Open Thread and Diary Rescue

Tonight, our 4th of July Rescue Rangers Marching Band is comprised of vcmvo2 on clarinet, srkp23 on trumpet, ezdidit on trombone, dopper0189 on sax, grog on drums, and jlms qkw on flute, with watercarrier4diogenes on tuba, bringing up the rear.

Tonight's diaries decorate the skyline with starbursts of ideas, highlighting, each in their own way, why this day carries so much meaning for all of us.

CELEBRATING OUR INDEPENDENCE

• Purple Priestess provides a great recommendation for 4th of July viewing in Don't be a Fribble - Sit Down and Watch "1776" Today. (jlms qkw)
• FoundingFatherDAR asks for our assistance in Some Firefighters Won't Get to Celebrate the 4th of July. (vcmvo2)
• You can only vote for Democrats if you're alive, as Gramarye reminds us in Please, Preventive Healthcare Starts at Home. Yes, even couch potatoes can lose weight and live healthy. (grog)

THE MEANINGS OF OUR INDEPENDENCE

• PvtJarHead provides a quick biography of a netroots ancestor in Resurrecting Samuel Adams the Prototype Kossack! Are we positive Markos isn't related? (grog)
• don mikulecky looks back on a personal experience with civil disobedience, and the meaning of a movement, in We need to declare independence again! Where is Jefferson when we need him? (srkp23)
• From Sand in Florida comes a wonderful, personal diary of an Iranian family's rise through persecution in their homeland to emigration and finally, to U.S. citizenship (through the granting of a habeas corpus petition), in Blinded By Hope: An Average Man's Vote for Barack Obama. (ezdidit)
• jpspencer reflects on the future development of this nation and the futures it holds, in My Son Turns Two Today. (srkp23)
• Rimjob gives us the latest news on the long-delayed redevelopment at Ground Zero. (srkp23)

KEEPING OUR INDEPENDENCE

• ScottyUrb asks and answers Are You A Patriot? (jlms qkw)
• two roads reminds us why we fight the FISA bill in When they came for the fifth amendment... (dopper0189)
• In McCain flip flops - embraces Swift Liars, AllDemsOnBoard reports on the latest version of the "straight talk express." (vcmvo2)
• tc399 offers a rant in a diary with political overtones. Insurance? ...um, Was someone discussing insurance? (ezdidit)

RESPECTING OTHERS' INDEPENDENCE

• VoteHope08 heartbreakingly explains why Sometimes I Worry About This Country. (srkp23)

jotter has High Impact Diaries - July 3, 2008 and emeraldmaiden has Top Comments 7-4-08 - And the People Spoke.

Enjoy and please promote your own favorite diaries in this open thread (even if you're the author! Here's where that's actually appreciated). And, of course, since it's an open thread, PLAY NICE, OK? 8^)

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