![](\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/c\/c1\/American_1902_Fourth_of_July_fireworks.jpg\/1024px-American_1902_Fourth_of_July_fireworks.jpg\")
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“American children of many ethnic backgrounds celebrate [July 4th] in 1902 Puck<\/a>\u00a0cartoon…”<\/em><\/p>\n * \u00a0 * \u00a0 * \u00a0 *<\/p>\n But in what was<\/em> <\/strong>the\u00a0old country<\/a>\u00a0– to most if not all Founding Fathers<\/a>\u00a0– the tune was called God Save the Queen<\/a>.<\/p>\n (In a totally-unrelated side-note, Cary Grant<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Jim Hutton<\/a>\u00a0sang the first verse – of My Country, ‘Tis of Thee\u00a0–\u00a0<\/strong>in the 1966 film “Walk, Don’t Run<\/a>” – shown at left – “while simultaneously Grant and\u00a0Samantha Eggar<\/a>\u00a0sang ‘God Save the Queen.'”)<\/em><\/p>\n There’s more about that incipient<\/a>\u00a0dichotomy<\/a>\u00a0further below, but first it should be noted that today is July 4th, and that’s better known as\u00a0Independence Day<\/a>.<\/p>\n Independence Day [commemorates] the adoption of the\u00a0Declaration of Independence<\/a>\u00a0241\u00a0years ago on July 4, 1776. \u00a0The\u00a0Continental Congress<\/a>\u00a0declared that the\u00a0thirteen American colonies<\/a>\u00a0regarded themselves as a new nation, the\u00a0United States of America<\/a>, and were no longer part of the\u00a0British Empire<\/a>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n To repeat that last part: \u00a0What had been 13 American colonies “were no longer part of the\u00a0British Empire<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong>” \u00a0Which is another way of saying that “things had changed,” and that change\u00a0was exemplified by our singing\u00a0My Country, \u2018Tis of Thee<\/a>,\u00a0not God Save the Queen<\/a>.<\/p>\n And now a word about\u00a0Puck<\/a>, the magazine…<\/p>\n The source of the cartoon at the top of the page –\u00a0Puck<\/a>\u00a0– was the “first successful\u00a0humor magazine<\/a>\u00a0in the United States of colorful\u00a0cartoons<\/a>,\u00a0caricatures<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0political satire<\/a>\u00a0of the issues of the day. \u00a0It was published from 1871 until 1918.”<\/p>\n Did you get that last? \u00a0Political satire<\/a>!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Which is another way of saying that any real<\/em><\/strong> American will always retain his or her sense of humor, up to and including the ability to laugh at himself. \u00a0(Or herself.)<\/em> \u00a0And that’s another way of saying that no<\/em><\/strong> real American will ever be too\u00a0thin-skinned<\/a>\u00a0to do his job. \u00a0(Or hers.)<\/em><\/p>\n Not that that observation applies to current events or anything… \u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Which just goes to show that\u00a0there’s nothing new under the sun<\/a>. \u00a0<\/em>But now: \u00a0Getting back on track…<\/p>\n Last July 5th, I posted\u00a0On the Independent Voter<\/a>.<\/p>\n The key point I made – last year at this time – was the growing refusal to compromise in politics,\u00a0“and compromise is the keystone of a American democracy.” \u00a0That in turn has led to the growth of black and white thinking<\/a>. \u00a0“Psychologists call that\u00a0splitting<\/a>, or ‘the failure in a person\u2019s thinking to bring together the\u00a0dichotomy<\/a>\u00a0of both positive and negative qualities of the self and others into a cohesive, realistic whole.'”<\/p>\n And that in turn has led to the growth of the “Independent voter,” and just in time…<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n That is, there seems to be a growing fallacy – among Conservatives – that they are the only real<\/em> <\/strong>Americans. \u00a0See for example\u00a0Conservatives Who Believe in ‘Trumpism<\/a>:”<\/p>\n The number of high-profile conservative commentators who enthusiastically support Donald Trump is relatively small. \u00a0But the number of high-profile conservative commentators who enthusiastically support \u201cTrumpism\u201d is higher. \u00a0Trumpism is the belief that Trump\u2019s followers constitute the \u201creal America\u201d<\/strong> and that anyone who does not validate their grievances is an elitist who neither understands nor cares about ordinary folks.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Which leads to this “something to think about.” \u00a0If the Founding Fathers had been Conservative, we wouldn’t be celebrating the Fourth of the July today, would we?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n * \u00a0 * \u00a0 * \u00a0 *<\/p>\n * \u00a0 * \u00a0 * \u00a0 *<\/p>\n The upper image is courtesy of\u00a0Independence Day (United States) – Wikipedia<\/a>. \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Re: Americans’ ability to laugh at themselves. \u00a0See the quote from\u00a0Desi Arnaz<\/a><\/em>\u00a0at\u00a0American people have the ability to laugh at themselves<\/a>: \u00a0“American<\/a>\u00a0people<\/a>\u00a0have the\u00a0ability<\/a>\u00a0to\u00a0laugh<\/a>\u00a0at\u00a0themselves<\/a>. \u00a0It is\u00a0one<\/a>\u00a0of the\u00a0things<\/a>\u00a0that\u00a0makes<\/a>\u00a0this\u00a0country<\/a>\u00a0the\u00a0<\/em>great<\/a>\u00a0country that it is.” \u00a0See also\u00a0Why Laughing at Yourself May Be Good for You<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n Re: \u00a0Nothing new under the sun. \u00a0See also\u00a0Ecclesiastes 1:9<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n Re: \u00a0Refusal to compromise. \u00a0See\u00a0The Spirit of Compromise: Why Governing Demands It and Campaigning Undermines It<\/a>, and\/or\u00a0The Spirit of Compromise<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n The lower image is courtesy of\u00a0God Save the Queen<\/a>\u00a0…vantagefx.com<\/a>. \u00a0The link is to an article posted February 23, 2016: \u00a0“Brexit Odds and Oil Speculation.”<\/em><\/p>\n \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" “American children of many ethnic backgrounds celebrate [July 4th] in 1902 Puck\u00a0cartoon…” * \u00a0 * \u00a0 * \u00a0 * We know the song better as\u00a0“My Country, ‘Tis of Thee.” \u00a0(The “lyrics of which were written by\u00a0Samuel Francis Smith\u00a0in 1831.”) \u00a0 But in what was the\u00a0old country\u00a0– to most if not all Founding Fathers\u00a0– the tune […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[10],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6286"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6286"}],"version-history":[{"count":26,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6286\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6347,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6286\/revisions\/6347"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6286"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6286"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6286"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/h1>\n
![\"Walk,](\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/en\/3\/37\/Walk%2C_Don%27t_Run.jpg\")
We know the song better as\u00a0“My Country, ‘Tis of Thee<\/a>.” \u00a0(The “lyrics of which were written by\u00a0Samuel Francis Smith<\/a>\u00a0in 1831.”) \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/e\/ee\/Emoticons_Puck_1881_with_Text.png\/411px-Emoticons_Puck_1881_with_Text.png\"){kind=spacer}
But before<\/em> getting back on track, here’s a note for those who think emoticons<\/a>\u00a0were literally or figuratively “invented yesterday.” \u00a0(Or at least only in this century.)<\/em> \u00a0The illustration at right is from the March 1881<\/em> <\/strong>edition of\u00a0Puck magazine<\/a>.<\/p>\nWe’d all be singing “GOD SAVE THE *&^%$ QUEEN!”<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n
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