February  2012

What America Means To Them

by Bill Monroe

Here we are at the halfway point of Summer, the 4th of July. Most people consider this a time to fly the red, white and blue; get together with family and friends and celebrate our freedoms. There may be a picnic or parade involved and if you live or visit Prescott, a rodeo performance is pretty much mandatory. Remember during your school days when you were asked to write an essay, and the theme might have been "What America Means to Me?" I got curious as to what America means to some people, so I visited the Internet to get some famous quotes on our country:

"America does to me what I knew it would do: it just bumps me. The people charge at you like trucks coming down on you -- no awareness. But one tries to dodge aside in time. Bump! bump! go the trucks. And that is human contact." -- D.H. Lawrence

"America had often been discovered before Columbus, but it had always been hushed up." -- Oscar Wilde

"America is a great country, but you can't live in it for nothing." -- Will Rogers

"America is a large, friendly dog in a very small room. Every time it wags its tail, it knocks over a chair." -- Arnold Toynbee

"America is an adorable woman chewing tobacco." -- Auguste Barthodi

"America is just a nation of two hundred million used car salesman with all the money we need to buy guns and no qualms about killing anybody else in the world who tries to make us uncomfortable." -- Hunter S. Thompson

"America is the country where you can buy a lifetime supply of aspirin for one dollar and use it up in 2 weeks." -- John Barrymore

"I have only one yardstick by which I test every major problem -- and that yardstick is: Is it good for America?" -- President Dwight D. Eisenhower

"I would rather have a nod from an American, than a snuff box from an emperor." -- Lord Byron

"If you don't know how great this country is, I know someone who does; Russia." -- Robert Frost

That's right, kids, Independence Day is more than just barbecues and parades. 235 years ago our founding fathers signed the Declaration of Independence, which in a sense gave notice to Great Britain "We're outta here!" Take some time this weekend and celebrate our freedom. As Lee Greenwood once sang, "...and I'm proud to be an American, where at least I know I'm free, and I won't forget the men who died who gave that right to me. And I gladly stand up, next to you and defend her still today. 'Cause there ain't no doubt I love this land, God bless the USA." Have a safe and happy 4th of July weekend and don't play around with fireworks, that could have dire consequences, considering the dry conditions in the area and around the state. Leave those for the professionals. Sit back and "OOH" and "AAH" the wonderful bright colors in the sky. For those hitting the road, drive safely and be aware of construction zones. There are no closures scheduled, but there may be restrictions. Of course, never drink and drive, regardless of whether it's the 4th of July or not. The Declaration of Independence does offer us certain freedoms, but driving like an idiot and endangering the lives of others on our nation's highways is probably not one of them.

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