the United States of Abhorrence

People on their high horses are due for a reality check.  Similarly, America is, too.  Yesterday, the US of A celebrated their 234th birthday, but what does that even mean?  Okay, so on July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was signed...by Americans.  Nearly three centuries earlier, in 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue, which ultimately led to the untimely (would it ever have been timely?) eviction of the Native Americans who already occupied the land.  Now, I was never so great at history, but if you just go up to a random house and kick out the people who live in it, only to claim it as your own, does that actually make it your own?  Does that mean you get the right/privilege to make the household decisions and that, when telemarketers call, asking for the head of the household, you can rightfully answer, "Yes, I am [s]he"?

While our independence from England itself is a pretty monumental event -- one that deserves recognition and pride -- I'm not so sure the rest of it does.  Consider it a reverse Robin Hood, if you will -- rather than stealing from the rich to give to the poor, it seems that the US of A took from the poor (who may, in fact, have been rich with resources), asserted their independence from the rich, and showed no grain of appreciation for the "tramplees" [those who are trampled upon], without whom the US wouldn't have had land to rest their weary egos.


If you're the coach of a youth basketball team and your team cheats, ending up with more points on the scoreboard than their fairly-playing opponents, who actually deserves the praise?  Will you continue to celebrate the anniversary of the win-by-cheating annually, with federal holidays, fireworks, and rampant celebrations?  Or will you teach your kids a lesson so that history doesn't repeat itself and they can try to make amends for the past and adopt better practices for the future?

What say you, members of the jury?  Is the USA founded on principles of cheating and destructive egoism?  What exactly are we celebrating, then?

Maybe the Star-Spangled banner wasn't waving over the U.S. after all

Last week, I attended a D.C. United game, where they beat Kansas City 2-1.  That's not the point of this blog, though.  Neither is the $4 little bottle of water or $4 mini-thing they called a hot dog.  But again, I digress...

D.C. United is a team name -- one that represents, well, a united Washington, D.C. (go figure).  Where I take issue isn't in the optimistic team name but, rather, our national anthem, The Star-Spangled Banner, that played over the loudspeaker in the stadium...an anthem that continuously acknowledges that this land belongs to the free and serves as the home of the brave.  So, tell me, how, in this case, does one define the concept of freedom?  When someone buys land, from whom do they buy it?  When Columbus and his people "discovered" America, they kicked out the Native Americans and claimed the land as their own.  If I take a little trip down to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and try to kick out Mr. President himself, I won't be starting a new country but, rather, extending my trip a little bit down in the Big House!  It's like stealing a bicycle and selling it as from the original owners.  Truth of the matter is, everyone here lives on borrowed land, so to discriminate based on a falsely-defined notion of freedom would simply be elitist.  Is anything or anyone, in fact, free?  Also, such behavior would show the U.S. to be a country that does not practice what it preaches.  Take a look at the unabridged lyrics of the national anthem and then let me know what you think.  If you need another topic upon which to expound, here you go: anthem = an + them. Discuss.

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O! say can you see by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming,
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there;
O! say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner, O! long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,
A home and a country should leave us no more!
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

O! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!