Fourth of July.

[Data Holmes]

Today we celebrate our victory over the alien invaders with the help of God, the Marines, the stuttering guy who also saved us from the dinosaurs, a drunken crop-duster pilot, and a complete lack of alien antivirus software.

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l31UUl5SyXk[/yt]

I love that speech. Independence Day was a 4th tradition at every Blockbuster I worked at. With out fail, most people ended up stopping to watch it when that speech scene came up.

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZMmPWTwTHc[/yt]

SHR was such a great show. It should still be on for kids to watch. I'm tempted to track down the whole series on DVD to show to my new born nephew when he is old enough to understand them.

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMRMW1FXSHw[/yt]

How the war of independence really happen.

That is such a great commercial. Pointless but fun.

Thanks for all the well wishes, everyone. I spent the 4th as I usually do, browsing through my various books on the Colonial and Revolutionary Era. Also, History Channel is showing The Revolution all day, which is a fantastic series-- I recommend checking it out if you haven't seen it.

They do the marathon every 4th. I usually flip back and forth between that and The Military Channel's marathon of the mid 90's Learning Channel miniseries "The Revolutionary War" narrated by the great Charles Kuralt



My one Fourth of July thing, and it stirs up every year... Why has there never been a movie about the Marquis de La Fayette. This hero of our revolution needs to be recognized in movie form.

On 4 July 1917, shortly after the U.S. entered World War I, Colonel Charles E. Stanton visited the grave of Lafayette and uttered the famous phrase "Lafayette, we are here." After the war, a U.S. flag was permanently placed at the grave site. Every year, on Independence Day, the flag is replaced in a joint French-American ceremony.[152] The flag remained even during the German occupation of Paris during World War II.

On visiting Corsica in 1943, General George S. Patton commented on how the Free French forces had liberated the birthplace of Napoleon, and promised that the Americans would liberate the birthplace of Lafayette.

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2wlALvJNdQ[/yt]

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxnTdBW3_9g[/yt]

 

[ShamelessMcBundy]

It's because we hate the French and they hate us.

But yeah, all due honor to the Marquis de Lafayette.

 

[Data Holmes]

It's because we hate the French and they hate us.

But yeah, all due honor to the Marquis de Lafayette.

You remember that Eddie Izzard bit about movies... How Americans are the hero's, Brits are the Villains, and the French are the esoteric characters who show up and say "Hi. I'm Peire, I've come to have sex with your family".

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjC3R6jOtUo[/yt]

More on the Marquis

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aieGJwqNFwM[/yt]

 

[tomalak301]

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZMmPWTwTHc[/yt]

SHR was such a great show. It should still be on for kids to watch. I'm tempted to track down the whole series on DVD to show to my new born nephew when he is old enough to understand them.

That show helped me ace a few tests, especially the one where we had to memorize the preamble of the Constitution (And whenever I see the preamble, I always think about that song). Agreed that it should be on today for this generation's kids

Hope everyone had a fantastic 4th of July. I went to Olive Garden to celebrate the 4th and my birthday with family and just got back from watching the Fireworks tonight. One more day of work and then I'm off to my annual family camp for a week. I love July.

 

[T'Girl]

Well, now, let's not be hasty. There's no reason we still can't make amends. I mean, I don't remember the Founding Fathers ever saying "no backsies."

Reuniting with our British brothers and sisters would be a fine idea.

Uhh ... can America borrow some money?

 

[iguana_tonante]

You remember that Eddie Izzard bit about movies... How Americans are the hero's, Brits are the Villains, and the French are the esoteric characters who show up and say "Hi. I'm Peire, I've come to have sex with your family".

It's spelled Pierre. And it's not just your family.

 

[ShamelessMcBundy]

Well, now, let's not be hasty. There's no reason we still can't make amends. I mean, I don't remember the Founding Fathers ever saying "no backsies."

Reuniting with our British brothers and sisters would be a fine idea.

Uhh ... can America borrow some money?

We're back to hitting up our mom for money.

 

[Shaytan]

On visiting Corsica in 1943, General George S. Patton commented on how the Free French forces had liberated the birthplace of Napoleon, and promised that the Americans would liberate the birthplace of Lafayette.

I hope they had a great time liberating Chavaniac-Lafayette, 293 inhabitants.

Why there is no movie about Lafayette ? Because America is just a small part of Lafayette's story, the rest of his life would be irrelevant to an American audience.

It's because we hate the French and they hate us.

It's all true of course

It's spelled Pierre. And it's not just your family.

[Froufrou] Pierre ? [/Froufrou]

 

[iguana_tonante]

Pierre is the froufrou spelling. Pier is the manly, handsome one.

 

[Skywalker]

Peter or nothing. It just isn't right without the T.

 

[iguana_tonante]

There is Pietro with the T, but that's just old and stuffy.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

My one Fourth of July thing, and it stirs up every year... Why has there never been a movie about the Marquis de La Fayette. This hero of our revolution needs to be recognized in movie form.

Lafayette is an interesting character. Really, the debt the United States owes to France is hard to calculate (even at the time, it was hard to see their true impact). Things unfortunately soured after the war, but it's still cool to remember people like Lafayette.

Another European that was a great help was Baron Von Steuben. He fought in the Prussian Army, but was denied advancement because he was gay. Then he was rejected by every other European army, so he came to the United States claiming to be a Prussian General and essentially transformed our army into a modern professional fighting force. While our army was capable of winning guerrilla battles in the back country, our greatest victories in set battles (especially Yorktown) would not have occurred without him.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

It really wasn't my intention to come off too strongly in my first post in this thread. It's just that, well, Independence Day really means something to me and I think it should mean a lot to all Americans enough to the point we should honor what the day is and call it that. Our Independence Day. Calling it by the date just doesn't sit right with me, it minimizes the "impact" of the day to just another date.

So, to recap:

"It really wasn't my intention to come off too strongly, but if you don't call the day what I think you should call it then it doesn't mean a lot to you and you're not honoring its historical impact."

Well, glad we cleared that up. That comes off much less strongly.

It might minimize the impact of the day and reduce it to just any old date if the symbolic meaning of saying "the Fourth of July" wasn't so instantly recognizable to Americans and many non-Americans alike, especially when placed in the context of someone wishing you a happy holiday. But since the term is interchangeable with Independence Day and probably much more commonplace and well-known, I don't see how you have much of a point.

Since it's only the Fifth of July (sorry, Independence Day +1), I think our annual War on Christmas thread should be posted by the usual suspect(s) in a week or two, which is perfect since your uptight pedantry on this issue comes off very similarly to those who complain about the whole Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays non-issue.

 

[iguana_tonante]

Talking about foreign assistance in US military history, I always thought it was hilarious that during the American Civil War (wrong war, I know, but still) Italian patriot and general Giuseppe Garibaldi volunteered to fight on the side of the Union and was offered a Major General's commission, only to refuse because "the only way in which he could render service, as he ardently desired to do, to the cause of the United States, was as Commander-in-chief of its forces; that he would only go as such, and with the additional contingent power of declaring the abolition of slavery".

I always wanted to see Lincoln's face when he received that letter. "Wft this guappo thinks he is???"

 

[Count Zero]

Garibaldi was everywhere, wasn't he?

Well, now, let's not be hasty. There's no reason we still can't make amends. I mean, I don't remember the Founding Fathers ever saying "no backsies."

Reuniting with our British brothers and sisters would be a fine idea.

Uhh ... can America borrow some money?

We're back to hitting up our mom for money.

They don't have any themselves. Most Western countries are desperately trying to find someone to give them money right now.

 

[1001001]

SHR was such a great show. It should still be on for kids to watch. I'm tempted to track down the whole series on DVD to show to my new born nephew when he is old enough to understand them.

That show helped me ace a few tests, especially the one where we had to memorize the preamble of the Constitution (And whenever I see the preamble, I always think about that song). Agreed that it should be on today for this generation's kids

My wife is an elementary school teacher. She uses those DVD's all the time.

 

[Skywalker]

Reuniting with our British brothers and sisters would be a fine idea.

Uhh ... can America borrow some money?

We're back to hitting up our mom for money.

They don't have any themselves. Most Western countries are desperately trying to find someone to give them money right now.

Why don't we all just get together and rob a bank?

 

[ShamelessMcBundy]

The IMF?

 

[Data Holmes]

The IMF?

So, we'd basically be stealing back our own money, mostly...

 

[1001001]

The 4th of July is not about robbing banks or committing crimes!

It's about getting drunk, blowing things up, and keeping the King of England out of your face.

Show a little respect, for God's sake....