Stars and Stripes, Whatever

It's currently July 2. By October 2, we will see Christmas decorations going up in the stores and teaser commercials aired on TV, and the onslaught will begin, continuing with after-Christmas sales and New Year merriment until mid-January. From mid-January up to February 14, we will see Valentine's sales campaigns and general lovefests, followed immediately by St Patrick's Day parades and festivities until March 17. Then we have Easter Bunny pictures, Easter egg rolls, Easter basket and Easter outfit sales until whatever day Easter happens to be. Then, possibly blending with Easter chatter, depending on how late Easter appears, we start with Mother's Day and we talk for weeks about how much we wuv our Mommies and we buy them flowers and jewelry. And on the Monday after, we start in on Father's Day, and we talk about how important our Dads were to us and we shop for wallets and ties, and at which point we will find ourselves another year older. Halloween decorations go up in early-to-mid September, Thanksgiving talk begins and sales are advertised starting immediately after Halloween, if not before. The TV morning news dedicates entire segments to these, and goes out of its way to point out the significance of Memorial Day, Labor Day, President's Day, MLK Jr Day, Columbus Day, Administrative Professionals' Day, various heritage months, and even create-your-own-health-crisis-awareness weeks. As a nation of workaholics, America loves it's holidays - even the ones that don't get us days off.

I'm not one to begrudge anyone their choice of holiday (some people actually celebrate Sweetest Day in October or whenever; far be it from me to judge), but something seems troubling to me. The celebrations and fanfare that normally surround the 4th of July are noticeably absent (or at least minimal) this year. Maybe it's different where you are, and I hope so. But last year, you couldn't turn around without seeing ads for flags, and banners, and red-white-and-blue sprinkled cookies, and USA IS A-OK t-shirts. (I'm making fun about that last one, but you know the type I mean. *cough*Old Navy*cough*) This year, the most I've really seen in the stores (the bastion of all things Holiday) is that Neat Sheets were placed near the door at our local supermarket, and Target is selling stars-and-stripes paper plates and napkins. I didn't even see an Old Navy circular in the Sunday Ads section of the Washington Post, and I comb through that thing pretty closely. A local realtor has been the biggest celebrant of all that I've noticed, distributing pairs of 2-foot-tall plastic American flags door-to-door in our neighborhood in what is mainly an excuse to get his business card into our hands.

I'll be the first to agree that holidays have gotten too commercial, so I don't really miss the 4th of July sales and ads, but this lack of interest even seems to be pervading our information sources.

Last year, in the entire week preceding and the entire week following the 4th, the History Channel ran a special 13-part miniseries on The Revolution, with a marathon of them on the 4th itself. What better way to educate the viewers and herald this most hallowed day of American History? This year, they're doing The Revolution marathon on the 4th itself. But for tonight? Star Wars: The Legacy Revealed at 8pm, followed at 9pm by Star Trek: Beyond The Final Frontier. Tomorrow, from 8pm to midnight, they're showing four episodes of The Universe, another miniseries. Sorry they had to preempt Wednesday's broadcast of Modern Marvels to show you how your country was formed and tell you about the people who risked everything on what turned out to be a pretty successful gamble.

Last year, the morning news had interviews with the pyrotechnic pros who were doing the fireworks for the 4th, interviews with tourists who had come to the Nation's Capital for the 4th, interviews with residents about what the 4th means to them, all that schlocky stuff that is mocked mercilessly in subpar films like Bruce Almighty. This year? Fox 5's fluff news today was viewer reaction to Michael Moore's movie Sicko, coverage of the 7-11's-turned-Kwik-E-Marts as a promotion for the upcoming Simpsons Movie, and Holly Morris talking about an indoor swim complex in Germantown like it was going to bring about world peace.

Does this all seem a little... I don't know... apathetic to you? Are we really so completely jaded and cynical? Do we truly just not care anymore? Is it because the 4th is a Wednesday this year?

COME ON PEOPLE!


Where's the fanfare? Where's the patriotism? Where's the pride? Hell, where's the awareness?

Show a little respect. It's two days before the celebration of the birth of our nation. Two days before we consider the sacrifices people made to shuffle off the old world order. Two days before we eat grilled meat and blow things up in order to show our marvel at the people who put their lives and reputations on the line, as well as those of their families, and banded together to take on a grand, almost unprecedented experiment that no one had any idea whether it would even work.

Seriously - imagine the cajones on these folks! All their lives, what had they known? Monarchical rule. English citizenship. And they gave it all up and walked away into the great unknown - no order, no laws, no security. Ballsy, if you ask me; most of us are afraid to leave our neighborhoods without a GPS. Not only did this rabbley bunch of relative yokels turn their back on the status quo, but they beat the best trained military on the planet. And the most extensive attention the majority of us seem to be showing for the day we gave monarchy the Finger is a water cooler discussion about plans for the day off.

I know times are tough and spirits are down. I know the leaders of this country - both sides - don't give us much to believe in. I know that we may have trouble resolving our love of our country with the direction that pick-your-politician is trying to drive it. And I know that every time we turn around, we're told that we're too fat, too lazy, too ugly, too stupid, and that's emotionally debilitating. But July 4th isn't about today and it isn't about now. It's about the fundamentals. It's about choices: the choice to do something different and radical and liberating.

If you can't get excited about the battles and the politics and the florid language, get excited about the people and the ideas, because that is what this country is founded on and that's what the day is about.