My favorite all-American Independence Day message wasn’t written on or even about July 4th. And it comes from a Canadian.

It was written and broadcast from Toronto by Gordon Sinclair. He was one of the best-known (and most gutsy) broadcasters in Canada. He wrote it in 1973 at a time – like now – when the U.S. of A. was having lots of problems. And then, as now, we weren’t getting much help from our friends.

Sinclair referred to American efforts to help overseas when there were floods, tsunamis, fires and other disasters. He noted that when America had its problems,

most of the rest of the world looked the other way. Or enjoyed seeing us squirm.

He said Americans are the most generous people on the Earth (probably true) and that when we came out of the current (1973) crisis, we would be entitled to tell the rest of the world to take a flying leap. Which we did (get out of trouble) and didn’t (cut anybody off).

Take time – about 5:06 – to checkout his broadcast. It holds up very well. Might be a good thing to play your kids who will wonder what he’s talking about, and your parents who very well will know what he was talking about.

Meantime, Happy Very Special Holiday.

To reach me, mcausey@federalnewsradio.com

Remembering Suzanne Kubota
Suzanne Kubota, Federal News Radio’s digital content manager, died suddenly after a brief illness Saturday. Kubota edited Mike Causey’s column and initiated the Nearless Useless Factoid. Known for her quick wit, her journalistic principles and her love of the weirdness of the world around her, Kubota worked at WTOP and Federal News Radio for the better part of 20 years. She will be missed terribly.

Nearly Useless Factoid:
According to WeirdFacts.com, it is said the average person speaks only 10 minutes a day. (Special thanks to radio broadcasters for bringing up the average!)

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What else did you miss?
Visit the FederalNewsRadio.com homepage to find out what else you missed while you were celebrating the July 4 holiday, including our stories on COLAs not keeping pace with medical inflation, our interview with Census Director Groves on his agency’s decision to close half its regional offices, and GSA approving its first infrastructure cloud provider.

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