Fourth of July

(Newser) - Thomas Jefferson may be a founding father, but that doesn’t stop President Bush’s speechwriters from editing his words as they see fit, Ed Brayton writes on his blog, Dispatches from the Culture Wars. In a July 4 speech, Bush recited a famous Jefferson quote on “the blessings...

(Newser) - For black Americans, patriotism is a complex sentiment, but "complicated relationships tend to be the deepest and strongest," writes Eugene Robinson in the Washington Post. Barack Obama’s candidacy shows how far we've come, but "it is not common, in my experience, for sitting US senators to...

(Newser) - With Takeru Kobayashi’s hot-dog hegemony in doubt at tomorrow's Coney Island throwdown, the Village Voice accompanies a pair of contenders as they train for the event. Roommates Crazy Legs Conti and Tim Janus hit an all-you-can-eat sushi bar in preparation for Nathan's July 4th institution, the 10-minute contest described...

(Newser) - Thousands of Harleys roared past Washington's Vietnam Veterans Memorial yesterday in what has become a Memorial Day weekend tradition: the "iron salute" of members of national veterans organization Rolling Thunder.  It's a festival of engines, leather, denim and patriotism, reports the Washington Post.