Tonight I'll be lifting a glass of premium gin to those madmen, those geniuses, who thought they could build a new set of States based on Enlightenment thinking. Jefferson, Washington, Paine, Revere, Arnold [for a few years, until things went terribly wrong with him], Franklin, Greene, Hamilton, Morgan, Adams [both of 'em], Henry, and Hancock.

It was absurd. It was ridiculous. It was clear for years that this silly effort—so costly in terms of treasure, and human lives—would fail, and fail miserably.

And yet, it didn't.

I'm sure there's a lesson in there somewhere, if one cared to look for it.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 05:20 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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For all the things that really matter

h/t Wild Thing

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. . . I wanted to see a war movie. We've seen The American Revolution too recently, and our copy of Band of Brothers is, of all things, on VHS—and totally shredded at this point. Unwatchable.

So we saw Saving Private Ryan. It's a tough one.

It certainly put my problems in perspective, though.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 08:56 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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1 For my money, "Band of Brothers" is the best war movie ever made. "All Quiet on the Western Front" is a great one too (the original with Lou Ayres, not the remake). "Saving Private Ryan" is good, some parts of it excellent. Another one you might have missed is "Enemy at the Gates", starring Ed Harris as a German sniper. The opening scenes, including the ones of the Russian troops being forced into the breach at Stalingrad without rifles, are as good in many ways as the opening of "Private Ryan". If you haven't seen it, check it out. Women were snipers in the Russian Army, for what it's worth, and some were worth quite a lot. A woman sniper was the best in the Red Army, killing over 350 Germans by herself in World War II. Wonder if she could cook?

Posted by: clyde at July 05, 2006 02:45 AM (6m+7s)

2 Thanks for the recommendations. I do suspect, from my limited experience, that Band of Brothers is the very best, but it may not be fair to compare it with feature-length movies--because of the time limitations they are subject to. I like to watch it over and over because that's how I get to know the men; each time, a new dimension into their character opens up.

Posted by: Attila Girl at July 05, 2006 03:46 AM (4IuF2)

3 Keep one thing in mind when you watch Band of Brothers (which is also a book)-late author Steven Ambrose was a confirmed plagiarist. The same as supposedly-hot historian Doris Kearns Goodwin. Something about "neglecting to detail their sources..."

Posted by: clyde at July 05, 2006 04:05 AM (6m+7s)

4 It's a cold-war movie rather than a typical hot-war movie, but I strongly recommend "K-19," which happens on a Russian nuclear submarine and is based on a real series of events.

Posted by: David Foster at July 05, 2006 06:56 AM (/Z304)

5 I know, Clyde--but given that this project was made with the cooperation of the guys from the 101st, and had Captain Dale Dye as an advisor, I doubt any inaccuracies crept into the mini-series (excuse me: HBO Event) itself, despite Ambrose's sloppiness.

Posted by: Attila Girl at July 05, 2006 10:19 AM (4IuF2)

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. . . there's a great discussion going over at Goldstein's place.

He's been talking to his own patriotism, much in the way W.B. Yeats held discussions between his self and his soul. (Although Yeats didn't get harangued for drinking Mexican beer in his underwear, if I recall correctly.)

Posted by: Attila Girl at 08:11 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Everyone wants to see the fireworks from the ridge near our house that overlooks the Rose Bowl. I've gone out there a few times on the 4th: you can see all the displays across the San Gabriel Valley, eight or nine of 'em. Kinda cool.

So, as usual, everyone's parked in front of our house and they are all yammering at each other as they walk up the street to jockey for position.

I may walk up there after it starts. Though I am the one does the grilling around here, so I did get a pyromania fix today.

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. . . has a nice tribute up for the Fourth of July; I can do no better, so here you go.

Enjoy your gardenburgers, hamburgers, kabobs, pasta salad, pork loin, edamame, watermelon, strawberry shortcake, and homemade granita.

But especially—enjoy living here, with our bill-of-rights glamour: "We've got a groovy thing, goin', Baby; got a groovy thing."

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Photon Courier:

Many "progressives"--and not just the religious ones--have uncritically and without reflection adopted the ideas and values of "their own age and class"--and, while doing so, they have congratulated themselves on their courage and independence of thought. Thus, they can enjoy a great feeling of righteousness without running the risk of condemnation by those whose opinions really matter to them. Who cares if the Bush Administration and its supporters would disapprove of your statements (if they ever heard of them, which they likely won't), when there are so many nods of agreement in the faculty lounge or among the other associates at the law firm? Those are the people you see every day, after all, and the ones who really matter for your career...

He left out, of course, "the cocktail party, the wrap party, the pitch, the gathering of writers, and the editorial staff meeting." That is, entertainment and publishing are as bad as academia.

It's a nice little piece, and picks up on a theme that C.S. Lewis wrote about in the 1940s.

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The gals at the cotillion are honoring the men and women in uniform today. Take a sneak peak at my dance card, along with everyone else's. (I'm meeting with a client, of all the unfair things, so my post will be up in a few hours.)

And a special thank you to the dreamy men who started it all: George Washington, Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine, John Hancock . . . and a certain French king who paid for it all (eventually with his life).

Men like Washington and Franklin had little to gain, and everything to lose in this grand experiment. They were trying to do something that had never been done before, and they persevered, suffering defeat after defeat.

And they were the midwives to an entirely new type of government—one that borrowed from the English parliamentary system but improved upon it, and stated the principles of equality for all in such bald language, it threatened to tear the country apart 100 years later—making it infinitely better, instead.

Thank you for all the risks. Thank you for the sacrifices. Thank you for your brilliance and your vision.

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. . . Goldstein is on the case.

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Instead, I might stay home and burn the American Flag.

You know: because I still can.

For crying out loud. Do they have nothing better to do than deal with imaginary issues?

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Eric remembers.

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I thought this was hilarious. (I don't imagine it's dialup-friendly, however.)

And it hits both Kerry and W. pretty hard—equally hard, I'd say.

Hat tip: a couple of sites, but most recently Kathy Kinsley.

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Dean Esmay discusses the Michael Moore theory that displaying an American flag is intended to stifle public debate.

Hilariously.

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. . . Independence Day until everyone goes back to work on the 6th, so I hope Michele leaves her July 4th colors—and fireworks—on display through the end of the day today.

Be sure to read her Independence Day post, which is about her journey in reestablishing an intense connection to the United States she was born in. She also discusses our obligations as Americans to those in other countries wherein people don't enjoy any of the freedoms we take for granted. Like Iraq used to be. Like Iran is now.

Our freedom is inextricably tied with the freedom of others. We must help all those who want to face the tyrants as our founding fathers did. In order to truly be secure in our freedom, we must make sure that others are also free. And we must, as a tribute to our forefathers who fought and died so we can live like this, help those who struggle to have what we have. If that means just showing support to anyone in any country that is willing to fight for basic human rights, we must do that.

I know you are probably wondering why I've chosen to take this American holiday and spend the time talking about Iran, but I see the two as sum parts of whole. Of course, I will do the usual celebrating today, with the requisite barbecue, fireworks, beer and baseball. But I will not take my freedom for granted and I will not forget that there are others who strive to have a day like this each year, a day to raise their glasses to liberty.

Read the whole thing. And support Iran in the days leading up to July 9th, as significant a day for the Iranian people now as it was for my mother 42 years ago.

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. . . that my weather pixie girl has fireworks in the background. Particularly since the real-life Weather Pixie people are English. Right thoughful of them, remembering the Fourth's significance . . . especially considering the national trauma this day is interlinked with, from their POV.

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I really want to see it in person, but that will have to wait until my finances perk up. It sure is beautiful. This is a restoration of the old rainbow pool, right? (Someone spot me on that.)

Photo by Navy Lt. Cmdr. Jane Campbell.

Via Photon Courier.

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