Safe and Sane Fourth?

I've come to really dislike Independence Day. The premise behind it is dandy but it isn't about that anymore. Lately, it seems to be about idiots setting off fireworks where they shouldn't…and just not on the evening of 7/4 but all damned three-day weekend. Way up in the night sky, when placed there by trained professionals, fireworks can be beautiful and inspiring but down here on the ground, they serve no purpose but to start fires and to scare the bejeesus (I hope I spelled that correctly) out of half the people and all the dogs.

And this Independence Day starts as noted above — with some nut shooting at people at a parade in Highland Park, Illinois. I don't know why anyone does something like this…and on a significantly less important note, I don't know why CNN is referring to this person as an "alleged shooter." If they had a suspect in custody, it would be proper to label that person as such since they haven't been convicted and might not have dunnit. But are they now suggesting that whoever shot those people might not have been a shooter?