Clicking on banner ads keeps JWR alive
Jewish World Review June 29, 2000 / 26 Iyar, 5760

Greg Crosby

Greg Crosby
JWR's Pundits
World Editorial
Cartoon Showcase

Mallard Fillmore

Michael Barone
Mona Charen
Linda Chavez
Ann Coulter
Larry Elder
Don Feder
Suzanne Fields
James Glassman
Paul Greenberg
Bob Greene
Betsy Hart
Nat Hentoff
David Horowitz
Marianne Jennings
Michael Kelly
Mort Kondracke
Ch. Krauthammer
Lawrence Kudlow
Dr. Laura
John Leo
David Limbaugh
Michelle Malkin
Jackie Mason
Chris Matthews
Michael Medved
MUGGER
Kathleen Parker
Wes Pruden
Debbie Schlussel
Sam Schulman
Amity Shlaes
Roger Simon
Tony Snow
Thomas Sowell
Cal Thomas
Jonathan S. Tobin
Ben Wattenberg
George Will
Bruce Williams
Walter Williams
Mort Zuckerman

Consumer Reports


My Home Sweet Home

http://www.jewishworldreview.com -- AMERICA has a four-day weekend this week since the Fourth of July falls on a Tuesday.

That means another excuse for millions of people to crowd the airports and highways in an effort to “get away.” Just what everyone needs to get away from, I’m not sure. The Fourth used to be a time for family, friends and neighbors to get together, not get away. People would plan outdoor events at or near home. Backyard barbecues, picnics, parades, and band concerts in the park were how most people traditionally celebrated. It was a time for hot dogs and hamburgers, and watermelon and lemonade, and Sousa marches and American flags and fireworks after dark. You know what? It still is!

The Fourth of July is a time to feel unabashedly 100% American and to be proud of it. A time to wave your flag, crank up the patriotic music, watch Jimmy Cagney in “Yankee Doodle Dandy” and be thankful that you are living in the greatest country on earth.

America the beautiful. The first nation on Earth to establish in a written document the freedom for its people to worship as they wish. To acknowledge that all humans are entitled to the rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The first nation on Earth to stand up and say to the rest of the world that the enslavement of one’s fellow man is unconscionable and should forever be abolished.

The United States of America. What that phrase must have meant to my grandparents living in Russia in 1920! What that phrase must have meant to so many people from so many places -- and what it still means to so many today! As someone once said, “Isn’t it interesting that you never see boatloads of people escaping FROM America, they are always escaping TO America.” Just try to find another place on earth that offers its citizens more freedom and more opportunity for a better life than does America. Wait. Don’t bother, because I’ll tell you right now, there isn’t any. This is it, pal. This is as good as it gets.

We may not always agree with the current crop of politicians inhabiting our government offices these days, but we can take heart in the fact that politicians are a lot like thunderstorms -- sooner or later they’ll blow over. We just hope that the collateral damage left in their wake isn’t too bad.

But no matter how bad we may think things are, believe me things could be worse, and they ARE worse in other places. And if there are things that need fixing in this country, well, with G-d’s help we can fix them. We really can. We can do anything. Because we’re Americans.

I think Irving Berlin had it about right when he wrote:

G-d bless America, land that I love.
Stand beside her and guide her
through the night with a light from above.
From the mountains, to the prairies
to the oceans white with foam.
G-d bless America, my home sweet home.

I know it’s tempting to get away for the four-day weekend, but why don’t you stay home this time? Hang out the flag, dust off your patriotic music and have some friends over for an old fashioned Fourth of July barbecue. Then, after dark, watch the fireworks light up the sky and feel that lump in your throat. You can do it. You really can. Because you’re an American.


JWR contributor Greg Crosby, former creative head for Walt Disney publications, has written thousands of comics, hundreds of children's books, dozens of essays, and a letter to his congressman. You may contact him by clicking here.

Up

06/23/00: Hairs The Thing
06/13/00: The Sweetest Sounds
06/02/00: Another Opening, Another Show
05/22/00: What's next, The Million Mutt March?
05/19/00: Hail the Conquering Hero
05/12/00: Extra! Read All About It!
05/03/00: Clinton’s Transparent Department of Duplicity and Demagoguery
04/24/00: For The Children?
04/19/00: Liars And Cowards And Bums, Oh My!
04/11/00: Gripe, Gripe, Gripe
04/05/00: Counting the Race Cards
03/30/00: Speed Bumps
03/22/00: The Eyes Have It
03/15/00: Academia and Media --- They’re Just Not Right
03/09/00: Sweat The Small Stuff -- It’s Okay
03/02/00: Actors And Other Animals
02/23/00: Campaign 2000 --- Wake Me When Its Over
02/15/00: Who Wants to be Regis Philbin?
02/08/00: Aftermath of a Tragedy
01/31/00: Ask Mr. Politically Correct Man
01/25/00: I’d Like To Thank All The Little People
01/20/00: Merger Mania
01/11/00: Just Say JA-GWAAR
01/04/00: Who Was That Masked Man? My Hero!
12/28/99: New Millennium --- New Rules
12/21/99: Bubba’s Visit From Saint Nick
12/14/99: Call Me Mister
12/08/99: So Much Going On, So Little Time
11/30/99: Sunday Afternoon
11/22/99: The Best Money Can’t Buy
11/15/99: My Peter Pan Generation
11/08/99: Fall Invasion
10/29/99: When my wife was young and Gay
10/22/99: Too Late for Dinner
10/15/99: Pondering, Musing and Supposing
10/05/99: A Message From Your Journalistic Human Interest Commentator
09/24/99: The Getting Away With It Decade
09/17/99: The Scoop of the Century
09/09/99: Important Millennium Advisory
09/03/99: Ask Mr. Politically Correct Man
08/26/99: Broadcasters, Please mind Your Manners
08/19/99: The Golden Age of Jerkdom
08/12/99: Dressing Down...and Out


© 2000, Greg Crosby