Notes from the Post-it Wall | Fourth of July Weekend 2024 Edition
Fourth of July sales are a reminder that, yes, everything can be more affordable in this country.
Celebrating America is as Complicated as a Teenager's Birthday
In country years, at 246 years, America is just a teenager.
American Rights, with a Bullet
I’m exhausted. I’m exhausted from living at the intersection of Rage and Sadness and not being able to do anything about it.
Notes from the Post-it Wall | Independence Day Edition
Seeing giant American flags draped across giant crosses as I drive through central Illinois… I love how the irony of crucifying the flag is completely lost on these patriots.
Notes from the Post-it Wall | Week of June 14, 2020
The thing that’s most making me miserable is how much I don’t care about a growing number of things that used to matter to me.
The Reasons Behind the Celebration
“In our personal ambitions we are individualists. But in our seeking for economic and political progress as a nation, we all go up or else all go down as one people.”
—Franklin D. Roosevelt
Loving Your Country is Like Loving Your Child
I love my daughter more than anything. I am devoted to her. I would die to defend her.
But that doesn’t mean I defend or justify every single thing she does. When she tries to claw her mother’s eyes out because she hasn’t peeled a banana fast enough, I let her know that that shit is not acceptable. My love for her motivates me to help her not be an asshole. I want her to succeed at being a worthwhile person. I want her to realize her full potential. Which I’ll again briefly mention is enormous, probably greater than your kids’, if you have them.
This brings me to love of country; patriotism.
The Minutes of Our Last Meeting - The Ottawa County Senior Community Center Forth of July Celebration
Well, we’re about to open the doors and let people in. I’m in charge of checking IDs and making sure everyone is from Ottawa County and a US citizen. If you ain’t from here, you’re not welcome. At The Ottawa County Senior Community Center, we’re all about the red, white and blue flag. This is America. Not Russia.
What the Fuck Are We Celebrating Again?
Today is the 241st anniversary of the beginning of the country called The United Stares of America.
I’m in Marion, Kansas (arguably ground zero for the horrifyingly Monster Shit Experiment known as “Trickle Down Economics” in my lifetime) with my family as we eat too much food, drink lousy store-bought beer and blow up shit designed and manufactured by the Chinese.
I take it for granted why we do this until we are doing this. On this day, my question, in between sips of Miller High Life and carelessly lighting fuses with a tiny blowtorch, is why? What exactly are we celebrating today?
Anxiety is the thing that’s ripped our country apart. It has divided us, caused us to fear and hate those who think and live differently than us, and even caused us to hate those who only slightly disagree with us. It has led to panic and overreaction. And I worry that American Anxiety is only going to exacerbate the social and political divide in this country to the point that there is no coming back.