"irritating public holidays" ???
over on the richard howe blog tony has linked something patently offensive from marjorie arons-barron in poorly-worded support for responsible fiscal policy.
we all prefer solvent and responsible government, and this isn't my point. my offense is taken at the characterization that bunker hill day, evacuation day, and other local public holidays are "irritating".
irritating???
when we observe the spread of an insistence on democratic ideals around the world today, (egypt, et al.), as if such were an inalienable right, we are witnessing an historically unprecedented shift in power from despotism and oligarchy towards the ideals first established (FIRST established) in these modern times by the colonial farmers who pioneered this very land in which you and I are fortunate to live. the pause to reflect, and to observe and recognize the sacrifice and struggle which has made all this possible today, can not be an "irritant" if we are to continue to live free--these are obligations for us to value and preserve our heritage as "the last best hope of earth", and our responsibility of freedom's stewards to never forget.
it is a very near thing that we are free today in our homes, built on the blood sacrifice of patriots who walked the very streets we do today. lexington and concord (Patriots Day) were earth shaking events. farmers stood to take fire from the day's greatest standing army in the world, and did not flinch. (not only did they not flinch, they won the day without central command or organization beyond the brotherhood in arms to rise together when the call arrived, and put their lives on the line for their families and their countrymen). Bunker Hill was the aftershock that set the tsunami in permanent motion. that standing army poured all its discipline and firepower into a line of free men, and they did not falter--they returned better than they got, and inflicted such casualties that even by abandoning the field and retreating to securer positions when they ran out of ammunition they were acknowledged by the world and by their enemy to have won an astounding victory. all this enabled henry knox the time and opportunity to retrieve siege pieces and cannon from 100 miles away in the dead of winter, without roads or wagons, and place them on the heights ringing the occupied city, and force its evacuation (Evacuation Day) and repulse the stain of tyranny from this countryside forever.
irritating???
we here in the great commonwealth of massachusetts enjoy the privilege to decide our own public fiscal policy. inalienable rights, self-evident truths, and the last best hope of earth were dreamed and made live here by farmers walking the same lanes that we here have privilege to stroll free. if we, the custodians of this legacy, cannot even pause to teach our own children the meaning of these things, and take each appropriate day in the calendar to reflect on the earth-moving events taking place here on our soil, what claim do we retain to these ideals as our own? of what purpose is our government, solvent or not?
lexington and concord (Patriots Day), bunker and breeds hill, (Bunker Hill Day), and the successful siege of boston (Evacuation Day) are the seminal battles to the american revolutionary war, and can only be “irritating” to those who would sell their freedom cheap and forget the sacrifice which earned it for them in the first place. public finances are a serious issue, but demeaning and diminishing our good fortune to be in the position to decide our own can not be trivialized in this way without losing something precious in the process. yes, we have to better set our holidays so that we are delivering fair and responsible government for the benefit of all, and at a tax rate that we can afford. perhaps these are no longer paid for government workers, as they are not paid for me as a private employee. but we set the wrong precedent, and we send the wrong message, to pretend that these are not huge movements in the fabric of our world, and deserving of great respect and solemn, celebratory observation.
marjorie should be ashamed to put it that way, and tony should be more careful when linking such, without making better point of what is supremely important.
we all prefer solvent and responsible government, and this isn't my point. my offense is taken at the characterization that bunker hill day, evacuation day, and other local public holidays are "irritating".
irritating???
when we observe the spread of an insistence on democratic ideals around the world today, (egypt, et al.), as if such were an inalienable right, we are witnessing an historically unprecedented shift in power from despotism and oligarchy towards the ideals first established (FIRST established) in these modern times by the colonial farmers who pioneered this very land in which you and I are fortunate to live. the pause to reflect, and to observe and recognize the sacrifice and struggle which has made all this possible today, can not be an "irritant" if we are to continue to live free--these are obligations for us to value and preserve our heritage as "the last best hope of earth", and our responsibility of freedom's stewards to never forget.
it is a very near thing that we are free today in our homes, built on the blood sacrifice of patriots who walked the very streets we do today. lexington and concord (Patriots Day) were earth shaking events. farmers stood to take fire from the day's greatest standing army in the world, and did not flinch. (not only did they not flinch, they won the day without central command or organization beyond the brotherhood in arms to rise together when the call arrived, and put their lives on the line for their families and their countrymen). Bunker Hill was the aftershock that set the tsunami in permanent motion. that standing army poured all its discipline and firepower into a line of free men, and they did not falter--they returned better than they got, and inflicted such casualties that even by abandoning the field and retreating to securer positions when they ran out of ammunition they were acknowledged by the world and by their enemy to have won an astounding victory. all this enabled henry knox the time and opportunity to retrieve siege pieces and cannon from 100 miles away in the dead of winter, without roads or wagons, and place them on the heights ringing the occupied city, and force its evacuation (Evacuation Day) and repulse the stain of tyranny from this countryside forever.
irritating???
we here in the great commonwealth of massachusetts enjoy the privilege to decide our own public fiscal policy. inalienable rights, self-evident truths, and the last best hope of earth were dreamed and made live here by farmers walking the same lanes that we here have privilege to stroll free. if we, the custodians of this legacy, cannot even pause to teach our own children the meaning of these things, and take each appropriate day in the calendar to reflect on the earth-moving events taking place here on our soil, what claim do we retain to these ideals as our own? of what purpose is our government, solvent or not?
lexington and concord (Patriots Day), bunker and breeds hill, (Bunker Hill Day), and the successful siege of boston (Evacuation Day) are the seminal battles to the american revolutionary war, and can only be “irritating” to those who would sell their freedom cheap and forget the sacrifice which earned it for them in the first place. public finances are a serious issue, but demeaning and diminishing our good fortune to be in the position to decide our own can not be trivialized in this way without losing something precious in the process. yes, we have to better set our holidays so that we are delivering fair and responsible government for the benefit of all, and at a tax rate that we can afford. perhaps these are no longer paid for government workers, as they are not paid for me as a private employee. but we set the wrong precedent, and we send the wrong message, to pretend that these are not huge movements in the fabric of our world, and deserving of great respect and solemn, celebratory observation.
marjorie should be ashamed to put it that way, and tony should be more careful when linking such, without making better point of what is supremely important.
posted by kad barma at 8:45 AM
1 Comments:
At least the concept of "Making a Bridge" has not migrated across the Atlantic from Europe.
I take Kad Barma's point about the importance of honoring the great events of our Revolution.
What I took away from the post was that the author thought that this was just more log rolling going on on Beacon Hill and it was all about how state employees, our Civil Servants at the State level, could squeeze the taxpayers for more.
That those two things should be squeezed together is most unfortunate. The one discolors the other.
Regards — Cliff
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