I'm bemused each each by all the flag waving and patriorgasms around July 4. Not one aspect of American life lives up to the nationalistic mythology we're force-fed every day. One needs only to look at Portland Police Bureau's continuing abuse and disregard for federal law and the DOJ requirements for the treatment of the mentally ill. And then there are all the cops shooting and killing Black folks in America. So yeah, fly your flags, and pretend the US is a democratic, free society. "The United States is a nation of laws, badly written and randomly enforced." Zappa