Lee Greenwood's patriotic anthem blared over the loud speackers last night. We were at a fireworks show sponsored by a church on a hill above the San Fernando Valley. It's a good show and has quickly become popular and crowded over the years.

But over the years the 4th has evolved. It used to be a celebration of America's birthday. Now it's seemingly usurped Memorial Day and quickly becoming a political marketing device. Instead of "Happy Birthday America" it was a constant call for support of our troops against terrorism.

Which brings me back to Lee Greenwood's anthem. It's wrong. It's almost anti-American. Besides the blatant disregard for separation of Church and State, there's a subtler statement which completely undermines what America is all about yet is precisely what the Government what you to believe. Find it yet?

"And I’m proud to be an American where at least I know I’m free.
And I won’t forget the men who died, who gave that right to me."

How can any people be truly free if they must be beholden to a Government for the right? The song has it completely backwards. Our Government does not give us the right to be free. We did not give our Government our rights. We are free because we choose to be and with that we granted our Government whatever power we choose to give it.

That's the theory.

In reality, our Government is taking our rights under a variety of "reasons" - terrorism - and is quickly becoming what the Soviet Union was during Stalin - a police state where increased "security" comes with severely dminished human rights. where dissenters to the system are labelled as traitors ("You're either with us or for the terrorists" - Bush) and disappear to gulags or Gitmo.

So last night at the fireworks show I was torn between the messages being broadcast and what our country has become. I am proud to be an American but we need to remind our Government that it exists for us.