What I Did on the Fourth of July

This year, as we do every year, my family and I attended a local fireworks show.  To avoid the crowds we mount lights to our mountain bikes and off-road to a spot across the river from the show.  I hadn't really planned it but as we were pulling the bikes off the hitch rack I started telling my kids about all the freedoms we had when I was a kid that have vanished.

I started off with Freedom of Speech.  Did you know that Texas teen Justin R. Carter has been jailed since February for "trash talking" on Facebook?  Read about it here. 

Next up is Freedom of Religion.  It's common knowledge that valedictorians at their high school commencement speech are not allowed to utter the word God.  Here's an example of what I'm talking about.  They do have freedom of speech to come out as gay during their valedictory speech and probably are allowed to even describe their latest homosexual encounter.  But certainly not mention God.  That would be obscene.

These two points can be summed up in one t-shirt:

Next up is the Second Amendment; I'm allowed to own a gun as long as it's kept safely locked up, but not living in a "Right to Carry" state means I'm certainly not allowed to bear one.

Fourth amendment, Protection From Search and Seizure?  My kids know the reason we haven't been to Hawaii is because I would end up in prison after punching out the TSA perv who felt them up. We only vacation in places to which we can drive.

Fifth Amendment, Due Process.  Now that Obama can murder Americans without trial via drone strike that one's gone.  Eminent Domain?  Check out this.  And then Google "Eminent Domain Abuse" for 1.1 million pages on the topic.

But, in general, I pointed out a recent statement someone made that "people are more unhappy with our current government than Americans were with the British Crown before the Revolution."  I can believe it.

Happy Fourth of July.  A memorial to the America that was.  That the liberals have taken from us.