“I believe in the United States of America as a Government of the people by the people, for the people, whose just powers are derived from the consent of the governed; a democracy in a Republic; a sovereign Nation of many sovereign States; a perfect Union, one and inseparable; established upon those principls of freedom, equality, justice, and humanity for which American patriots sacrificed their lives and fortunes.
I therefore believe it is my duty to my Country to love it; to support its Constitution; to obey its laws; to respect its flag, and to defend it againest all enemies.”

I wonder how many of our elected officials know these words. It was written by William Tyler Page. For a brief history, see the following website
http://www.usflag.org/americancreed.html

The Libertarian Party is your representative in American politics. It is the only political organization which respects you as a unique and competent individual.

America’s Heritage

Libertarians believe in the American heritage of liberty, enterprise, and personal responsibility. Libertarians recognize the responsibility we all share to preserve this precious heritage for our children and grandchildren.
Free and Independent

Libertarians believe that being free and independent is a great way to live. We want a system which encourages all people to choose what they want from life; that lets them live, love, work, play, and dream their own way.
Caring For People

The Libertarian way is a caring, people-centered approach to politics. We believe each individual is unique. We want a system which respects the individual and encourages us to discover the best within ourselves and develop our full potential.
Principled; Consistent

The Libertarian way is a logically consistent approach to politics based on the moral principle of self-ownership. Each individual has the right to control his or her own body, action, speech, and property. Government’s only role is to help individuals defend themselves from force and fraud.
Tolerant

The Libertarian Party is for all who don’t want to push other people around and don’t want to be pushed around themselves. Live and let live is the Libertarian way.

Probably, the only real criticism is that in the series, they could have one main story line going each episode, and maybe start or end another minor story line. In the movie, they ran with, and had to finish, several story lines at once…so it was excellent, and right on a par with the series, but the movie was, not surprisingly, a little “busy” as compared to the series.

Well, I hope.

I think you and Mr. Ewing are right: it’s our childhood we miss, when we go back. What I remember, and miss, are lazy summer days when my brother and I would go downtown barefoot, even to the courthouse, where we’d climb the cool marble stairs indented in the middle by generations of feet, and watch our father “perform” in court from the balcony. We’d hop from shady spot to shady spot on the sidewalk, to avoid blistering our feet. We’d go to the movies (yes, barefoot) and watch double features with those old authoritative-voiced black and white news clips.

And Wednesday afternoons, before choir practice, when my friends John and Joe and I would go to the druggist counter downtown to have cherry Dr. Peppers with peppermint dissolved in them, followed by hamburgers with grilled onions and mayonnaise.

We can never go back. But we have our memories, and maybe they’re almost as good as going back….

Happy birthday and congratulations on maintaining an outstanding blog. I check it daily and know that I can always find interesting discussions of political and other issues here, especially with a Florida angle.