The Occasional #129
The Fourth of July
By Dwight Swanson
One way to get a glimpse of America is to observe it on Independence Day. This is not a typical day, to be sure, but it is an exhibition of what Americans think of themselves, and what they value.
This Tuesday was only the third time I have been in my hometown on the Fourth of July since leaving the US twenty-five years ago. In many ways, the celebration has not changed much since my high school days. The fireworks take place on the shores of the lake beside the high school; they are preceded by a concert of patriotic music climaxing with a stirring rendition of John Philip Sousa’s Stars and Stripes Forever. I played in the band many years ago; I drove a stick-shift car for the first time to take my girlfriend to the fireworks, and had fun practising smooth starts while inching along in the traffic queue leaving the car park after the event (trying to act as though I had been driving for years…). (more)
One way to get a glimpse of America is to observe it on Independence Day. This is not a typical day, to be sure, but it is an exhibition of what Americans think of themselves, and what they value.
This Tuesday was only the third time I have been in my hometown on the Fourth of July since leaving the US twenty-five years ago. In many ways, the celebration has not changed much since my high school days. The fireworks take place on the shores of the lake beside the high school; they are preceded by a concert of patriotic music climaxing with a stirring rendition of John Philip Sousa’s Stars and Stripes Forever. I played in the band many years ago; I drove a stick-shift car for the first time to take my girlfriend to the fireworks, and had fun practising smooth starts while inching along in the traffic queue leaving the car park after the event (trying to act as though I had been driving for years…). (more)
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one comment - 06 07 06
Media Watch
Amazing Gun Control
By Dwight Swanson
The Editor is in Colorado, a state of outstanding natural beauty and wilderness. This past weekend was spent in a mountain cabin, far from the Internet or newspapers. The only reading at hand was a choice between old copies of either Oprah Magazine or American Hunter. The Editor glanced at the first, and leafed through the latter.
American Hunter is the official journal of the National Rifle Association, the ‘guardian of the traditional American right “to keep and to bear arms”’. The front cover of the April 2002 issue reassuringly portrayed the NRA in conservationist mode: ‘Conservation Solutions, NRA & Hunters Work for America’s Hunting Heritage’; and paranoid mode: ‘Deception: Trying to Link Terrorists to Gun Shows’ (no red-blooded American gun-owner would ever think of being a terrorist!). (more)
The Editor is in Colorado, a state of outstanding natural beauty and wilderness. This past weekend was spent in a mountain cabin, far from the Internet or newspapers. The only reading at hand was a choice between old copies of either Oprah Magazine or American Hunter. The Editor glanced at the first, and leafed through the latter.
American Hunter is the official journal of the National Rifle Association, the ‘guardian of the traditional American right “to keep and to bear arms”’. The front cover of the April 2002 issue reassuringly portrayed the NRA in conservationist mode: ‘Conservation Solutions, NRA & Hunters Work for America’s Hunting Heritage’; and paranoid mode: ‘Deception: Trying to Link Terrorists to Gun Shows’ (no red-blooded American gun-owner would ever think of being a terrorist!). (more)
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