A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day....07-04-06....Happy Birthday USA - 2006

July 4, 2006 | DollyCali

[DollyCali]

A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day

Free Republic made its debut in September, 1996, and the forum was added in early 1997.   Over 100,000 people have registered for posting privileges on Free Republic, and the forum is read daily by tens of thousands of concerned citizens and patriots from all around the country and the world.

A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day was introduced on June 24, 2002. It's only a small room in JimRob's house where we can get to know one another a little better; salute and support our military and our leaders; pray for those in need; and congratulate those deserving. We strive to keep our threads entertaining, fun, and pleasing to look at, and often have guest writers contribute an essay, or a profile of another FReeper.

On Mondays please visit us to see photos of A FEW OF FR'S VETERANS AND ACTIVE MILITARY

If you have a suggestion, or an idea, or if there's a FReeper you would like to see featured, please drop one of us a note in FR mail.

We're having fun and hope you are!
~ Billie, Dutchess, DollyCali, GodBlessUSA, JustAmy ~

PATRIOT'S DECLARATION

"The Sun never shined on a cause of greater worth." —Thomas Paine (1776)



"I am well aware of the Toil and Blood and Treasure, that it will cost Us to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States. Yet through all the Gloom I can see the Rays of ravishing Light and Glory. I can see that the End is more than worth all the Means. And that Posterity will tryumph in that Days Transaction, even altho We should rue it, which I trust in God We shall not." —John Adams (1776)



"Our cause is noble; it is the cause of mankind!" —George Washington (1779)



"[T]he flames kindled on the 4 of July 1776, have spread over too much of the globe to be extinguished by the feeble engines of despotism; on the contrary, they will consume these engines and all who work them." —Thomas Jefferson (1821)



"If we wish to be free; if we mean to preserve inviolate those inestimable privileges for which we have been so long contending; if we mean not basely to abandon the noble struggle in which we have been so long engaged, and which we have pledged ourselves never to abandon until the glorious object of our contest shall be obtained—we must fight! I repeat it, sir, we must fight! An appeal to arms, and to the God of hosts, is all that is left us." —Patrick Henry (1775)



"In its main features the Declaration of Independence is a spiritual document. It is a declaration not of material but spiritual conceptions. Equality, liberty, popular sovereignty, the rights of man—these are not elements which we can see and touch. They are ideals. They have their source and their roots in religious convictions. They belong to the unseen world. Unless the faith of the American people in these religious convictions is to endure, the principles of our Declaration will perish. We cannot continue to enjoy the result if we neglect and abandon the cause. If all men are created equal, that is final. If they are endowed with inalienable rights, that is final. If governments derive their just power from the consent of the governed, that is final. No advance, no progress can be made beyond these propositions. If anyone wishes to deny their truth and their soundness, the only direction in which he can proceed historically is not forward, but backward toward the time when there was no equality, no rights of the individual, no rule of the people. Those who wish to proceed in that direction cannot lay claim to progress." —Calvin Coolidge



"Today's Americans cannot escape the responsibility that the words of the Declaration have thrust upon us; we stand for some things whether we will or not. We stand for freedom, for the hope of human dignity for all, for what is meant when men speak of the West, whether its values are threatened by European totalitarianisms in one era, or a murderous fanaticism out of the darkest Ages in this one. This is the strangest of wars that has been thrust upon us, this conflict waged against innocent workers in office towers and passengers in airplanes. It is a war wages by a hidden enemy who has no clear purpose except revenge—revenge against History, which has passed him and his hatreds by. Once again, uncertainties abound, but no doubts. For this is a war in defense of freedom, and a freedom tide is still rising in the world. It has been since 1776." —Paul Greenberg



"The day of our nation's birth in that little hall in Philadelphia, [was] a day on which debate had raged for hours. The men gathered there were honorable men hard-pressed by a king who had flouted the very laws they were willing to obey. Even so, to sign the Declaration of Independence was such an irretrievable act that the walls resounded with the words 'treason, the gallows, the headsman's axe,' and the issue remained in doubt. [On that day] 56 men, a little band so unique we have never seen their like since, had pledged their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor. Some gave their lives in the war that followed, most gave their fortunes, and all preserved their sacred honor... In recent years, however, I've come to think of that day as more than just the birthday of a nation. It also commemorates the only true philosophical revolution in all history. Oh, there have been revolutions before and since ours. But those revolutions simply exchanged one set of rules for another. Ours was a revolution that changed the very concept of government. Let the Fourth of July always be a reminder that here in this land, for the first time, it was decided that man is born with certain God-given rights; that government is only a convenience created and managed by the people, with no powers of its own except those voluntarily granted to it by the people. We sometimes forget that great truth, and we never should." —Ronald Reagan

07-01,02-05 ~ Hall of Fame #16

THIS WEEK'S THREADS 07-03-06 Military Monday

Opinions by our own 'King of Ping' Every Thursday at the Finest The guy's good, folks!

[GatorGirl]

Happy Birthday America!!

[Mrs.Nooseman]

Happy...

I hope you all will have a wonderful day.

and...

[DollyCali]

Nice thread Lori! Borrowing from that thread

THE NATIONAL ANTHEM..........A PATRIOTIC MEDLEY..........GOD BLESS THE USA

[DollyCali]

Okay, meg! that is adorable.. and I was all ready for a knock your socks off planting of RWB flowers ..and there you go surprising us! Have a great day. Raining here still this AM.. the sun is starting to peek through

[DollyCali]

Long time no see....I haven't been on line as much this summer as before the weather broke & life got a little crazy so I may have missed you. Lovely offering as usual & a few more "items" added to my 4th stash! Thanks for stopping by & enjoy your family this fine day!

[Mama_Bear]

Thank you, Dolly. And the music links still work! It is amazing that all my fireworks graphics are still there too. I know that is not the case with some of my other older threads. Don't know what happened to them, they just seem to disappear over time.

[Majie Purple]

[Mama_Bear]

What a pretty post, Mrs. N.

Happy Independence Day to you!

[Mama_Bear]

Happy 4th of July, Maj. I love that sparkly graphic!

[Majie Purple]

Thanks again Mama Bear for my Patriotic bun bun!

[Majie Purple]

You too!...Me too!

[DollyCali]

once about a year ago I did a copy /paste of view page etc.. NONE of the music worked ... I hadn't tried. I did try this first!(learned my lesson). Victoria has helped me with loading music now & then when I want it.

[DollyCali]

Look at this fun ping graphic for the life thread on launch HERE IS LIVE THEAD HOT LINK)

[NicknamedBob]

Independence?

The Lady holds a tablet. There is a date engraved.
July 4, 1776. A memo that we saved.
Within that page of History, we hold the American Rose.
Pressed by weight of moments, the album now we close,

To mark the beginning of Man’s finest striving,
Wherein heroes, villains, and events were arriving,
At a small town we call Philly, (That’s where we keep the bell.)
To speak their piece, and start a war, and put them all through Hell.

It was a needed moment. We had to take our place,
Among the giants of the earth, for Life stepped up the pace.
We had to shoulder burdens, that no one else could bear,
And send the finest of our land, to fix things ‘over there.’

The blood we shed has nourished the Freedom that we sowed,
And gave the homeland back ten-fold, all debts that we had owed.
Just to ensure survival of the plantings that we nourished.
We went back for a second time, to make sure that it flourished.

We thought that we could take a break, and live a private life,
Unburdened by the problems of the world and all its strife.
But this small world kept shrinking, and our moat gives no protection,
From enemies who should be friends, except for their infection.

We’ll need to cure their illness, whatever the cost may be,
Or we will not enjoy the life we have, a life of liberty.
It’s not enough to shine a light beside the door,
We have to go among them, and boost the ‘yearnings’ of the poor.


NicknamedBob . . . . . . . . . . . . July 3, 2004

[dutchess]

Hi Dolly. What a great thread!!!! Happy Birthday America indeed!!!!

Can relate to storms and poor pooches. We actually had a tornado warning at 4:00 p.m. yesterday (one was cited not far from here) We're on a slab and the only room without windows is our walk in closet. Dad and I spent about 1/2 hour there with Rusty and Giz. What a trip!!!

Anyway, thanks for bringing us this lovely thread!!!

[Majie Purple]

Just sharing a fact about me is all...Had I not been born 2 and 1/2 months early, my Birthday would have been on July 4th! and not April 19th.

[Mama_Bear]

Well, all the midis that are linked and the graphics are on either my server at the studio or Domania, so they should still be there, but on some of my threads many of my links are broken. Guess I must have deleted them without realizing it. I rarely link to graphics or music at their original location. I figure if it's worth linking to, it's worth uploading to one of my servers....at least then I have control over whether it appears or goes away. LOL.

Thanks again for bringing the music over here. I love that Yankee Doodle Dandy midi. :-)

[Mama_Bear]

Another graphic I had forgotten about that still lives on my server from long ago! Wish I had left more space around it, but I think I recall that it was included on a larger black table when originally posted.

Anyway, I always enjoy your poetry and wish you a Happy 4th of July!

[Majie Purple]

Cool! Thanks for the shuttle launch thread link Dolly!

[ConorMacNessa]

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!

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Happy Fourth of July to our troops, veterans and families!