Lileks put it well:
Of all the secular holidays, the Fourth is the finest: a jingo-happy meat-fest that ends with explosions. Hot sun, beer, potato salad, the aroma of seared food and lighter fluid. Thanksgiving doesn't even come close. Maybe if we cooked an extra turkey and BLEW IT UP...
I assume our Left hates it for all these reasons. They can't even mock it has a religious holiday simultaneously perverted by over-commercialization. It is just a secular holiday. But with the whiff of gunpowder and charred meat in the air and our flag flying above it all, it ain't Earth Day for sure.
July 4th celebrates America without focusing on the problems. It is a day to celebrate that we are a great nation, with problems of course--but not a seething mass of problems and a guilt-ridden past that makes us less than a nation, and a place that we have no right to be proud of.
But then again, this is a holiday for Stupid Americans, which in the end is why our sophisticated Left hates the day and can't wait for day to end.
Our Left complains that the Right doesn't own the flag or patriotism. It would help if they didn't react to the flag and the Fourth like vampires exposed to holy water.
UPDATE SHORTLY THEREAFTER: I do hope reporters naturally gravitate to those like themselves for this mind boggling whinefest:
Happy birthday, America? This year, we're not so sure.
The nation's psyche is battered and bruised, the sense of pessimism palpable. Young or old, Republican or Democrat, economically stable or struggling, Americans are questioning where they are and where they are going. And they wonder who or what might ride to their rescue.
These are more than mere gripes, but rather an expression of fears — concerns reflected not only in the many recent polls that show consumer confidence plummeting, personal happiness waning and more folks worrying that the country is headed in the wrong direction, but also in conversations happening all across the land.
Wondering who will rescue us?
If Americans really are this weak-kneed, God help us if we face a real crisis. Good grief, people, get a pair.
UPDATE: Our reporters feel doom (hey, maybe they're projecting given their medium's many problems) but our people feel pride in America (tip to Mad Minerva):
Soaring gasoline prices, tumbling stocks, the war, the nukes, the bickering between political parties as trouble looms. It is not the most serene Fourth of July on record, certainly.
Yet, despite collective and persistent anxieties, the nation's patriotism remains very much intact. Alive and well, in fact.
Americans are the most patriotic people on the planet, according to researchers at the University of Chicago's National Opinion Research Center who quantified and compared the national sense of pride in 34 countries.
To be fair to other countries, it's easy to be patriotic when you're an American. Our problems are minor in our sweep of history, certainly; and our potential is great especially when compared to other countries.
