Happy Independence Day

The festive red, white and blue bouquet pictured above was found at Cap’n Bob and the Damsel.

Here’s wishing Wizbang readers a safe and happy 4th! I expect to be offline the rest of the day. My family is going to attend a party at a friend’s house and then go to our community fireworks display. Hotdogs will be consumed, no doubt. Below are a few Independence Day links. (Please feel free to add links to holiday items I did not already include through the comments section and trackbacks.)

Michelle Malkin has a good 4th of July roundup including a flashback to that great speech Zell Miller gave at the 2004 Republican Convention. Below is the excerpt Michelle posted. I am sure that most here will remember it well:

Never in the history of the world has any soldier sacrificed more for the freedom and liberty of total strangers than the American soldier.
And, our soldiers don’t just give freedom abroad, they preserve it for us here at home.

For it has been said so truthfully that it is the soldier, not the reporter, who has given us the freedom of the press.

It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech.

It is the soldier, not the agitator, who has given us the freedom to protest.

It is the soldier who salutes the flag, serves beneath the flag, whose coffin is draped by the flag, who gives that protester the freedom he abuses to burn that flag.

John Hawkins has links up to some great retro RWN posts for July 4 (all really good) including this list of Patriotic Quotes and Quotes from Reagan.

Channeling Ben Franklin on the meaning of Indpendence Day, is a compilation at Human Events.

Also at Human Events, Hot Diggity Dog from Tom Purcell.

My post On Patriotism has been updated with links to Betsy Newmark and Sweetness & Light.

Remember what keeps us free.

It appears there will be a 4th of July shuttle launch. That has to be the ultimate fireworks display.

Celebrate freedom and enjoy the day!

Update: The Revolution starts today at the new Townhall.com. The stie has a great new look and content.

Pat Hynes on the birth of a Christian nation.

The Anchoresshas a great roundup of Fourth of July posts on patriotism and freedom (and other stuff).

Update II: The President was in my home state today to speak at Fort Bragg. The transcript of the speech is here.

Update III: Newsbusters has a link to the strange Independence Day fantasy of Alec Baldwin.