“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” - Aristotle

From “The Human Condition: A User’s Manual,” by Arnold Kunst

5 July

The Declaration of Independence was signed by 56 men. They were educated and wealthy, the cream of society of what proported to be a fledgling but independent nation grandiously called “The United States of America.” They were also politicians, but different from those you and I automatically deride - these days “crooked” is to “politician” as “wet” is to “water.” Why different? Because with their signatures they were, each one of them, signing their own death warrant. All execution would require was the proximity of a British noose close to the necks in question. The glory they were destined to receive depended on the successful conclusion of a war for independence of 13 scrawney colonies hugging the Eastern seaboard of the North American continent with a population of approx. three million, the equivalent to that of today’s San Francisco Bay Area - against the unparalleled might of the British Empire. [Point of comparison: all thought of rebellion by those pesky Scotts was thumpingly crushed in 1745, only a few years before, at the Battle of Culloden. Great Britain, once engaged in military endeavors, didn’t lose.] These 56 were made of sterner stuff than the glib, glad-hand-Harry politicians of today, and deserve, even to this day, our undying gratitude.