"Freedom is not an end. Freedom is a beginning." -- Benazir Bhutto

 Benazir Bhutto was a prime minister of Pakistan twice -- an amazing accomplishment for a secular woman in a mostly Muslim, male-dominated country. Despite a wealthy childhood, she was imprisoned and paid her dues several times over before being assassinated in 2007 by a nutjob too common in that part of the world. The sheer oil wealth of the Saudis plus others from the region is now polluting the US sports world and threatens even more because money is more important to too many, regardless of who suffers. Or who is killed and cut up in an embassy while our nation turned its back.  

I will not apologize for my criticism of and intolerance for countries ruled with Muslim 12th-century misogyny and theocracy. This isn't a criticism of the religion. I have the same problems with restrictive interpretations of Christianity and Judaism, plus any other philosophy that selects who is more favored over others because of gender or any other subjective criteria.

We have been out on the road in the EU/UK/Canada for a year now. Except for a brief jump into Washington state to see my son and grandkids, we won't be back in the US until September. More than anything else, we will mourn our loss of freedom when we return.

Tomorrow is July 4th and my reaction is summed up with an eyeroll. I simply cannot and will not celebrate a "land of the free" that denies basic rights to over half its population, has a blatantly corrupt Supreme Court and a plurality of electorate that is simply too stupid or too willingly ignorant. The fact that a major party's leading presidential candidate is loudly and consistently a criminal is more than I will tolerate.

We have been out here without a gun culture and in nations with enthusiastic support for all, regardless of race, gender selection, religion or other artificial definitions. It has been, in brief, actual freedom. It's an independence the US cannot imagine, despite tomorrow's fireworks and flag-waving. Sure there are issues in any country. But denial of some basics seems to be more unique to the US anymore.

I am on several expat Facebook sites and on almost all there are US residents trying to find someplace to wave Old Glory and eat hot dogs and celebrate Independence Day. My response is they should sit down and shut the fuck up and realize the bullshit our nation is anymore. They are living in a better place. While the US kinda invented the constitutional republic in the late 1700s, there are a lot of countries doing it a hell of a lot better than we are these days. I've lived in four of them over the past year.

The US is the most heavily armed nation on earth, with more firearms than people. Our per-capita gun ownership is twice the second-place nation (the Falklands) and over twice the #3 nation (Yemen -- be proud of that NRA). We have guns to protect ourselves from who? Others with guns. It's a self-created prison we call "freedom."

Enough.

We don't want to go back to the US but we will because there is Adult Stuff that has to be done. I will return with a combative attitude and no tolerance for bullshit. Like that's a surprise.

"Allons enfants de la patrie, le jour de gloire est arrive...."