Tag: 4th of July

Happy 4th of July to all

Happy 4th of July to all

There’s no way I would pass on an opportunity to observe a 4th of July. No way.

But it’s also true that it feels different this year.

It’s felt different for me and a whole lot of other patriots for the last three times the 4th has come around. And it certainly does now in 2020.

It’s not the same joyful celebration while our president is working as hard as he can to strangle Lady Liberty.

And that’s made worse by the fact that he’s been engaged in this hateful and dark undertaking for almost four years now. And our democracy is hanging by a thread.

I am hopeful that our Republic will see better days. I’m cautiously optimistic that the pall that has been cast over our Country will be lifted by the next time we celebrate.

I’m praying and working and contributing to increase the chances that it will.

Happy 4th to everyone.

“Bulldog Ben” Basile

© 2020 Ben Lawrence Basile


Photo credit Benjamin Basile

It’s the 4th of July and this time…

It’s the 4th of July and this time…

It’s the 4th of July and this time our celebration is not like any other year in the 242 year history of our country.

The buffoon whose elevation to the highest office in the land occurred in January of 2017 has proved to be an unmitigated disaster for the USA. This #PoserPrez seems to spend all of his time watching Fox Noise, thinking of new ways to insult our allies and undo the considerable legacy of Barack Obama, all the while searching for new and disgusting strategies to cozy up to his man-crush, Vladimir Putin.

Well, when he’s not a Mar-a-Lago playing golf, that is.

There are so many dimensions to the tragedy unfolding in our corporate life today. As we come to the day on which we celebrate our Independence, it can be a challenge to choose exactly what it is about tRump and tRumpism that sucks the worst.

Is it his cruelty and arrogance? His hard-to-believe, near-total ignorance of the history of our nation? The fact that he knows less-than-zero about how the levers of government work?

Could it be the fact that he demonstrates no interest in carrying out the duties of the Presidency? Is it his complete and thoroughly-documented general incompetence?

Maybe it’s his constant lying, exaggerating, denying, minimizing and just completely making shit up?

Honestly, it’s hard to choose. Pick one. Keep in mind that my short list here is far from complete. Truthfully, I barely scratched the surface.

For me, it’s easy. It’s the fact that our #LyingLoserPrez is trying to march the country towards Fascism. All the signs are there. He is undermining the First Amendment’s protection of journalism, of a free press. He screams “fake news” whenever anyone in the media points out one of his constant lies or just refuses to flatter him sufficiently in their stories.

He is setting us up for a foray into fascism with his constant “other-rizing” of immigrants and minority groups, pushing them farther and farther to the edge of our society and making them vulnerable to having their rights limited or taken away altogether.

Our constitution mandates that everyone within the jurisdiction of the United States receives the protections it affords. Not only citizens. But our unPOTUS still feels perfectly at liberty to separate children from their parents, some of whom are as young as six months, and then lock them in cages; the few places we have been permitted to see where kids have been interned look startlingly like dog kennels.

And this is happening to families whose only crime is the misdemeanor of crossing the border illegally. That describes, roughly, 90% of the families and individuals who have been rounded up by ICE or the Border Patrol. If people crossing the border are asking for asylum, their coming to the U.S. is no crime at all! But they’re being interned and having their children taken anyway without a case being opened for their asylum request.

This would-be tyrant is also fond of ignoring the rule of law. Of acting as though the law of the land simply doesn’t apply to him. And–to compound the felony here–he believes that he has unfettered power to pardon, not only all his family and friends and staff who have engaged in criminal behavior along with him, but to pardon himself!

Right! That’s never been done in the United States. And wrap your mind around this stark reality: our President is claiming the right to pardon himself for crimes he keeps insisting he has not committed! It’s insane! And about 25% of the American people have no problem with it. Or any other criminal outrage coming from the accursed occupant of our White House.

So Happy 4th of July, patriot! Reflect on the unhappy state of our nation today. And resolve to defend Lady Liberty from the many crimes and outrages committed by this petty, corrupt madman. This thoroughly incompetent madman, at that!

And join your fellows in the resistance movement. If we don’t make common cause with one another and defend our once-great nation from this usurper, his enablers and minions, this 242nd celebration for America may be the last one where all her citizens enjoy the full rights and blessings granted them by the Constitution.

 

 

“Bulldog Ben” Basile

 

© Ben Lawrence Basile

 

Photo credit Ben Lawrence Basile

 

 

A Visit to the Valiant Air Command Warbird Museum

A Visit to the Valiant Air Command Warbird Museum

I wanted to do something different with the time I had over the 4th of July weekend this year. I opted to visit the Valiant Air Command Warbird Museum in the end even though I made the final choice at the moment I saw the sign about 250 ft ahead of me! (The visit has been on my list for a very long time, however!)

They have quite an assortment of aircraft from every war or conflict I can think of. You can go through the five different exhibits at your own pace or go with a guide. One of the last stops on the guided tour is the restoration hanger; you must be accompanied for that one. There are several restoration projects going on right now, including the nose section of a B-52.

One of these days I want to take the C-47 ride! And no, that’s not included in the cost of regular admission! It’s now officially on my bucket list! I’m gonna do it! Here’s a look at the Tico Belle, who shall one day carry Bulldog over the skies of East Central Florida:

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The museum has had their spot at the Space Coast Regional Airport for many years and there are entrances on US 1 and on SR 405. Finding it isn’t hard. But I venture to say — based on my visit — that the museum could use a few more guests to come through. And don’t forget that they sponsor a first-class air show at S.C.R.A. every spring. The date had to be moved up a bit this year because of a conflict, but making this event is one way to support this worthy non-profit and its museum.

One more thing about this event: the show has been called The Tico Warbird Airshow from its inception but the name going forward is The Space Coast Warbird Airshow. Same event, same very able folks behind it.

For complete information about the annual Space Coast Warbird Air Show coming in April of 2018, just click here.

 

 

“Bulldog Ben” Basile

Miscellaneous note: if you’re wondering where the Tico comes from in former name of the annual airshow or the name of the AP authority, it’s from Titusville-Cocoa Airport Authority. The Space Coast Regional airport sits in Titusville, very close to Cocoa and serves both communities as well as the greater Space Coast region.

 

Photo credit Benjamin Lawrence Basile

Fave Fotos: My Star Spangled Futon

Fave Fotos: My Star Spangled Futon

Several months ago I found this amazing specimen of patriotic folk art at a discount store and brought it home. I’ve still not found a suitable place to hang it on the wall so it’s living against one wall of the dining room.

I haven’t hung it, but I sure did snap it! Truth be told, taking shots of it was my aim from the beginning. It may never adorn my wall but I’ve made it into four or five photos that occupy a special place within my patriotic heart. For this one, I laid the flag on my futon while the light was streaming in from the bedroom window.

One of the more clean, simple results of that shoot has been featured here on my blog before this; that post is called You’re a Grand Old Flag and was posted on July 4th of this year. This shot is just a bit more artsy; I thought the way the shadows lay across Old Glory made for a good photo. The shoot produced more than those two pics but I’ll stick with these two for now.

I hope you’re doing well today as we reach the 1st of September. Labor Day is right around the corner. It’s not autumn yet, but we’re awfully close. It is, without a doubt, my favorite time of year. A lot of photo opportunities and a lot of good sports going on. Ah, but those are topics for other posts on other days.

I hope you like this flag-futon foto. The American flag wall hanging, residing on my futon with beams of light from the bedroom window cascading over its surface.