9:00!!!

Well, not yet. 8:59. Sorry, I'm waiting for the fireworks to start. "The Macy's Fourth of July Fireworks Spectacular begins now on NBC." 9:00!!! Martina McBride is singing. Oh, wow, she has a spectacular voice. I think it should be called Independence Day Fireworks Spectacular, not Fourth of July, because I believe America is loosing the aura of what July the 4th actually is. For example, I was watching Fox News before, and preceeding a commercial break was what's called a "splash screen", which is nothing but a still screen, but this one showed a poll. It was titled:

What Does July 4th Mean to You?

Lots of BBQ's and Fireworks: 48%

A Time to Celebrate Freedom: 40%

Other/Unknown: 12%

Margin of Error: +/-5%

...Wow. Very....err....American. Is this is what the United States of America has come to? A country surfeited with naïveté? This is Independence Day, where, in 1776, the document formally entitled as The Unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, drafted by Honorable Thomas Jefferson, seen below, and signed by the Second Continental Congress, was presented to the British government, right? Of course! This did declare our independence, but was NOT the first document that had done so. Not at all. This is a common misconception by the American people. The first document to do so was the Lee Resolution, an act of the Second Continental Congress that formally declared the Thirteen Colonies independent from the rule of the Kingdom of Great Britain. What's more? This document wasn't even presented on July 4th! This document was presented two day prior, on July 2nd. Here, have a look at this:

John Adams wrote his wife Abigail on July 3:

The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch 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 shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more.

So, much to our once prominent disdain of the British, (I paused for a while. The fireworks started 9:23, and they are DAZZLING, and still on-going) and our adoration of all things immaculate and pristine, we sought towards the Declaration of Independence as our official doctrine, so to speak. Well, this paper of voluminous importance was dated July 4th, 1776. Subsequentially, July 4th was adopted as our 'official' date of secession from the Kingdom of Great Britain. Delegates from 12 of the 13 colonies signed the Lee Resolution, as New York abstained, due to their belief that (9:51, fireworks conclude) they had been insufficiently empowered as representatives. New York finally signed declaring their independence on July 9th, signing the Declaration of Independence. While most people believe the Declaration was signed on July the 4th, this is far from the truth. In face, most delegates signed it on August 2nd, 1776!

So uhhh on that note...

Happy Independence Day

shmimy