This will be the first year in probably the past five years that I’ll actually see some kind of fireworks. Last summer our son was only 3 months old and I think we were asleep before the fireworks even started. The summer before that, my wife and I were a week out from our wedding and in high planning mode. The years before that, it just wasn’t a priority. The funny thing is that I’ve always equated the Fourth of July to fireworks, and not necessarily to the event that led to the day itself, nor the independence that our men and women in uniform continually defend. I suspect I’m not alone in this.

I have boarded this train of thought because every year, the fantasy football service I receive daily emails from takes a break from the daily barrage of NFL free agency moves, or the idiotic shenanigans of players like Albert Haynesworth to send the Declaration of Independence. In previous years, I’ve scanned through the first paragraph or two and then delete the email. This morning, for whatever reason, I read the entire Declaration. When was the last time you did? It’s pretty powerful stuff, and as the author of the email pointed out, extremely ballsy given how outnumbered and overshadowed the colonists were by Great Britain. It makes you wonder if we could overthrow the same sort of tyranny today or if something like that could even happen again without foreign support. In any event, if you haven’t read the Declaration recently, check it out and refresh your memory.

In any event, before my group begins to celebrate all that this day represents with the masses here in Ocean City this evening, I want to thank our founding fathers for having the guts to set an example for our nation to follow for the next 234 years, and thank all the men and women who put their life on the line every day to protect this nation. The beer I’ll raise this evening is possible thanks to you. I only ask that the men and women who we’ve elected to represent the people don’t forget that they are indeed representing the people and could probably stand to remind themselves of what this country was founded on over two centuries ago.

Happy Fourth everyone!