ss the fabulous fireworks that so majestically explode in the night sky to the music of God Bless America. Makes you proud, doesn’t it?

And oh, while you’re at it, don’t give a moment’s thought to the men and women fighting the Bush/PNAC wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. You know, the troops who are out there supposedly fighting for your freedom, or for an end to terror, or for regime change, or for Iraqi liberation, or for the spread of democracy, or for oil, or for George Bush and Dick Cheney or whatever. Don’t let them spoil your fun. After all, it’s a holiday. Enjoy.

Heck, it’s a war, and people die, right? Have another hot dog. So what if nearly 3,600 Americans and nearly 300 ‘coalition’ forces are dead on this Fourth of July? So what if hundreds of thousands of Iraqis and Afghanis are dead on this Fourth of July? So what if tens of thousands of young men and women are no longer whole in mind and body? It’s a holiday. Play ball.

Yeah, it’s been a bloody few months, - the worst, in fact, since that other amazing fireworks show called Shock and Awe. Do you even remember that spectacular night? Never mind, it’s party time in America. Don’t let images of innocent people being blown to bits get in the way of your fun. Don’t get upset about a needless war that has been raging for more than four years with no end in sight. Just go for a swim on this lovely day. And tomorrow is a workday. Damn.

The dead are dead, and there’s nothing you can do to change that, right? There’ll surely be more dead men and women and children tomorrow, and who knows how many thousands will join the dead and dying by the next Fourth of July.

Oh, that’s right… you really don’t approve of the war any more, do you? As a good American, you wouldn’t mind seeing it all end, and you really want the troops to come home one of these days. But, what the hell, there’s nothing much you can do about it, so don’t let it bother you. Relax. Have a beer.

But when the songs and star bursts have ended, and when the food is all gone and your back home, safe and sound, stop and think. Think for just a moment of those who are dead on this Fourth of July because of the greed and insanity of those who lied this country into an illegal and immoral war. When the holiday has ended, think for just a moment of those who will be dead in time for the next Independence Day.

And then sit back and wonder whether there was anything at all to celebrate.

Written by Reggie, contributing editor, TVNL

July 2nd, 2007

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(Reply)

From: J. P. Edson jpedsonjr@mac.com

At a large public park where families come just to be together on a holiday - an unknown speaker delivers the following speech about independence and announces a new kind of campaign. A New Day of Independence?

My fellow citizens, if I am elected, I promise to uphold and defend the Constitution with firm rigor - with attention specifically directed to unlawful multinational influences and foreign 'entanglements' resulting in erosions of our national, state and individual rights and sovereignties.

I pledge to you by my sacred honor - to uphold that which is great and precious in the American spirit and soul and regain our integrity and honor. I will seek to restore lost communities and neighborhoods now standing in shambles across the land.

Let me speak for those who have no say - and say 'no', to those seeking further wars and supporting endless lawlessness as provocations to strife. Let the day of 'profits above all' come to an end - and let the new morning of true hearted good will become our guiding inspiration.

These ideas don't come from committees, nor are they approved by those who claim to own the world and all who are in it. No, friends, this voice that is being shamelessly drowned out of the public media, replaced by shouts and postures issued and framed by propagandists with only corporate interests at heart. That leaves no room for trust or truth, fellow citizens, which are the primary components of our real values.

This purposeful breakdown we have witnessed, led by intelligent manipulators and neo- con artists, has an ultimate design of evil and must be sent into history wearing a rotting albatross of shame - indelibly marked with disgrace. We must humbly seek to repair that which has been damaged, seeking peace and reconciliation with other peoples around the world.

There is a lot of work to do - and it will take our best efforts, pulling together, to take back our lives and the future of our children - to regain it from those who have robbed us of it. But we can do it - with unity of will.

We can do it by deciding to do a better job - and cleaning out the nest of sell-outs roosting in our highest halls. We can do it by standing up for our word of honor, our pledges, and our heartfelt willingness to cooperate to bring this new day about.

It's not parties or re-hashed 'issues' or disputes that separate us into lonely pockets of misunderstanding and isolation. It's name-calling and narrow characterizations - false motives of anything 'other' that have been drummed into us by media manipulators, by a handful of wealthy 'decision-makers'.

We could sit around a table with the parties in disputes around the world - and reach agreements that were fair - if that were our goal, and it should be. But it isn't.

If you, like many decent-hearted folks around the country agree that we owe our children a better world than what has come about, then we must show them that we intended so - with out actions, and our refusal to support any further 'inter-nationalization' of any kind.

Our policies should be our own - and all aid should first go to the most neglected in our own land, especially the abandoned, mal-treated veterans and unhealthy poor and ill. They are left homeless and treated as refuse. Just a few of those 'footballs of hundred dollar bills' being tossed around in Iraq would've come in handy to those dying in New Orleans.

There can be no doubt, fellow citizens, that we are being ignored by Congress, by our representatives, when we say we want the wars to stop and impeachments to begin. All those in power who promote unjust wars and take impeachment off the table - must be removed. If I'm elected, this will be my first act, to seek charges against those in violation of their Constitutional oath of office.

Then we can begin to take up the real business of America, which is peace, justice, fairness, and genuine human decency for all. No more New Orleans, no more Waco's, no more attacks on citizens or violating their rights without due process. My second act will be to re-open investigations to all past perpetrations of government crimes as well as all secret supporters and foreign collaborators.

People's grand juries are all that we need to carry these things out as stated within our Constitution. Once the truth becomes widely known and responsible criminals arrested, we can perform our duty to those unborn, by taking a personal stand that our Constitution is not simply words written on paper, but is an unquenchable flame burning in millions of hearts and souls.

There is a better future waiting if we choose it, but we must come together to achieve it - and agree to reach for it with open hearts. That is why, without backing of any kind other than good will, this opportunity has come to us at this dark hour.

I ask you to choose the better, brighter day of harmony - and leave these juvenile pre- occupations of profits and fears behind. Let us lead the way to a more mature world where grown children fighting over toys is a dim memory - and kindness and wisdom becomes the common rule. That would be real independence. Let us pray we can achieve it.