It's July 4th, the day we celebrate our freedom as Americans. I was thinking earlier today that it is fortunate for people in most parts of the country that the holiday falls in summer; it would be miserable to try to barbecue or watch fireworks in February in upstate New York or Minnesota, for example. On the other hand, our weather here in Florida is usually more pleasant in February, with cooler temperatures and little chance of rain. Today has been quite rainy here in the Sunshine State.
I went out and had lunch with my dad and one of his friends at Smoky Bones. I had the combination platter with pulled pork and smoked beef brisket. I loves me some pulled pork! It's a sports-oriented kind of place, and we got there just as the Nathan's Hot Dog eating contest was finishing. Alas, poor Takeru Kobayashi! He snarfed at the end and almost did the Technicolor yawn. He was defeated by the challenger, Joey Chestnut, 66 hot dogs to 63, and his run of six straight mustard championship belts came to an end.
(Interesting note: My browser gave "technicolor" a red underline as questionable when I didn't capitalize the word, but thought it was fine when I changed it to a capital T. Very strange!)
American most grateful for his freedom today: I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, after President Bush commuted the bogus 2-1/2 year prison sentence that Libby was given for perjury and obstruction of justice. I stated at the time of the conviction that it was the criminalization of politics, that no Republican could expect to get a fair trial in overwhelmingly Democrat Washington, D.C., and that the whole thing was a political lynching/witch hunt when there was no real underlying crime being investigated. Commuting Libby's sentence was one of the very, very few things that Bush has done right of late. It certainly doesn't make up for his support of the amnesty immigration bill, which fortunately was shot down.
