Happy Birthday USA!!

Last Friday I went to Unity, NH and attended the unity rally with Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. This Friday I will be in the annual 4th of July parade in Warren, Vermont. These events are a symbol of why I love my country and why I work so hard to make it a better place for all of us.

It is only in our country that a woman and a black man could become major candidates for the most powerful elected office in the world. It is only in our country that this could happen without violence and that the people choose who will lead them. Even more remarkable is that these two rivals for this office came together in a small town in New England and both gave impassioned speeches that left many in the crowd in tears.

The message of hope and concern for the direction of our country and its people was apparent but even more apparent was that both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have devoted their lives truly to public service. In this spotlight of a presidential race, it seems only the strongest can survive the scrutiny and contentious debate.

Jammed into the school yard were thousands of supporters eager to hear both Senator Clinton and Obama speak. They both spoke TO the crowd as if we were truly in this together united in the desire to make our country better. I am proud of these two, just as I am proud of Senator McCain for his life of service to our nation. But mostly I am proud of the USA and our founding fathers for devising a system that allows for peaceful change, liberty and independence.

We will celebrate this independence in Warren, Vermont for the 60th year of the Warren parade. We will draw in excess of 10,000 people to our village of about 1000 to witness the parade and party. Politicians will march with an diverse set of home-made floats, including me with Hammerhead in the sidecar of the motorcycle. Then there is a street party and later, adult strawberry drinks at my house followed by fireworks.

Independence Day. For me it is a celebration of the Declaration of Independence where the infamous words ring as true today as they did in 1776 –

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed…

Happy Birthday USA!