This painting reminds me of the now famous toppling of Saddam’s statue in Iraq.

I hope that Sarah Palin gets the time off she deserves. I hope that the media vultures leaveher family alone. I hope that John McCain’s staffers offer no opinions. I hope that the Leftie blogs don’t go as full-blown crazy as I suspect they will. I hope that if she decides to run for office again, it’ll be in a venue where I may vote for her (again), though I think that “President Palin” is out for 2012 at the very least.

And if she decides to stay out of politics, I hope she makes gobs and gobs of money in the private sector.

No one ever says that. It’s always “Happy July 4th.” It bugs me.

On this day in 1776, the wording of the Declaration of Independence was approved. Sure, it was one giant “Go away ye overbearing olde fuckers!” to the British Empire. That part was fabulous in its own right; but further than that, the document itself isn’t just the embryo of the United States. There’s true greatness contained there. And it’s all in one of the most famous sentences ever:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

There’s never been a greater statement of human rights. And it’s right there, in the genesis of our country. We should all be proud of it.

More than a just celebration of our nation’s birthday, July 4th is a celebration of one of the most important documents in history. It’s a celebration of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It’s a celebration of what this country could be, of what awaits us if we look to the past 233 years. And the name “Independence Day” is a reminder of that.

So happy Independence Day! May we all be free as our founding fathers dreamed.

I’m going to go pursue some happiness by flame-scorching some pig then smothering it in a sweet tomato-based sauce.

Despite all of the nonsense of this past week, I have been keeping my eye out on Washington. The cap and trade nightmare passed the House by 7 votes. Eight of the pro votes were from Republicans. Eight. I’m pretty angry over it.

These days, I don’t expect Republicans to be fiscal conservatives (that may have once been true, but it certainly isn’t today). I do expect Republicans not to fall for the hoopla and nonsense surrounding the climate change issue. I do expect Republicans to be slightly more circumspect when it comes to wrecking the economy. And I certainly do expect Republicans to at least put up some sort of resistance when met with crazy liberal economic plans. But those eight didn’t even put up a token show.

To be clear, I’m not blaming all Republicans. But I do think this is pretty  indicative of the state of the Republican party, in general.

PERSONALLY: My family is living spare. We gardened this year, not because we wanted to garden, but because we hoped it would offset grocery costs and make our rice and bean diet a little more palatable. We’ve been somewhat successful this year, having already pickled a dozen cans of cucumbers, we’re going to do probably 6 more this weekend. It’s been a blessing that we all love fried green tomatoes. And thank the Gods that I can cook from scratch; all of those “basic emergency storage” foods we stockpiled in 1999 have come in handy.

I haven’t bought clothes in 2 years. I’ve sold my expensive office wear, shoes, corsets, and coats on eBay. And now that times are tough even on eBay, I’m thinking of taking some of my household goods from my old home that are packed up in the garage and selling them at a trade day nearby. I don’t write this for sympathy. I write this because we’re on the raggedy edge like many Americans.

There isn’t a single sector of the economy that will not be affected by the cap and trade plan. And all of that will trickle down to the everyday consumer, to us. After all, companies don’t pay taxes; they just pass their tax costs on to the consumer.

Higher energy costs will force my family to make tough decisions. Almost certainly, we’ll lose the satellite, which is becoming less and less of a problem with all the junk that’s on it. I imagine that we’ll need to decide between natural gas and electricity this winter.

From reading other blogs, I know we’re not the only people in such circumstances. From talking to extended family, I know that there are many more than I first suspected. And this is the time Obama chose to push behemoth energy increases. Aren’t we struggling enough? What’s worse than the raggedy edge? A spiraling free-fall? A plummeting splat?

One would almost suspect that it is Obama’s intention to destroy the US economy.

Lately, I’ve become bored with food. My old recipe standby (salt + pepper + olive oil + heat) can work on practically any food, meat or vegetable, and I think that because it has been such a reliable combination, I’ve used it too much. That has become boring. And if there’s one thing I’ve learned as a lifetime food addict, it’s that when the good healthy food you make is boring, you start looking for other, unhealthy substitutes. It’s the nature of the beast.

So in trying to cook with more varied spices, I’ve been watching a lot of Food Network. It’s about to drive me crazy. Every American chef now uses the Rachel Ray “give it a” phrase. Instead of saying “stir the soup”, they’ll say “give the soup a stir.” Instead of  “tie the pork tenderloin”, they’ll say “give the tenderloin a tie.” It’s stupid. Give it a stop!

They all do it. Why? It’s unnecessary and it’s annoying. The one exception has been Nigella Lawson. Maybe she doesn’t speak thus because she’s British. Maybe it’s because she’s not an idiot. Whatever the reason, thank Gawd for Nigella. She’s been a 30 minute block of sanity in the midst of hours of crazy. (Though to be perfectly honest, I don’t understand her fascination with frozen peas.)

PEACHES AND MINT JULEP? MERCY: I’m a true Georgia Girl; I love peaches. And mint julep is my favorite mixed drink. Nigella mixed the two. You know I’m trying that recipe as soon as I replace that empty bottle of bourbon and find some fresh peaches.