232 Years Ago Today,.....

Gentle readers,
over 3 centuries ago, people left various lands ruled by the hereditary nobles of Europe to settle on the fertile grounds of "The New World."

Some came to expand their lords' empires, some to escape the very same lords' oppressions and discriminations based on race, religion, or creed.

232 years ago today, the fruits borne of those seeds and on this fertile soil we call "America" sat down and listed a series of grievences against one such noble, King George III of England.

On July 4th, 1776, landed gentleman of the Colonies told King George that we no longer wanted to be part of his Empire. We no longer wanted to serve him at his whim. We wanted to start a new country, full of new ideas and dreams and based on ideals not welcome in most of Europe.

Over the ensuing decades and centuries, we've had our fits and starts. Those who watched HBO's excellent "John Adams" know that this separation was not easy, nor as altrusitic as it sounds. It was bloody and messy and at times seemed doomed to fail. We've been slapped in the face, kicked in the shins and knees in the balls.

And we've never looked back.

We went to war with our own countrymen over the fate of a portion of our population.

And we never looked back.

We endured hardship and scandal and peace and prosperity.

We've amended the law of our land - a document that has NEVER been discounted and re-written, as we still see in some lands - to keep pace with the changing world in which we live.

232 years ago today, we created a new kind of republic, full of hopes, dreams and ideals never spoken of before.

And we've never looked back.

Happy Birthday, America!