Why I Celebrated Independence Day

I know, in advance, that not everyone is going to agree with this list. That said, here goes...

Every year, I get frustrated by Independence Day. I don't get frustrated with the holiday itself, but because of the significant number of people who decide to rail against the country on the 4th of July. It's not just black people who do it... it's a good portion of the Spanish speaking population, the Asian community, and the Native American/Indian community. The arguments are pretty much the same across the board... black people were slaves when the country was "freed", so we shouldn't celebrate it. White people gave it the old college try to eliminate Mexicans, Indians, and Asians from the planet and got pretty close with the Indians.

Those are ALL valid points. However...

Nearly every holiday that celebrates races other than whites have never been widely celebrated by races outside of whites, but non-whites are the first to b*tch about the evils of Independence Day. The question that I always have is one that has yet to be answered...

If America is that evil, where else would you rather be? If you'd rather be somewhere else that you consider "better", why not go?

If you have that much of a problem with Independence Day, why not do your best to go to work instead, and stop taking part in our nationwide grilling of chicken, pigs, and cows?

Keep in mind, I am no patriot. I don't have a flag posted in my front yard. I'm not going to rip other people for saying their country is better than ours. Hell, I don't even like baseball or apple pie. I do, however, appreciate the fact that, at this point in time, we (as in everyone, not just black people) enjoy a lot of things that can't be enjoyed in other countries. So here we go... my own personal top 10 reasons to love the US of A (in no particular order).

1) Freedom of Speech - George Bush is a c*ck s*cking m*therf*cker! If his face was on fire, I wouldn't p*ss on it to put it out! F*ck him and the horse he rode in on that his daddy gave him!

Now I might have meant every word of that. I might have said it just for shock value. You might love that I said it. You might delete me from your list. But I have every right to say that without going to jail for it. I have every right to say that without having to worry about being executed for railing against the government. Folks, that's an American thing and it has been for a couple hundred years. Don Imus had every right to call the Rutgers basketball team a bunch of nappy-headed hos, but we also had the right to force him out of his job because of it. Had he said something that heated about government officials in other countries that aren't interested in freedom of speech...

2) Diversity - Black, White, Red, Yellow, Brown. Gay, straight, everything in between. Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Atheist, and every other religion. We're all here. We may not be able to co-exist in some places, but we are here. There are no government rules or regulations saying that you can't be who you are or worship in a non-Christian way. Gotta love America.

3) Stability - Pop quiz. Name one country whose government has not been overthrown in the last 200+ years? Answer: The United States.

Name another...

Answer: Other than Antarctica, there isn't another.

As frustrating as it may be, the country's foundation exists, because it works. It moves at a snail's pace, and it has for hundreds of years. If the country were based on movement toward radical views during tragic times, we wouldn't be as free to express and enjoy ourselves as we are right now.

4) Food - What can I say? Italian food is great. Mexican is great. But I love my hamburgers and New England clam chowder. Barbeque makes my taste buds have orgasms. Life doesn't get much better than Cajun and Creole dishes. I'll eat everything else, but I'll always come back to good, old fashioned American food.

5) Music - Speaking of things that are all-American, rap is an all-American musical genre. It was invented here, and it's worldwide. It's impossible to hear some dude in France trying to rap without calling him a wannabe with too much time on his hands. Country and Blues are also American genres too. The BB Kings and Ray Charleses that sang about how terrible the country is still celebrated Independence Day... and they probably had it a lot worse than any of us did.

6) Attorneys - This one tickles me every time. Only in America can you find an attorney to help you sue a restaurant for making their coffee hot. Only in America can you find thousands of attorneys that will help you get out of jail for killing twenty people AFTER you left letters and pictures saying you did it. This country has more attorneys than the rest of the world combined... and there is absolutely no fear of over-saturation in the legal field. In this country, nearly everything can be defended and nearly everything can be legally prosecuted. Hmmm... maybe I went into the wrong business...

7) Sports - Football is the biggest sport in this country... at least right now. Other than Canada, no other country has their own football league (World League doesn't count, because it was founded by the NFL). NASCAR is quickly climbing as the second biggest American sport... and NASCAR, like the NFL, was invented here. America has the MLB for baseball, and is arrogant enough to call the winner of the season the World Series Champs (it only plays against American and Canadian teams. On top of that, America got spanked in the Baseball World Cup... so you have to kind of be amused by the level of arrogance... but that's besides the point). Because I'm such a football fan, I have to love America even more for broadcasting college football, pro football, arena football, some Canadian football games, and even high school games.

8) Entertainment - I'm sorry, but I think the country would be a lot different if we didn't have shows like Springer, Maury, and any of the seemingly hundreds of judge shows on television... and not necessarily in a good way. In short, America loves smut. I watch smut. I hate myself for watching it, and I feel my braincells dying when I watch it. But it's still entertaining. I don't know a lot about the smut levels in other countries, but it's just right for the US of A.

9) Holidays - Memorial Day, Labor Day, Lincoln's Birthday, Columbus Day, Independence Day, and MLK Jr Day are all nationally recognized holidays... and those are just the ones that are ON the calendar! Whether people like them or hate them, they STILL celebrate them! On top of that, people actually celebrate smaller "holidays" like Arbor Day and Elvis's birthday. America is a partying country, and we'll make up any reason to have a party dammit!

10) Technology - There aren't very many countries that are ahead of us in the technological field. Our tech expertise allows me to tell you why I love this country, and it allows you to tell me why I'm right or wrong. It allows me to broadcast my reasons on CBS if I wanted to, and it allows me to use my Blackberry to send this blog to each of you.

So those are my ten reasons to love being here. I could've thought of more reasons, but 10 seems to be the perfect number. No, black people weren't represented when Independence Day was originally a concept. But we have the freedoms now. And we can tell the government how we feel to make it an even better country. And that's a lot more independence than in other countries. Now excuse me while I finish off the holiday weekend with more burgers and Budweiser.