Posted by caleb on Jul 4, 2011 in
Personal 
Here in the Joplin area, we have been through a pretty rough year. A large portion of our city was destroyed. 155 citizens died and many hundreds more were injured. Thousands of homes and businesses were destroyed.
So, tonight for Independence Day, we decided we needed to relax, and Joplin threw its largest ever Fourth of July Celebration in Landreth Park.
Rush Limbaugh even made an appearance as part of his “Two if by Tea” initiative.
Flying lanterns graced the city sky at dusk – rumor has it that each represented a life lost. Chilling.
Thousands of people came out to enjoy the music and fireworks. In fact, I’m tapping this out in my car – it will be quite awhile before traffic clears up enough to where I can pull out of this parking place!
This was a cathartic, healing evening for a city in distress. It was a good night.
Happy 235th Birthday, America. May your Stars and Stripes forever wave proudly and freely. 
Tags: 4th of July, fireworks, Fourth of July, Independence Day, Joplin, Limbaugh, Rush, rush limbaugh
I’ve noticed a disturbing trend recently when it comes to celebrating the birthday of our great nation. The Independence Day weekend-long celebration has brought this to light again.
234 years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence…
-Instead of celebrating our Founding Fathers, we mock them.
-Rather than discussing and honoring our founding values, we denigrate them on the evening news.
-When the Flag is proudly flown or our national anthem sung, jeers, not salutes, are given.
-God is excluded from our schools, offices, homes, and hearts.
-Our President, instead of championing abroad both American causes and our way of life, bows to both dictators and kings, all while apologizing for the very existence of the USA.
How do we fix this? How do we stop the growing desire to be given everything for nothing?
This isn’t something I have an answer for, but I’d like to help continue the discussion.
Tags: 4th of July, America, Independence Day, patriotism
