Independence Day & El Buen Rey Marco

Today my countrymen celebrate American Independence from Britain.  A lot could be said but I will limit my comment to quoting Benjamin Franklin who, at the end of the Constitutional Convention in 1787, responded to a questioner who had inquired as to the form of government America was to have now and said, “A republic…if you can keep it.”  (Yes, I know we are celebrating the Declaration of Independence and not the Constitution, but that’s the quote I wanted to use).

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My family and I will be commemorating the birthday of our homeland today with a lot of food, drink and maybe some movies.  At sundown we’re going to sing the National Anthem (or possibly Dixie), and shoot fireworks at the homes of friends of ours who still swear allegiance to The Crown.  We’ll see who has a sense of humour and who doesn’t…

Bloggers are supposed to share silly little things from their personal life as a means of endearing themselves to readers, and readers are supposed to post back with their own plans.

Here are the movies nominated by the boys in the house:

Gods & Generals

Patton

Godfather

Dirty Dozen

Rocky

Patriot

Midway

Tombstone

Saving Private Ryan

The girls of the house have nominated:

Pride & Prejudice

Terms of Endearment

Sense & Sensibility

Ann of Green Gables/Avonlea

Life is Beautiful

English Patient

High School Musical

We use a parliamentary system of voting, and therefore the girls thought they would nominate fewer movies and compensate for their fewer numbers by voting for their movies and no others.  Fortunately there are more danglers than not so we will be watching:  Patton, Rocky and Gods & Generals.

Update: Since my family is not a republic but instead a benevolent monarchy, and because as monarch I have domestic peace and tranquility foremost among my priorities, I have overruled the popular vote and replaced ‘Rocky’ with the top vote-getter among the females, ‘Sense and Sensibility’.