The Maternal Mandala

Nobody’s Opinion; Today on a local cable channel, I was watching some professor pontificating about “stereotypes.” He said “Men are mostly seen as aggressive, and problem solvers.” and “Woman are nurturers and non-aggressive, and so they become teachers.” I thought the teacher thing was a bit strange but…okay, I’ll drink to that.

Then he proceeded to go on about how this is NOT really the truth, but actually wrong. It was a falsehood---a stereotype. In the next scene, we saw a woman pilot talking about how her parents said she could be anything, which is why she had the guts to break through the gender barrier and become a pilot. Well, good for her. Nowadays it doesn’t take much upper arm strength to fly a plane. Of course she could be a pilot.

We all know that brains and talent are not distributed equally in society among either sex. Some woman are much smarter than some men, but when that time of the month comes, or a baby smiles at them, their brains go right out the door. Same thing with a man. They can be experts in their field about one subject, and then have no common sense whatsoever about something else and do really idiot things. If they don’t have any experience in the subject, they can be just clueless as the local drunk.

In other words, we humans are sometimes more often than not, ruled by our hormones rather than our brains. And the hormonal balance in each human is always about as varied from person to person as we all are from each other.

Learning to teach our brains to step in and rule our hormones is the trick, and most people if they are honest, never quite master that feat--- including elitist university scholars.

It’s hard to fight Mother Nature.

Still, one thing is a scientific fact. Most people are not gay. There are men, women, and then there are those at the fringes that for whatever reason got mixed up with a very different soup. They reject the norm; they are not the norm, so they suffer.

What’s my point? My point is that lately the maternal Mandela is being erased, systematically by our educational system and by social designing. The normal “family” needs to be broken down in order for the powers that be to continue with their world visions…

However screwed up that vision is.

They see a world, and they want it to be different. They think they can fight millions of years of evolution. They will force on the masses the concepts that anyone and any combination of humans can make families.

They are filling our children’s libraries with this nonsense right now.

Forget any historical, biological, scientific, and logical proof that this is not really ever going to work---they will just keep trying. Put the square peg into the round hole. Smash it in if you have to. Never mind that it doesn’t fit. The “stereotype” of the typical family in their minds has to be smashed and even forgotten.

And in order for that to happen they have to nix the normal role of “mother.”

The new science is that ANYONE including a gay man or a lesbian will make a good mother. You might think, hey--love can be given by anyone. But can a gay person make a better mother?

Biologically speaking…there’s no contest. Sorry. A gay man cannot out do a natural biological mother. I don’t care how much estrogen he has in his body. He might even love a child more than a natural mother, it doesn’t matter.

Let me make an example: The first time I actually felt the full throttle of a maternal, hormonal, bordering on insanity instinct, was at my local swimming pool. My one-year-old son was sitting in the local kiddy pool, minding his own business, when a group of five four- year-old girls decided they would try to drown him with buckets of water, and laugh while they were doing it. As he started crying, I watched their mothers who were sitting near by, and they laughed at my son’s crying, and said …nothing. In fact, they seemed to be enjoying the whole scene.

There are two very deadly rages of a woman…one who has been “wronged” and one whose child is being attacked. Ask any man. You do NOT want to get in her way.

In fact, hide.

I wanted to hurt these women. (I’m keeping the real graphics of my Rambo- mom visions out due to the NSA) Let’s just say Star-Ship Troopers would have been called in immediately.

I started shaking…I went over and told the girls to stop, but they kept it up. When those mothers saw the look in my eyes, they got up, grabbed their girls, and all but one of them left. The one that stayed moved to the other side of the adult pool. I had not said a word.

Evidently, their maternal instincts kicked in too.

Now, guys get mad all the time. But, this was a medieval spell that even hell would not have not claimed. It was so uncontrollable that I had to go over to a lifeguard and ask him to hold me, because I was going to attack five women, all at once, and if I did, it would be all his fault for not believing me, and for not holding me back.

The blood spilled on the nice concrete neighborhood pool surface would be on his hands.

Remember this guys--- woman do not think logically when in they are in that protecting maternal mode. Next time you have a fight about the kids, put that thought into your mental deliberations and change the subject quickly.

When I got home, I was still shaking, but by then my brain was kicking in and I was simply in awe of the force of Mother Nature and that amazing thing called maternal instinct. I had seen that horrific rage in National Geographic Video’s---you know, the bear eating the man because he came too close to her cubs…but I had never really experienced it.

I had won my claws and found my primeval survival button, and it felt great.

One of the reasons that mankind has survived and came this far is because Mother Nature put in all mothers the “you touch my baby, and you’re dead” instinct in order to for the species to survive.

So what if man spreads his seed? If mom doesn’t protect that seed with her life, it really doesn’t account for much, and none of us would be here.

Anger is to be commended as a wonderful mechanism in this case. Anger, as an emotion has evolved as a tool for our very survival.

I have not knows such anger since and probably never will again.

Now…would a gay man have experienced such rage? No, of course not---he would have probably gone over and said something like, “Don’t do that, that’s not nice.”

Mothers fight for their children every minute of every day. It has worked for millions of years. We are animals of evolution…the liberals should start accepting facts, because they are always saying they want facts and science.

And the fact is Mother Nature for millions of years has decided that the best people to raise a child and continue the propagation of the human race is a man and a woman.

Stereotypically--human beings have evolved this way for a very good reason.

So the next time a liberal starts talking about gay families….remind them that:
“It’s not nice to fool Mother Nature.”

(I’m sorry; it’s 4 in the morning.)

Nobody’s Perfect; Brittany Spears as we all know, may not be the perfect mother, but I sure wouldn’t want to put her maternal instincts to the test…would you?

Nobody Knows: Michael Jackson has three kids…their biological mother has no maternal instincts whatsoever. There are some women who lose this ability to protect when confronted with great wads of cash.

Nobody Cares; Hey-- I could be all wrong about this whole thing…maybe we should just have all the men be the mothers, and all the women work, and have all the gays go to Iraq. The men could all be teachers, the woman could build the dams, and the gays would be a much kinder, gentler army.

The kids would still play video’s all day.

Headlines On Viagra Can Cause Confusion

Nobody’s Opinion; Last week, I read a headline in a major newspaper that said;
“American Soldier Murders Iraqis.” And if that wasn’t just about the stupidest headline in the world, today I read; “No Viagra Charges For Limbaugh."

If you take these headlines literally, then no soldier can kill--- it’s against the law. And
no man can carry or take the drug Viagra without being charged.

This of course makes me feel quite relieved that I never went to journalism school. Learning the fine art of saying things that have no basis in any reality would probably take me much too long to learn. Oxymoron 101 would have been a killer.

So when a soldier kills, when is it not considered murder? Does that mean that every soldier that killed in the past was actually a murderer?

I can just see the confusion on the battle field. “Hey, you murdered that man!”

“No sir, I killed that man!”

This could take some time in the courts.

As for Viagra--- for awhile on our television sets, just about every other second we saw those ridiculous commercials with Viagra-fifties “Bob” and his big grin…which told everyone what a happy stud he was. Because my cousin and his wife swear by the stuff, I am just assuming that Viagra is still legal, despite the fact that Rush Limbaugh has not been charged with the crime of having it on him.

Boy was I glad when they killed off “Bob.” He was really getting on my nerves. He died somewhere in an orgasmic pile of secretaries, and none too soon.

Evidently the “Bob” commercials were pulled because people were actually dying from Viagra in real life, which probably caused a few problems for open caskets.

This stuff is getting really confusing. I was having trouble during the Clinton years when he decided to promote the “hate” crimes. It seemed then, if a homosexual or a black person was killed by a white, it was a “hate” crime. But if a black man killed a white man or a black man, it was not considered a “hate” crime.

Jeffery Dalmer, a blatant homosexual, the man who ate his pickups by this reasoning…did not commit “hate” crimes. Actually they were crimes of “love” since he just couldn’t bear parting with the guys he picked up--- so he cut them up and ate them. The headline should have read:

Jeffery Dalmer, Full of Love.

But getting back to Rush---What’s so funny is that drugs in America have been a major problem since the United States was flooded with them during the 1960’s. Every baby- boomer who went through the sixties is now watching to see if their teenagers want to play disc-golf every day of the week, and have trouble talking. While millions of drug runners are crossing the border, selling in all our neighborhoods…funding al-Qaida terrorists, Columbian drug lords, and who knows how many addicted Americans, the biggest drug concern at the moment is whether Rush Limbaugh’s one missing Viagra pill should cause a National concern.

Speaking of drugs, today I got a call about “drugs” from some guy who said he was working for the state and was “thankful” for my concern about the terrible drug problem in Missouri. Since I had never talked to the man before, I don’t know where he got the idea that I was concerned.

This man said that if I would just give $300.00 or $150.00 he said it would help clean Missouri of our drug problems.

“Why should I think that the government will solve the problems of drugs when my local sheriff said on the radio that he thought cigarettes were actually worse for you than a joint?” I said. “And why is it that Missouri is the biggest seller of meth? And hey, just what is meth?” I asked.

This guy proceeded to tell me so much about meth that I’m just thankful that it wasn’t the effects of Viagra that I had asked about. If he had gotten off a plane in Miami, I would have arrested him. But of course, meth is probably as common as coffee in Miami.

In reality, if this guy had been searched by the same agents in Miami as Rush had, we would have never even seen a headline. These very same agents that harassed Rush would have asked this guy what was in his pill box, and he would have said “Viagra,” and they would have laughed and let him go…because his name was not Rush Limbaugh, which brings me to this point.

Are these confusing headlines just saved for things that all liberals want to see demolished from the planet? Like Rush Limbaugh and soldiers?

Could it be that these headlines are to make us feel that all soldiers are actually murderers (when they are not) and Rush committed a crime? (when he did not)

I think the headlines should read, “Liberal Media Is Not Confused, Only Misleading.”

Hey, I think I’m getting the hang of it.

The mistake Rush really made was telling the Customs agents that he got his golf balls and cuff links from President Bush. If he had said Bill Clinton, there would have been no headlines today.

Nobody’s Perfect; Not even Rush.

Nobody’s Knows; Last week, we were lead to believe that if North Korea fired just one missile they would be in deep doo-doo. So they fired seven! Nothing happens and they find out that we were bluffing. Ha! Take that! I’m confused once again, our Republican administration was putting out this headlines. Which means….

Nobody Cares:---if headlines are truthful or not, as long as they are catchy!

Nobody's Absurdities, No. 2

Nobody’s Opinion; It’s Wednesday, and here are some thoughts on the absurdities of the world in no particular order;

Last night at our local neighborhood Independence celebration, our Mayor read a piece from the New York Times (He made sure to mention that fact) about soldiers, and the horrors of war. Instead of my beloved Star Spangled Banner finale we heard some country singer mentioning CNN. The theme of the night was “soldiers” and the playing of “Johnny Comes Marching Home” not exactly an upbeat song, was played twice. The whole thing would have been gloomy if not for the spirit of the crowd.

I got the feeling that the Democrats want to make us middle class Americans believe that they really do support the soldiers. So now what…do all Democratic Mayors on the Forth of July get talking points faxes from the national democratic offices telling them what to read at their Holiday bashes? What a coincidence that North Korea on this same day launched missiles. Maybe they got a fax too.

Elton John, that prodigious observer of world events, was so upset that the England soccer club had lost a match at the World Cup that he called them “a disgrace.” He basically said something along the lines that they should have won considering the money they make. This coming from a man who hasn’t had a hit song since Princess Diana died, and that was just an old song, with rewritten words, and who makes much more than some of those soccer stars. Still, I bet the English Soccer team did not get a Video from Bill Clinton congratulating them on their marriages. It seems to me, that the old sportsmanship rules have long faded from the world stage, and soccer is the only thing that gives these poor people in all the socialists’ countries in Europe any feeling of specialness. It seems America is not the only country with spoiled artists.

Speaking of sports, baseball is being played all over our country to empty stadiums. The stadiums, like the movie theaters, have made it too expensive for an average family to attend. Here in St. Louis, they tore down a perfectly grand stadium, to build a new one for the rich. In the old stadium, you could walk around the whole field and still watch the game from three levels. In the new, if you leave your seat, you cannot see the game, and you might get rained on standing in line for food. The rich of course are in well protected rooms, being served by waiters. Since St. Louis is such a great baseball town, one wonders what will happen when there are not enough rich to attend the games?

Which brings me to the subject of how now when you go to a show, you will see advertising on a concert at your local theater? You pay of course. Why should anyone who has cable go to a movie theatre to see a concert? I often wonder if anyone actually goes to these.

Jesse Jackson has come out again, after being quiet for some time, and is boycotting BP oil. Not Chavez’s Chevron. Of course, it’s the same old “there are not black executives or black distributors owners at BP.” Jesse has used this tactic before, getting beer distributorships for both of his sons. I guess his sons now want some oil distributions. If you are a relative of Jesse’s, your time to get some of that oil profit is looking pretty good.

Dick Morris was suggesting that Joseph Lieberman run for an Inpendent last week, and sure enough, this week he proclaims that is exactly what he intends to do. So, of course Hillary says she will not endorse him. The democrats will need an independent party candidate running to give Hillary a better chance of slipping into the White House, like her husband. Lieberman, once again, steps up to the plate.

SPP stands for Security Prosperity Partnership. This was the deal signed in Waco by the three leaders; Paul Martin, Vicente Fox, and George Bush in 2005. It’s was the forming of the North American Union. Don’t you love it when words are carefully chosen to fool all the people into thinking it’s a “good” thing and harmless, instead of what it really is…the end of American Sovereignty.? And just who is going to prosper from this deal? With one stroke of the pen….

We had a comet barely miss us yesterday. And unlike the movie Armageddon, where the United States sent a nuclear warhead up to blow it up before it hit us…the reality is, we have just about as much chance as blowing up a comet as we do blowing up a missile from North Korea. Maybe NASA should have a new goal…find life on Earth.

Nobody’s Perfect; It was an interesting fact that when Woodrow Wilson was President, the Federal Reserve was started along with the income tax, and the League of Nations. Woodrow Wilson's actions being proof of just how much damage one democrat can do.

Nobody Knows; Will they be able to give the President a Line-item-veto? Is this news just like the Flag Amendment, just fluff to let us all think that they will stop spending our money?

Nobody Cares; Everyone is saying that Los Angeles is due for an earthquake, but nobody seems to care that Mexico City sits on a big fault and the city itself is built on soft mud. Which city if hit by a major quake would cost the United States taxpayers more?

Is it Novus Ordo Seclorum, or Indigestion?

Nobody’s Opinion; What’s a nobody to do? There it is, right underneath the pyramid on the American Dollar Bill, the words “Novus Ordo Seclorum” a line from Virgil which means new order of the ages…or new world order.

Today, of all days, (July 4th) is a good day to think about this stuff. Even though we celebrate the birth of America, and the men who fought and died for it, it seems we are very far away from the country that we once were. None of us feel like we have a government that represents the people anymore, or even the ideals on which this country was founded. The voter turn out is so low because every one knows a politician can say anything, and once elected, do exactly as he pleases. We are conned everyday with spin from both sides.

And yet, those of us who fear the New World Order of one world currency, one world government, one world army…want to keep on thinking that this is just a conspiracy; it’s all in our minds…because we are still Americans, and we still celebrate Independence Day, right?

But as any woman would tell you…it’s the little things that get under your skin. Kind of like when you are in love and you dismiss that gut feeling that…something’s wrong. Yet…you ignore it because you want the relationship to work. And after it’s all over, and the guy has left you for some other woman, you think back to that moment in time when you ignored your own gut feelings.

Thinking...”I knew it, I should have paid attention to it.”

Well, here’s some little and not so little inklings that, silly or not, cause a gut feeling inside my little nobody body that I hope means I just ate too many burrito’s.

Today it was announced that old people could get a “chip” in their arm so that medical emergency people would know they have “altizemer.”

Our Congress and President Bush, very much want to merge with Mexico. Part of the plan of the CFR (Council of Foreign Relations) was to make a “North American Alliances.”

Our kids are starting to get “fingerprinted in schools”

We have camera’s going up on every corner, to watch us for “traffic violations.”

Our children now do mandatory community service (like picking up trash) before they can graduate.

A vast internet highway is going to be built attaching Canada, the United States, and Mexico. Tolls for all major highways are being considered.

Yesterday’s election in Mexico was in favor of Bush’s plans to merge.

For years, huge conglomerates have merged with our governments blessings. Today, it was announced that GM plans to merge with Nissan.

If there is a mistake in the government by anyone, unlike the private sector, the one’s responsible are never, ever punished or lose their job.

Now, we have ex- presidents who continue to hop all over the world making global brokering deals for this New World Order.

It seems that we now have two dynasties…the Bushes and the Clintons.

Religion and the family have been attacked relentlessly, judges now can overturn jury decisions, and even the Constitution itself, setting international law as precedent.

Our right to private property is gone. Anyone of us could have his property taken by eminent domain. Our founders would have never let this happen. Never.

Well, that’s just a few, and there is more each day. But there is one premonition that’s really been bugging me like the smell of sauerkraut in a hot, stuffy kitchen.

During the last presidential election, when John Kerry was accepting the nomination to run for President, I thought it was very odd and extremely scary that Bill Clinton upstaged John Kerry in an almost alarming extreme. Having been in the entertainment business for over thirty years, it was easy to spot.

I thought that if Kerry was supposed to win, Bill Clinton would never have upstaged him at his own event. Right then I thought, Kerry was meant to lose to make way for Hillary in 2008. But in order for Hillary to come into power, (knowing that getting in by sheer votes is real iffy for her) there has to be another attack on our country in order for the left to blame President Bush and then say “We need someone who can work with the world…a woman will have a better approach.” Or whatever…

Hillary needs something. (A third party running would be better than another 9/11 if I had my pick) After all, Bill Clinton did just about everything he could during his Presidency to leave us vulnerable for an attack. And now, with open borders, it seems this “please attack us” attitude still prevails. Come on, it doesn’t matter how good we are in Iraq, our borders are completely wide open.

Clinton’s old cronies are now begging President Bush to bomb North Korea. If we are attacked by North Korea (who was armed with the help of Clinton and Madeline Albright) before the next Presidential election--- the democrats can come back and say, ”We told you so, President Bush did not protect the United States.”

Could a party actually plan that far ahead?

Did Rome fall in one day?

And just now, (2.30 a.m., eastern standard time) it was announced that in Washington D.C. tonight, after the fireworks, the whole population will be monitored by camera’s. Traffic lights will be set according to some plan for an attack. Oh, it’s just a drill. Enjoy yourself.

When the Supreme Court outlaws July 4th because we are now a nation of “many immigrants and nations” or mergers it with May 5th, then you know, it’s not your wife’s meatloaf that’s got your stomach upset.

I’m suffering from indigestion? My mind is just a noodle morphing into Jello? Is that what you say?

I hope your right. Let’s hope this Norvus Ordus Seclourm doesn’t show up in the last Harry Potter’s Movie….as wizards’ words of foreboding.

I’m betting my dollar…on my gut. Right now, one American dollar could not even buy me indigestion. Good thing the fireworks are free. And if it doesn’t rain tonight, tomorrow I will be a much happier camper tomorrow.

But ignore me today...it's my nature to be skeptical...Happy Fourth! Have FUN! And to every American, and to all soldiers….good job guys. Stay strong.
Remember there are still many patriots left in the trenches. They’re just not on TV.


Nobody’s Perfect; George Bush the elder said in his September 11, 1990, address to Congress: “When we are successful, and we will be, we have a real chance at this new world order, an order in which a credible United Nations can use its peacekeeping role to fulfill the promise and vision of the United Nation’s founders. “

Nobody Knows; The American colonists before the revolution, had lived for years in freedom, and were used to governing themselves for hundreds of years. The Iraq’s on the other hand have lived under Saddam for decades. Nobody knows if the Iraq people, especially with a religion that treats woman with such little freedom, will be able to grasp the meaning of it all so quickly. We can only hope.

Nobody Cares; Henry Kissenger said in a January 28, 1991, issue of Newsweek magazine that he was concerned about the balance of power emerging from the Persian Gulf conflict. “Today, it translates into the notion of a “a new world order. The United States neither wants to dominate, nor is it any longer able to do so. Therefore, we need to rely on a balance of power, globally as well as regionally.” Gee, Henry you really are Dr. Strangelove!

Nobody Wins; If this New World Order comes about, nobody will win but the rich and powerful, that’s just the way it has always been in history, darn it.

INDEPENDENT PICCOLOS

Nobody's Opinion; July the 4th is our birthday. It's America's birthday. It's so much more exciting than my own birthday, that I've decided to change my birth date to July, the Fourth. People change their names all the time. I think they should be able to change their birthdays too. How many times have you read your horoscope and thought, "Boy... is she off, that's not me at all! --- I'm more like an Aquarius, bordering on the cusp between a Scorpion and a Goat!" In fact, I think you should be able to pick the best news horoscope of the day and go with it. The world would be happier.

I don't think my mother would mind. After all, I've heard the story about how much blood she lost giving birth to me so many times I feel I deserve a chance at redemption. And since nobody in my family thinks my being born was anything but a nuisance anyway, they won't mind if I change it either.

My motto; do not pass up any moments of self-righteousness in life---it's too much fun.

But on the Fourth there is all the pomp and circumstance that there should be. It’s the only day that we really come together as Americans. The rest of the year we are fighting, split into groups by our elected politicians for better control. The old divide and conquer deal. On the Fourth, we look up at the beautiful fireworks and become kids again. And being the patriotic sop that I am, when the ending to the fireworks display comes, and John Phillip Souza’s Star and Stripes Forever is bursting loud and clear from some expensive sound system, I start crying...trying desperately to hold back the flood when I hear those damn piccolos come in at the end...and I'm always embarrassed if a tear escapes down my face. No, I'm not a trickle crier, I'm a tsunami ---a real black wave of sticky mascara bursting onto a field of Revlon stay on until it turns into clay makeup... glad that it's dark and hoping nobody sees the maudlin thankfulness for freedom that I feel, because in this day and age it is definitely not cool to cry at the Stars and Stripes.

It's also not cool to look like a raccoon dressed in red, white, and blue. And don't expect your husband or any friend to tell you just how bad your face looks, because after a few drinks they are probably not going to tell you why everyone is staring at you in revenge for the time that you didn't tell them that their tag was hanging out of the back of their shirt, or the time they walked around with toilet paper stuck on one shoe for 20 minutes, while you, of course, never noticed even though you were sober.

On my new birthday I can also celebrate the fact that the Stars and Stripes forever is very seldom ever played live. I'm always grateful when the song is recorded, because the piccolo part, (the piccolo obviously being invented just for the purpose of this song) if performed live, might suffer from an inebriated piccolo player, who maybe thought it was
his birthday too. And instead of the wonderful feelings of patriotism, I would be cursing the unknown piccolo player for depriving me from that one moment of emotional bliss. (I know, sick)

My own mother never missed an opportunity to tell me how rough she had it while giving birth to me. What my mother needed in her moments of birthing torture was to hear The Stars and Stripes of John Phillip Sousa's.

I propose that the best stereo surround-sound systems available be installed in all delivery rooms to deliver an uplifting recording of the Stars and Stripes forever at every birth. It should be a federal mandate. If the first sound the babies hear is a piccolo, it might make all the difference in the world in the future of democracy.

And usually at the moment that I'm pretending not to cry at the finale...I think of our country and how the history of our hero’s have been recently tarnished and trashed (which adds to the deluge) and thank God that my favorite founding father was not popular enough to be included. I’m talking about John. Mr. Adams. The obnoxious, stubborn, opinionated, shit disturber, founding piccolo, John Adams.

Not many people think of John Adams on the Fourth. They were not taught in our public school system that if not for him on that hot day in July, when he argued Jefferson’s Declaration (because Mr. Jefferson had no talent for talking) for hours during a thunderstorm, that it was time to declare independence... now or never. Without the power of his words and the strength of his convictions, all his love and all his hate (I like to think of that scene in Ghost), all his passion, and years of hard study and hours upon hours of hard work, those men might have gone home.

After all, these men were in real fear of their own deaths, and the perhaps brutal deaths of their families and friends, not to mention all their property and possessions. That last push, by the leader of the orchestra (as Mr. McCullough has put it) helped these men take a step into the frightening unknown...to sign the Declaration of Independence and start this new country called America. John was not the best looking of the bunch, but he was a real piccolo. The best.

Mr. Adams was on more committee’s than anyone in Congress. In fact, he was so busy he left the writing of the Declaration of Independence to Jefferson. (Years later he thought he could have done it better.) AND, had it not been for John and his cousin Sam nominating George Washington to be the commanding General of this new Continental Army...who knows what would have happened? We might have ended up a nation of body surfers, tea drinkers, and bad television.

Not many think about the sacrifices John made personally. He spent years (10) in Europe, working for independence...away from his family. When he was having trouble in Paris getting any work done...(while Franklin and Jefferson were partying) he decided to make better use of his time by going to Holland from Paris, in the middle of winter (remember this was by horse and carriage) to secure the much needed loans for America in order for us to win the war. He could have just hung around sipping champagne. Someone had to be practical.

Did he get many thanks in history for that? No. Have you seen the great monument in Washington D.C. to honor John Adams? No, me neither.

George Washington was the true symbolic father of our country, and for that he certainly deserved that (pretty boring) monument in D.C.. He put his life on the line and more so. But, Jefferson on the other hand, pretty much stayed in hiding on his beloved Monticello during the war. For that he gets a monument all his own, surrounded by cherry trees, and a lake which even the pigeons do not dare to spoil.

Political essayists everywhere have hope.

Jefferson was also very much what we would call today "an elitist." He was a Democrat (started the party, which was called Republican at the time, but don't tell the Democrats) and loved the French. (No wonder Clinton has his middle name) Still, when we think of the Fourth, we think of Jefferson. That great document leaves no doubt that he had a wonderful talent for writing, and in the end, was a true Patriot. But that document was forged by many men, and many minds, not just Jefferson... and the people of America had lived independently since they got off the boats. So they knew freedom, and they were not about to give it up. Not for all the tea in Boston. (Sorry)

Jefferson unpatriotically attacked John Adams throughout his life, until John in his magnanimity and great heart forgave him in their old age. John was hoping that by their letters history might remember him too, like the piccolos at the end of the song.

Adams never lauded his achievements, and unlike the other two founding fathers, Washington and Jefferson, he kept no slaves on principle. John Adams, not Thomas Jefferson, should be the beloved favorite founder of the American black people.

And John made sure that the music was passed onto his son, John Quincy Adams, who won the freedom for the Amistad slaves. JQA spent his whole life fighting the Southerners (Democrats and slaveholders) in Congress to get rid of the gag rule. The rule that kept slavery from even being discussed. Year---after year---after year, he played every legal trick in the book against this gag rule. Day after day. To stand up to jeers and screams of hatred everyday for years from your peers is no small feat. But, finally, near the end of his life, he succeeded at least to get the subject of slavery discussed on the floor of Congress. He set the first legal steps to freedom for the slaves, by his tenacity and inherited belief in justice and independence for all men, his fathers' true son...this family of piccolos.

John Adams would have thought it absolutely ludicrous that the power games that the politicians and the government play now, with the billions of dollars involved, and the ultimate control over much of the world, would not produce corruption. He and the other founding fathers knew this and were trying to prevent it with the checks and balances. It was why the Electoral College was invented. It's why a republic was formed instead of a democracy. They would have expected conspiracy theories, and murders, corruption and more. The differences are in the character of men. And time after time, the process has worked. John knew and said it would, even in its darkest hour, he knew the system was as solid as a rock. He witnessed the proving of it in his own lifetime.

So, tonight as I look at the sky, I will once again, thank Mr. Adams, for his vision, for his honesty, for the life he gave to this country, to which he sacrificed his own happiness, and didn't even get a small statue. More than any of the founders, John was most like us...the common men and women of America. He was truly at home on his beloved farm in Braintree. He was the quiet and tireless worker, the man who showed up everyday to oil the wheels of freedom, like the men and woman who go to work everyday, pay their taxes, love their families, believe in God, and send their sons and daughters to die for freedom. It's the common man who plays the piccolo in this finale of freedom. It's the common people of America who give all the rich and powerful the instruments---we know the song....some of them are deaf so we just need to turn up the volume.

So, while we forget about our differences, let's tell our children while waiting for the fireworks about the forgotten John Adams. Tell the kids about the important words that he spoke one Fourth of July, not long before he died, (Which was on the nations' 50th anniversary a few hours after Jefferson.) When asks for a comment on the day... he said, characteristically: “Independence Forever.” Jefferson of course wrote a very long, wonderful, flowery speech.

Not Global World Nations, Not United Nations, Not a New Progressive Third Way, Not anything but American Independence... Forever…as citizens, as Americans, as individuals, as lovers of freedom. Anything else leads to infinity of silence, where children will not need parents or fireworks, men will not need freedom, and women will not need Kleenex.

“Independence Forever, Nothing more, nothing less.”

Hey did you hear a piccolo? Me too.

Oh hell, just pass the whole box.

Happy Fourth.