The fourth of July is in a couple of days and as I drive out to our little ranch, we see all the Firework stands open for business. Our state has been in a draught for a while, so everything is dry, certain parts of the state have burn bans. But the fourth of July brings out the kid in us, fireworks, picnics, family and of course patriotism.

I live a few blocks from the downtown square of our little town, and as I stand on the street in front of my home, I can look west to the big flag that flies over the buildings. It is always a beautiful sight, especially when the wind is blowing gently and the flag waves slowly in the breeze, reminding me of the freedoms that we tend to take for granted. We have a quaint little square with a courthouse in the middle of the square, a confederate solider to the East of the square reminds us all of a tragic time in our history, but he stands tall as if too look out for all that pass by. There are benches on all four corners of the the courthouse yard and one can sit in the evenings and ponder the world as the sun sets and the square becomes alive with people that take their daily walks or people coming in to dine in the near by restaurants.

One of those wonderful things about being out of the country and returning is your first sight of a flag and this emotion swelling up in your heart that you realize your home, to America, to the best place in the world. My brother has lived in Australia for about 30 years and whenever he visits he has the same feelings, and it almost brings him to tears to get a sight of Old Glory!

America, the Land of the free and the brave. The Republic. I wonder as events unfold before me, as history is being written, as the America I grew up changes, what would the founding father say? I think they wouldn't be happy! Never have I ever felt this clamor of unrest, of the unknown. People are afraid, I am afraid.

My father came here in 1918 from Mexico, he escaped a revolution. My mother was born here and I and my siblings were born here. I have called Texas home for almost 58 years, and of course as a Texan, your not only proud of being an American, but your damn proud of saying I was born here, I was made here, I am a Texan!

There is so much happening in this country. Immigration is a big issue. I cannot say that I have not known discrimination, I can't say that I have felt singled out because of my race. The old woman who followed me around at the local department store for fear that I might steal something, to the teacher who would have rather we not be in her class, to the people that come up to me and speak to me in broken Spanish and then look at me as if I disrespected them for answering in English. But I always brush it off and think that there are less of them in this world then there are people that see me as an American, not a Mexican American, a Latina, a Chicana, or greaser, but see me as an American.

We are all bigoted in some way or another. Even the American born Mexicans especially my age and older who tend to look down at the immigrants. And it isn't because they are illegal, it is because we see them as people that come here, and still live in Mexico, they fly their flags, tell their kids not to speak English at home, and talk bad about America and the people here. My
husband works construction and he tells some of the illegal workers who say, we "gringos' are lazy and do not want to take the jobs they do. He tells them that it isn't that we wouldn't work those jobs, it is because we grew up with the goal of doing something better, our parents worked this jobs, and they wanted better things for us, to go to college, to become doctors, lawyers, engineers, not to work with a pick and shovel. Why would you want to be a laborer all your life and why would you want your children to be laborers all their life's when there is something better.

We live in two worlds here in this country, the people that come from Mexico and beyond and the people that have lived here for generations. Our parents kept our culture, our heritage, but they pushed us to be Americans first and Hispanics second, my fathers words were always, "finish high school, go to college, be something more then your parents" wonderful advice, and though I didn't get a degree and there is still time to work on that, the work ethic that our parents passed on to us we pass on to our kids, the goals of achieving more and being proud of your country, defending it in good times and bad times. My father in law moved his 10 kids to the outskirts of this town, because he didn't want them growing up in the barrio, he knew what could happen to them if they stayed. I guess it helped, they all contribute to this community, they all work hard, they don't stand in line for food stamps, or public assistance, when times are hard and jobs are scarce they hussle looking for work, and still lend a helping hand to the community.

We are Americans. I twitter and some of the post that I read talk about the disappearing White male, and with a bitter and almost hateful tone. I expect to see white hoods and cross burnings on my front yard. We can complain till the world ends, and we can use our minority status as an excuse for all the bad that happens to all of us. I try not to use it, it is hard. And I know many people that sit at home bitter about what life has tossed them, but in any society, life is a battle, life is hard, and the hardest step is getting up and facing the day with the attitude that today is going to be better then yesterday. No one steals from you unless your sleeping, your weak, or you don't protect your property. America the melting pot of the world. I had someone tell me that in a few generations red hair and blue eyes will be almost extinct, sad, because red hair and blue eyed people are some of the most beautiful people in the world, God chose them to be even extra special!

The world sits on the edge of extinction, America sits on the edge of destruction. For years we have sat at home during elections thinking "oh that doesn't effect me, those people have nothing to do with me, it's not important, why vote, it doesn't count....an endless list of reasons. And while we sat at home the politicians have stolen our country. While we sat at home, and decided, oh let the government take care of it, we have lost our freedoms. When our kids run wild, we say, let the schools take care of them, when crime hits our neighborhood we say oh, let the police take care of it, when the park gets trashed at night, we say oh let the city worker take care of it.
And today who is taking care of it the government and who gave them all this power, we did.
So today we fear the government, no longer does the government fear us. They sit on their ivory towers and pass laws that we really don't want, they want to control your health, they want to control what kind of insulation you put in your home, how you heat it, what car you drive, what food you eat, how you discipline your children and you wonder why?

America, the land of the free and the brave. Are we brave enough to stand up to this tyranny, are we free enough to shout to the four winds this is our Freedom, our Country, our Republic, we are the masters, not the government, not the president, we are the people, the people that Thomas Payne, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, fought a revolution for, we were given this country and we have squandered it away like the politicians squander our money. Time is short, and the hands on the clock move ever faster, do we sit and wait for the government to step on us and lead us to slaughter and you know they will. America, our home, the beckon on the mountain, with outstretched hands, the face of liberty, of freedom of justice. We are many, they are few, we are proud and offer no apologies, they are weak and offer slavery.
American, it means something still, though this government would say otherwise.

We have a chance to recoup what we are loosing, elections do count, our votes do count, our voices will be heard through out the land, you just gotta yell a little louder, and stand a little straighter. America's birthday, let it not be the last!

God Bless AMERICA and God bless all her citizens.

In listening to all the talk on TV about Washington, I have come to think of this whole process as a "novella" A soap opera. Mexican, South Americans have the best soap operas. They have a good guy/girl, and a bad guy/girl. And when I say bad, I mean bad, bad to the core, tittering on
the evil and evil at many times. Most of the time the bad person is given the chance to redeem themselves, most chose not too and end up in prison or dying a horrible death.
Like Politics, well maybe not like Politics, novellas have an ending. They generally run 6 months, some a bit more, but they always end.

In watching the MSM, I can often see the soap opera connection to politics. The MSM is the bad guy along with certain politicians. They craft, they plod, they plan, to destroy the good guy.
Lies, planting evidence, leaving out certain truths, bending the truth. And while they plot their evil, there is always the evil smirk, the menacing laugh! Yes, politics, the media, they have lots in common with novella's.

Novella's are addicting more so then your regular daytime soap opera. In Hispanic households throughout the world, everything stops. You cook dinner, you clean your kitchen and then you sit for an hour or two or three, depending on how hooked you are. Here in this market prime-time starts at 6 and for three hours we are the audience to three different novella's. Sometimes, these people become like family, you root for them, you cry with them, you throw your shoe at them. Life at home becomes an extension of the soap opera to some degree. You cannot understand why they don't figure out who the bad guy is, or that the drink they are about to drink, given by the brother who wants to take over the company is laced with either poison, or drugs. Yes even family is not to be trusted, just like in politics, not even your own party can you trust!

Example: A recent novella about a family with an evil wicked step mother. What makes this soap opera more interesting is that the evil step mother for years has portrayed the good girl, and this time around she is this despicable woman, who cheats on her husband with the spouse of her step daughter, at the same time plotting with an unknown face of an evil guy to bring down this family financially and physically. Politics....sometimes, I look at Olberman and think he would
make a good villain in a novella, and Chris Mathew the bumbling accomplice. Sarah Palin would be the good girl. Think about it, in real life, you would not believe that all they do, or say would really be happening in this country, you would tell someone, "your making this up, aren't you"?

Because as I watch the MSM I sit mouth wide open and awed at the comments from this men and the other "journalist" in the media. It amazes me to no end, and it makes me sick to my stomach at the same time. I wonder when they will just say "I hate Sarah Palin", or when they will have a "hate Sarah Palin show". Maybe have an audience who will take turns shooting darts or hell even a gun at a poster with a bulls eye of Sarah Palin. Why not, they detest her. You can see the bile creeping out of the corner of their mouths when they talk of Sarah Palin, or any Republican. Disgust, arrogance, hate. How sad, how very sad for this country.

The media, what can one say about the media, what good can one say about the media? Not much!

So, for the next three years the soap opera will continue, hopefully it won't be renewed, because in the well being of the American people, this novella has got to come to an end.