Independence Day

I know it's geezer-talk to express a fondness for any time period other than the exact one you're in at the moment, but I'll admit I miss the time when being patriotic didn't necessarily mean that you were a member of any particular political party; when it was okay for moderates, liberals, free-thinkers and garden-variety troublemakers to just come out and say that they love their country; when no one would try to claim that you hate America if you just happen to be wearing the wrong lapel pin...

Actually, the fact that I persist in believing there was such a time probably makes me a geezer in and of itself. But I think the people who claim that if Richard Nixon was alive today and running for President he would be too liberal for either party to go near are probably right. And I remember a time when your lapel pin was your own business, no-bid contracts for companies that the Vice President used to run would have been an Impeachment offense, and you could still buy, transport, possess and use fireworks in my old neighborhood without being arrested for Weapons of Mass Destruction offenses...

For years now, fireworks have been illegal everywhere in the City of Los Angeles, and most (although not all) of the other places in the county as well. What is really odd about that is that here and there within the county (places like Lawndale and Inglewood, for example) individual cities have kept the sale of fireworks (at least, the so-called "safe and sane" ones) legal. In those cities, local civic groups run the fireworks stands every year to raise money, and almost everyone goes to buy some, the implication being that if you really cared about the Boy Scout troop, high school marching band, or little league team, you'd at least go and buy some fireworks. Whereas anywhere else in L.A., if you're caught with anything resembling fireworks today, you'll be on your way to jail...

From an economic standpoint, we can all understand where they are coming from: fireworks CAN be dangerous in the wrong hands (e.g. the very young, the careless, and the stupid), even the relatively low-powered variety being offered for sale elsewhere in the county. The cost in terms of fires that need to be put out, injuries that need to be treated, and people who need to be arrested (for arson, child endangerment, assault, or being a complete and total dumbass) is high, and the City of L.A. is already broke; accordingly, it's probably in the public interest to prevent these sales. And don't even get me started on the effects a few stray sparks (or garbage that's still heated to 1700 degrees F) will have on the dry brush on the hillsides...

From a practical standpoint, however, it doesn't make much sense to ban something in L.A. City if you can get it elsewhere in L.A. County (and many places in the neighboring counties as well). Nor does it make much sense to divert law enforcement resources from more serious matters to pursue those transporting or even using fireworks within the city limits. Especially when the fire department and much of the law enforcement apparatus being used for this purpose is County, rather than City, based...

I don't usually have an easy answer for these questions, and I certainly don't in this case. I only know that tonight I'm going to one of those places where fireworks are still legal, buy as many as I can afford, and spend a few pleasant hours lighting them off...

Happy Independence Day, Everyone!