The times we didn’t ride in the parade we sat and watched. Bands, floats, fire trucks, and convertibles full of beauty queens and local politicians. And flags.

Most of the units had a flag leading the way. As they passed by we would stand. Always. I don’t remember mom or dad telling us to stand. I believe I learned by just watching. My folks weren’t unique, everyone got out of their lawn chair or off the curb when “Old Glory” made it’s way past their location.

The morning parade was followed by the afternoon picnic. It was a rotating affair hosted by my parents and a group of their friends. One picnic really stands out. My parents were hosting and our neighbor was mowing his yard before they came over. A few guests had already arrived and were hanging around in the back yard talking when the mower next door stopped. Mr. Trimble (the neighbor) had run over a ground wasp nest. The disturbed wasps flew up the leg of his shorts and started to do what mad wasps do. Aware of the guests next door, but not caring about their presence, he quickly dropped trou before running into his house. He was topic number one among the adults when he gingerly showed up later.

While many of the images of Independence Day were the outward trappings of patriotism, there was an underlying sense of pride which is, I believe, at the core of true patriotism.

I hope that you and yours are having a great 4th. More than that I hope you feel the pride of being a part of the greatest country on earth. In the midst of all the politics it’s good to remember that our system of government is like none other in the history of the world. We don’t have to excuse our shortcomings, we have the means and the will to overcome them. We don’t have to shy away from our success, we embrace that success and offer it as a model to people everywhere. We don’t have to hide our patriotism, we should show it on every occasion and embrace it.

Happy 4th of July!

To a certain extent every vote is a mix of thoughts that can be described as either being “for” your candidate and their positions, or as being against the opposing candidate and the positions they champion. Think of it like a sliding scale:

At the left side of the slide you are totally behind the candidate you’ve chosen to support. You agree with the ideas they propose. You align yourself fully with their platform, their vision, and their character.

At the other side of the scale you are looking at, and basing your decision on, the opponent. It is a vote against one candidate and their ideals much more than a vote for the other person in the race. You reject the ideas they propose. You question their character and their direction.

Of course most voting decisions are made somewhere in the middle of this process. It is a mix of support on the one hand and a rejection on the other. I would think that very few candidates command a following that is totally toward one extreme or the other.

As Glenn Beck might say, “I’m not a political scientist, but I am a thinker.” And one thing that occurs to me is that closer one candidate can be to the left end of the chart the better off they will be in terms of energizing their support, raising needed funds, and getting their message out. It is only as you near the extreme right side of the process that those things would start to reappear.

A candidate slogged down in the middle of the scale would, I believe, have a difficult time raising money, gathering supporters, and trumpeting their ideas.

Let’s not forget that there are two people running. What you feel for “your” candidate may not be a balanced opposite of how you feel about the opponent. You could, for example, have mixed thoughts about the degree to which you are behind the person you are supporting, but seriously oppose the other candidate. Or perhaps you support your candidate strongly and have mixed feelings regarding the opposition.

Say I had placed a numerical scale from 0-11 underneath the chart. We’ll eliminate 0 and 11 as being unrealistically extreme. What are your thoughts on the remaining 1-10? For myself, I can tell you that I am about a 4 on John McCain and a 10 on Barack Obama.

I’d like to hear your thoughts in the comments. I’ve also created a poll (in the sidebar to the right) that will allow you to pick two numbers, one for each candidate.

The floor is open for your discussion.

UPDATE: For some reason, that I don’t have time to diagnose and fix right now, the poll is only allowing one answer.

In this June 18, 2008 file photo, Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., center, and Ret. Gen. Wesley Clark, talk with generals and other flag officers during a military and foreign affairs round table discussion in Washington. Clark, a former Democratic presidential candidate now supporting Barack Obama, said Sunday June 29, 2008 John McCain’s military service does not automatically qualify him to be commander in chief. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

5th Place - Dana - How could I have been so freaking stupid as to put up this ridiculous seal?

4th Place - Stix - I wonder if they noticed the Seal

3rd Place - RT - “Now,where to put the 666.”

2nd Place - Snigs - “I wonder which will cause the biggest stink- my rip on the Presidential Seal or the Beef & Bean burrito I had for lunch? Must ponder more.”

1st Place - elliot - Alex, I’ll take black history for $600..

A quarter of U.S. workers complain of working in gloomy environments that they say could be improved with windows that open or better-looking colleagues, according to a survey released on Wednesday.

Now I don’t know who the people are that they surveyed, but as a group they were easy.

Looking at ways to improve their surroundings, 37 percent of those surveyed chose windows that can be opened, 16 percent chose brightly colored walls, 11 percent said more attractive colleagues and 7 percent opted for a more pleasant odor, the survey said.

So let’s break this down. The boss can make things better by cracking a window, slapping on some paint, and hiring more employee’s like Jenna Fischer

and fewer that look like America Ferrara.

What’s in your office?

Blonde Sagacity
Cowboy Blob
First In!
Gone Rick Motel
Public Pondering
Right Pundits
Rodney Dill/OTB
Support Your Local Gunfighter
WILLisms
Wizbang

At the end of the night $1,055,719 was raised to send care packages to our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Move America Forward along with co-hosts Melanie Morgan and Michelle Malkin, Ustream.TV, the guests, and most of all the supporters who donated this amazing amount, are all to be commended.

Beyond that of course is the fact that even this contribution pales in comparison to the debt we owe the men and women of our military who are willing to stand up for us. I hope this effort helps to show them just how much we appreciate and understand the sacrifices they are making on our behalf. Thank you all.

FOX News has a very brief blurb:

The Supreme Court says Americans have a right to own guns for self-defense and hunting, the justices’ first definitive pronouncement on gun rights in U.S. history.

One quick update. Does anyone else see the difference in these two headlines?

AP - Supreme Court says Americans have right to guns

Reuters - Supreme Court finds individual right to own guns

I’m not a Constitutional Professor, but to me the Reuters headline seems to be a lot more in line with the way things are supposed to work. It is not up to the SC to say what our rights are, but rather to interpret the rights given to us by our laws.

There is no doubt I had friends and continue to have friends who come out of the more traditional school of Chicago politics but that’s not what launched my political career and that’s not what I’ve ever depended on to get elected, and I would challenge any Chicago reporter to dispute that basic fact.”

Obama friend Tony Rezko was convicted of corrupting state government, but Obama was never implicated and has returned contributions Rezko made to his Senate campaign. Obama did run as an independent Democrat but worked closely with state Senate President Emil Jones, an old-school organization Democrat. Obama runs for president with the full blessing of Mayor Daley.

How can anyone believe this man.

More from the same article:

He repeated the claim he has made repeatedly in the past few days that it was not a “flip-flop” for him to continue raising unlimited amounts of money from an unprecedented number of small donors over the internet instead of limiting himself to $85 million in public matching funds as he had indicated earlier he would.

“Public financing was one means of achieving that end — I feel confident we have achieved it,” Obama said.

I don’t believe that “that end” he is talking about refers to getting the politics out of campaign finances. His real goal all along has been, and continues to be, win power by whatever means necessary.

I just don’t understand how people (and how many people) believe anything that he says. It seems as if we are heading for the Phineas T. Barnum election.

The grand finale for the push will take place on June 26th when a Jerry Lewis style 8-hour Internet Telethon (”From the Frontlines”) will take place. This cutting edge production “From The Frontlines” will be broadcast live online by UStream.tv and hosted by Melanie Morgan & Michelle Malkin. Live and taped reports will be broadcast from our troops serving in Iraq & Afghanistan during the historic 8-hour event.

You can see the progress of the fund raising in the sidebar.

UPDATE: At the live stream the new total is over $512,000!!!

They have an unbelievable lineup of guests for the telethon. Take a look:

Of course the real stars will be the live and taped reports from the troops serving in Iraq & Afghanistan.

You don’t have to wait until four o’clock if you would like to help. You can see the array of packages available by clicking on this banner:

Some bloggers need thanks that aren’t even actively blogging anymore: Chad Evans and The MaryHunter come to mind. Both were frequent commenters here and both helped me greatly in the early days of bRight & Early.

Ed Morrissey and Michelle Malkin also helped keep me going in the beginning. My first big traffic day came from a link at Michelle’s blog. If I had been a little smarter and had sitemeter on individual pages I would have reached 100,000 a couple of days earlier.

In the present the list gets even longer. To long to list in the short time I have left before work this morning. I’ll add to this later, but let me thank those who stuck around and left comments last night: USA Admiral, Steveegg, Stix, Wyatt, Snigs, RT, and any others who may have stopped by without commenting.

And thanks to whoever it was that stopped in from Sikeston, Mo.

Now, on with the show.

W00t!!

Thank you, whoever you are, and thank you Wyatt for the pimpage.

I’ll be back to normal tomorrow.