Yeah, Happy Independence Day.

I got chastised by a reader this morning (via e-mail) because I didn't write the obligatory July 4th blog entry today...but it wasn't because I forgot. I'm just not in the mood. It's just hard for me to get all rah-rah about our nation when criminal acts are being perpetrated without redress, 67,000 people are dead in a pointless war, people are starving to death in the richest nation on the planet, we're microwaving the environment, and women, gays, people of color, immigrants and the poor still don't have equal protection under the law. And "independence"? Hardly...we're dependent on oil, dependent on Wal-Mart, dependent on China. We're nothing like what we claim to be.

Do I love America? Sure. But I suggest you celebrate today by going to see Sicko, and thinking -- as I am -- about what each of us can personally do to fix it. And whether moving to Canada is worth all the freezing weather.