 2008

The Best Is Brought on the Fourth

By Rory Mcclannahan
Mountain View Telegraph
      Out of all the holidays, I like the Fourth of July the best, and that is only because Thanksgiving doesn't have fireworks.
    There are several personal reasons for my affection for the holiday, chief among those is the memories of a puppy butt, of being 17 and curling up with Sandy Stephens under a blanket and watching fireworks, and of seeing a giant fireworks show over the Rhine River in Germany. There are many more memories like that, of great outings with friends and young love and hustling my son out of a fireworks presentation at the Journal Pavilion because it “was too loud.”
    I don't think I've ever had a Fourth of July where I didn't have a good time.
    But I think the main reason I like the Fourth of July is that it is a holiday that celebrates all we have in common as Americans.
    Don't get me wrong, I love diversity. I love the great American melting pot and the things our old cultures have brought here, from jazz music, to green chile to St. Patrick's Day. But what we all have in common is we all came from somewhere else. We are a nation of immigrants and we can all relate to what Thomas Jefferson wrote in the Declaration of Independence:
    “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 one sentence sums it up. It is our country's mission statement and is the foundation of what is best about this country. Honestly, we haven't always lived up to the statement, and God knows this country has been through some trying times. But our Declaration of Independence spells what we want to be, it is something to which we will always aspire. It is the reason our immigrant forefathers came here.
    And that is a wonderful reason to celebrate. Whether your family came to this country on the Mayflower or with Don Juan de Oñate or because of a potato famine, we all can respect the sacrifice that our Founding Fathers made.
    After the Declaration was signed, it's said that John Hancock was talking to Ben Franklin about how the 13 colonies needed to hang together.
    “Yes,” Franklin replied, “we must, indeed, all hang together or we most assuredly shall hang separately.”
    Which brings us to the proper way to celebrate our independence. Franklin made a sly joke in his serious response, which sums up the American way of thinking. We can laugh when things are at there most serious.
    Academics may wax poetic about how our youth don't have an understanding of the history about the Declaration of Independence and its influence on the rest of the world. But I say who cares if a teenager doesn't know if the words in the document were inspired by English philosopher John Locke? What difference does it make if there is still a great intellectual debate about Natural Law, which is mentioned in the Declaration?
    Any American can tell you that they are guaranteed the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That is the important part.
    Taking the day off and throwing a burger on the grill and shooting off a firecracker or two is a pretty good way to celebrate. I think Ben Franklin would have approved.
    Rory McClannahan can be reached at 823-7102 or online at editor@mvtelegraph.com.>   

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