235

Aaron Sorkin is a good writer.

Say what?

Why would I start a 4th of July entry with that statement? Because he's the chief writer of the expertly-tweaked cadence of The West Wing (seasons 1-3) and American President. As such, he wrote the following excerpt from that movie, one of my favorites about our country.


America isn't easy. America is advanced citizenship. You gotta want it bad, 'cause it's gonna put up a fight. It's gonna say "You want free speech? Let's see you acknowledge a man whose words make your blood boil, who's standing center stage and advocating at the top of his lungs that which you would spend a lifetime opposing at the top of yours. You want to claim this land as the land of the free? Then the symbol of your country can't just be a flag; the symbol also has to be one of its citizens exercising his right to burn that flag in protest. Show me that, defend that, celebrate that in your classrooms. Then, you can stand up and sing about the "land of the free".

No, America isn't easy. But it's worth it...by far. My FB status today reads, "America, 235 years ago, you were an experiment. A daring dream. A defining hope. Today, you are the reason I can choose my husband, buy property, vote, and celebrate a God-given right to pursue life and happiness. Happy Birthday: you are the land of the free and the home of the brave." This is true. Startling. But true.


240 years ago, there was no United States of America. I was considered property, to be bartered and bargained for additional land holdings or advantageous family mergers. I would have had no money, little or no education, and should the arranged husband take the notion, he could abscond with my children - who would have been my only light and hope in an otherwise shadowy existence. And, though it took some solid decades for our country to grant me full freedom from such snares, it did. The fact that the time is enumerated in generations rather than centuries is more impressive and less dejecting, if you want the truth. Nations existing six times as long still aren't there yet and, if their tenets of priority and purpose are any indication, they never will be.


You have to want America. But she'll give you way more back than you'll ever give to her. 

I am a patriot.

I am proud to be an American.

I am proud of our troops who promote democracy and freedom, here and abroad. 

My heart is reverent toward those who've died for the idea, laid down life for the cause.

So Happy Birthday, America.

You are not perfect, but you are brave. 

You are the stuff of dreams and the land of opportunity. 

You are the impossible made real...one nation, under God, indivisible.

You are free.

For 235.