I heard a whistle, not a Liberty Bell

gelski — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 18:22:09 +0000

So I’m standing on the curb of Chestnut Street. On my side of the street sits the Liberty Bell. Engraved on the bell is the bible verse Leviticus 25:10, “Proclaim Liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof.”

Independence Hall towers on the other side of Chestnut Street. The Declaration of Independence was adopted in the building. Then about a decade later the Constitution was debated, draft and signed. Washington, Franklin, Jefferson – they all must have crossed Chestnut Street. I imagine Susan B. Anthony did, too. She led a protest by Independence Hall for women’s right to vote on July 4, 1876.

I take a step onto the old brick street. A sharp whistle stops me in my tracks. A park ranger is blowing the whistle. He’s telling me I cannot cross Chestnut Street at that particular spot.

Hanging together for 231 years

gelski — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 18:24:27 +0000

Happy birthday, U.S.A.! You turn 231 tomorrow. Listed below are some quotes that may capture the spirit of the first 231 years.

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“We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately.”

Ben Franklin at the signing of the Declaration of Independence

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“What (Thomas) Jefferson was saying was, `Hey! You know, we left this England place ’cause it was bogus; so if we don’t get some cool rules ourselves – pronto – we’ll just be bogus too! Get it?’ “

Jeff Spicoli, as played by Sean Penn in the movie “Fast Times at Ridgemont High”

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“We were now about to penetrate a country at least two thousand miles (3,219 kilometers) in width, on which the foot of civilized man had never trodden; the good or evil it had in store for us was for experiment yet to determine . . .”

Meriwether Lewis log

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“What to the slave is the 4th of July?”

Frederick Douglass

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“If there is no struggle, there is no progress.”

Frederick Douglass

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“This flag dips to no earthly king.”

U.S. flag bearer and discus champion Martin Sheridan at the 1908 Olympics—–

“You know, every now and then I think you might like to hear something from us nice and easy But there’s just one thing. You see we never ever do nothing nice and easy. We always do it nice and rough. So were gonna’ take the beginning of this song and do it easy. Then were gonna’ do the finish rough. This is the way we do ‘Proud Mary.”

Tina Turner

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“We’re all very different people. We’re not Watusi. We’re not Spartans. We’re Americans. With a capital “A”, huh? And you know what that means? Do you? That means that our forefathers were kicked out of every decent country in the world. We are the wretched refuse. We’re the underdog. We’re mutts.”

John Winger, as played by Bill Murray in the movie “Stripes”

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“Git-r’done!”

Larry the Cable Guy

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I heard a whistle, not a Liberty Bell

Hanging together for 231 years