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On Independence Day, I asked, "What is America?"
I know who we were. I know our Declarations and our Proclamations and our Constitution and our Amendments and our Delegations.
I don't know our future. I know there is blue and red, liberal and conservative, Tea Party and Green. I hear talks on the tide of America, turning to destruction and immorality and I worry for my children, and I wonder.
I know Americans share a love of dirt, and wading pools...
This land is our land, and our babies rub their legs and faces in it's soil...
And wash in bright freshwater pools made in China.
We disagree on lots of things, but we find common ground in bubbles
and homemade ice cream sandwiches (I ate five).
We all want to be loved, and accepted, and hugged.
But what about the times...the times we disagree? The times when right is right and you are wrong? When one man wants silence and another wants Whistling Pete's?
What do you do when Uncle Johnny the Pyromaniac shows up to ruin your ice-cream love fest?
I think that's a secret to America...the freedom of speech. You'll disagree, and I'll disagree and so, we'll take a vote together.
The loser can take peaceful solace in Cable News television and squirt gun fights.
In the end, my voice will be heard, so I need to be careful about what I say.
May we hold sparklers away from our face and treat freedom with the responsibility it deserves.
