Friday, July 4, 2008

Put your hands behind your head. Step away from the computer. Have a life

For those of you who have actually come to rely on this weblog or its sister site for your weekend dosage of news and commentary, I’m sorry. But I am giving myself a holiday this Independence Day holiday weekend from trying to analyze the news.

That means no fresh commentary for Saturday. Nor will there be anything published Sunday morning. Come back July 7 for a resumption of this site’s publishing schedule of Monday through Friday and a weekend feature.

NOW I KNOW that in the real world, the news never sleeps.

But I couldn’t help but give myself a full-fledged holiday weekend, which will be spent renewing ties with the various factions that comprise my family. I plan to eat and drink too much this weekend, while also giving deep thought as to what it ought to mean to be “an American” in these early days of the 21st Century.

Democracy. Freedom. Independence.

These are all unique concepts, not readily observed in all parts of the world. Due to an accident of birth for many of us, we get to enjoy them on a regular basis. Which is something we ought to remember the next time we have a negative thought of any kind about, “those foreigners.”

SO FOR THOSE of you who actually stumble onto either the Chicago Argus or The South Chicagoan during the Independence Day holiday weekend, my advice to you is to shut off your computer. (For those who find this message in the future, what are you doing reading copy this far back?)

Go out and enjoy life. Find something to do that does not involve the need for an Internet connection. Preferably, it will be something to which the word “digital” is completely irrelevant.

Come Monday, you will feel nice and refreshed. Which is good, because it will be time for all of us to quit slacking off and get back to work.

-30-

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