WTF Is It Now?!?

Spirit of 4th of July shamelessly politicized
From an editorial in the Chicago Trib:

"Patriotism and national pride--the spirit of Independence Day--have been shamelessly politicized in the wake of Sept. 11, 2001, and it is a politics many Americans, including this one, cannot abide. Widespread sorrow and frustration over the murdered innocents have been redirected and leveraged into something else--something cynical and dark of purpose. That something is a macho, vengeful, across-the-board support for our tough-guy president, George W. Bush.

"Carefully, masterfully, the packagers of this handsome, if dull, legacy have used post-Sept. 11 fervor to mask a breathtaking succession of careless gaffes, willful money grabs, abuses of constitutional rights and outright lies.

"Never mind that W didn't win the popular vote in 2000. Never mind that the biggest one-day slaughter of Americans since the Civil War Battle of Antietam occurred squarely, as we used to say in the Navy, on his watch. Or that his national security team has been so flat-footed it has not, to this day, located the mastermind behind the Sept. 11 carnage. .....

"Still we will be marching today. I may even stick a little flag on my softball visor. It's my flag too, isn't it? Or does it belong only to those who are taking the creepy advice of W's press secretary to "watch what they say"?

"Not on your life. It's still a day for Americans to speak out and be heard. Come to think of it, maybe this 4th of July isn't so untimely after all."