Yep, I think you can tell it’s me.

This Saturday we will celebrate our nation’s 233rd birthday — that’s 233 years of freedom, liberty, and the American dream. In this essay which I wrote specifically for today, you’ll find my emphasis on the importance of our military and just how powerful the American spirit is.

Download the essay – All rights reserved. (160 KB PDF)

Full text of Richard Escobedo’s Essay, The Resilience of the American Spirit:

Americans today, more than ever, are bound together by an invisible, powerful and everlasting force. While intangible, this force, better known as the American spirit is resilient when challenged, unbreakable in times of hardship, but best of all, it’s the driving force behind the America that we know and love.

233 years ago today, our nation declared it’s independence from the tyrants of Great Britain — our forebears had sought to relieve themselves of English oppression and to establish a country diverse in culture, religion, and thought. Today, we celebrate that — as one country, one people, one nation under God. As of late, many Americans have fallen on hard times, there’s no use in avoiding the challenges that we face, but what is avoidable is all of the criticism, the arguing, the bickering surrounding our nation’s predicament. By no means am I condoning that anyone continue to stop speaking their mind — if anything is to be taken from this essay, it’s that I strongly encourage you to continue to exercise your right to free speech. But on this day of celebration, we need to put aside our differences and restore the American precept that out of  many we are one.

E Pluribus Unum — the unofficial motto of our nation has reminded us time and time again that alone, we are delicate and exposed; but together, as one we are skillful, robust, and ready for the greatest achievements in the history of man. On 9/11, nearly 3,000 Americans were brutally murdered in the worst attack on this nation since Pearl Harbor — regardless of whether or not that number was smaller or God forbid bigger, we as citizens of the greatest nation on earth were all affected. We feared for our lives — for the lives of others, especially for our freedom which we had taken for granted. But in that attack, in the problems that we have faced since that terrible and haunting September morning as well as in the unforeseen situations which we will confront in the future, together, our spirit has remained strong; our desire to advance our race, encourage democracy, and to defend the sacred heritage of liberty and pursue the great gift of freedom has not faltered. It will be said time and time again that we are one nation, under God, and I firmly believe that — our government was specifically founded upon religious freedom, yet our founding father’s were wise when framing the basis for our nation — they drew that simple, yet meaningful line between church and state which still lives on in the living, breathing document known as the United States Constitution.

To those who say that the American century has come to it’s end — that it’s time for us to step aside… silently — that we need to swallow our pride and move on, well, I don’t believe in that and I don’t believe that the millions of Americans who have given their lives so that today, we can celebrate our independence exempt from tyranny, injustice, and despotism believe in  that either. Tell that to brave the men and women who fought at Normandy, tell that to our founding fathers, to the American heroes who walk our streets everyday, unnoticed — tell that, to the Marines.

The fourth of July is truly the American holiday. It’s a time when we come together, barbecue, stand around the grill with friends and share good company. Yet, no matter how much older our nation gets, there’s always something distinct about each fourth of July. Whether it’s a problem which our nation faces, or it’s as profound and seemingly simple as the world being at peace, this holiday, to put it frankly, holds deep meaning in the hearts of Americans everywhere.

We should take today to not only celebrate and take to heart another year of liberty in this blessed land, but to embrace a spirit of appreciation for the brave men and women who have selflessly fought to defend and uphold our freedom; to ensure that there will always be a last place on earth — the United States of America. Often their valor and dedication is spoken of — their selflessness and resolve to see through that our cherished gift of freedom will live on for generations to come — that their children’s children will have something to pass onto their own children — this is the America we know. The America we love, the America in which all things are possible. But, not as often and well, sometimes overlooked are the families standing right beside our Sailors, Marines, Soldiers, Airmen, and Coast Guardsmen; these military families pay the ultimate price going days, possibly even weeks without hearing from a loved one who is deployed overseas. We are forever indebted to these gallant and spirited men and women and there is nothing that we can do to repay them; It’s within these military families that the character of a great nation lies; they are the gatekeepers of freedom, ensuring our own prosperity as well as their family’s. We thank them today, as well as each and everyday that we awaken to another glorious, American morning.

Through wars, financial hardship, and other situations which have put our country in a difficult position, the American spirit has brought us closer together each and every time. When angry, it’s helped to turn frustration into patience; in the face of danger, it’s brought us courage; when doubtful, it’s brought us optimism; when sad, it’s filled our hearts with love and tranquility. The power that our spirit has and brings is immeasurable — each time we’ve been tested, the power of the American spirit has pushed us forward, moving us in the right direction in order to deliver again our beloved freedom. But what few realize is that the American spirit resonates within all of us — whether we choose to acknowledge it or not, we, as citizens of America make up the very fabric of the American spirit. And that is something that I’m especially proud to be apart of.

Happy fourth of July, and may God bless America.

I don’t know if I’d want a third term or necessarily to have him as president for life but I believe that he doesn’t get as much credit as he deserves… Nonetheless, he wasn’t perfect and I acknowledge his mistakes.

Of course, every time that I’m given the chance to blame President Clinton, I take it! My opinion of President Clinton… well, I’ll save that for another blog post.

Via Totally Whatever

(Via @Stammy)

Here are a few pictures:

I’m not going to lie — I’m going to flat out say that writing a book is a pain. It’s so strange because when I blog I don’t necessarily have to be super specific — I can just write however I want to. What’s compliated about the style of writing I’ve gotten into is that I have to come across professional, yet I have to adapt complicated technical jargon to regular people-speak.

The hardest part of writing a book is the writing — it’s continuing to write, trying to elaborate as much as possible to get your point across, and of course getting it down. I’ve chose not to type out my initial manuscript because I’ve found the computer too distracting. In fact, in writing this very blog post, I’ve wandered around the Internet and my computer as well as turning to watch some of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (I guess I should just turn off my TV).

Overall, this is a very intresting and exciting process! I can’t wait to have an actual physical copy of the book in my hands mid-winter next year (Feb 2010ish)!