I’ve been a witness to
history just as you have. America has
been the noblest country the world has ever known and nothing the other side
says will ever persuade me to change my mind.
The greatest
generation liberated Europe in the Second World War, we sent a man to the moon,
we led the Industrial Revolution and ten days after the attacks of 9/11 when
the nation was so terribly sad, my beloved Atlanta Braves played the New York
Mets in Shea Stadium in the first public event after the attacks. The stadium was still being used as a triage
center.
After Marc Anthony
sang “The Star Spangled Banner” the rival teams, standing on the first base and
third base lines, crossed the diamond to hug each and shake hands. Everyone was
rooting for the Mets to win as a symbol of the nation’s resilience.
For game three of the
2001 World Series, President
George W. Bush walked ramrod-straight onto the field of Yankee Stadium and
threw out the first pitch. His pitch
was a perfect strike. The crowd erupted
into chants of “USA, USA, USA.”
The city of New York
had been reduced to rubble, but the crowd swelled with national pride. If baseball could carry on, then so could we. Watching President Bush toss that ball gave
me a lump in my throat and every, and I mean every time I hear the national
anthem I get a lump in my throat.
A “Gibraltar in
cleats”, Lou Gehrig, on July 4, 1939 gave his farewell speech to baseball in
Yankee Stadium—a place dedicated to the courage of men. Seventy-six years ago, with tears streaming
down his face, Gehrig humbly told 61,808 fans in the bleachers that he had been
forced to retire due to ALS.
We are the country that authored the
Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights and we’ve
had more than our fair share of heroes.
This July Fourth I
will ignore the people in the beltway with abscessed hearts who try desperately
to divide us. I am going to remember
what America means to me. Come Monday, I
will take up the fight again.
On this most American
of holidays, I will dwell in a happy place and enjoy the most American of
things: baseball, apple pie and
Independence Day.
I wish you all a safe
and happy Fourth of July. God bless
America.
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