No More Kings!

Happy 4th of July everyone! While you're busy roasting weenies and blowing stuff up, let's remember what this day truly signifies. On this day in 1776, our founding fathers decided to really stick it to the man. And this wasn't like sticking it to the figurative man of today but probably the most powerful man in the world at the time, the King of England. They had enough of his oppressive rule from afar and told him so with one of the most radical documents in history. Of course, there were certain ironies about our founders, the main one being that a bunch of slaveholders would consider all men to be created equal, but attempting to judge history in the context of the present doesn't really work. So as you enjoy the barbecue and fireworks today, remember that these people put their lives on the line to create a country with freedoms never seen before, and that as we party it up we have a government who are intent on chipping away at those freedoms. Now go out there in your red white and blue, wave flags, get drunk, eat lots of tasty food and then forget about the founding fathers and their radical vision again for another whole year. As a footnote to this post, this is really an appropriate day for a man who had built his career on extreme authoritarianism, racism and divisive politics to finally kick the bucket. Jesse Helms, your death came 50 years too late as far as I'm concerned. May your brand of politics follow you to the grave. UPDATE: Here are some brave Americans who would have made our founding fathers very proud today.