David McElroy

I have a confession to make. Up until the day he resigned in 1974, I was a fervent supporter of President Richard Nixon, because I thought he was a victim of political opponents and the “liberal media.” Of course, I was a mere kid at the time, but I was still a True Believer of the worst kind.

When Nixon resigned on Aug. 8, 1974, I finally accepted the truth that had been right in front of me for a long time. I sat down and wrote the letter you see here and it ran on Aug. 18 as a letter to the editor in The Birmingham News. The paper had no way to know it was running a letter from someone who wouldn’t even be eligible to vote for years to come.

I don’t bring this up just to point out my own gullibility — although there’s that, too — but to point to something painfully common. People have a natural instinct to trust politicians who they agree with. They have a tendency to accept almost anything from the ones they like, even though they hold their enemies to a much different standard.

I think about this every time there’s a scandal involving a popular politician. I’ve thought about it recently when it comes to supporters of Barack Obama, who are determined to keep supporting their candidate, even though it should be clear by now that he’s just a black Democrat playing the part of George W. Bush.

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I would have sworn that Jack and Martha were newlyweds if they hadn’t been quite a bit on the older side. When they first came into the fast food restaurant where I was having dinner Monday night, they seemed like a young couple in love. I couldn’t help but smile when I saw them sit at a booth together — side by side instead of across from one another. What I didn’t know then is that they were newlyweds. They just got married Monday.

Jack fell in love with Martha more than 50 years ago, but he was too timid to approach the girl he said was the prettiest in the school. Besides, Martha always had plenty of dates, so he didn’t think she could possibly be interested in a skinny boy with little confidence and no apparent future. That was in the early ’60s at a high school near Birmingham. Neither knew that they would end up together in 2012.

Jack graduated from high school two years ahead of Martha and headed off to college. He kept a picture of Martha that he had gotten from one of her friends. Unknown to him at the time, Martha had wanted Jack to ask her out, but he had never shown any interest.

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Whatever you think of the orgy of nationalism that accompanies a holiday such as the Fourth of July — and you know what I think — I hope you have an enjoyable day with family, friends or someone special.

This picture is from the fireworks display that takes place every year on the top of Birmingham’s Red Mountain for the Fourth. That statue is Vulcan, the Roman god of fire, who represents Birmingham’s roots as a center for iron production. He’s the world’s largest cast iron statue, and it can be fun to take the elevator up to the pedestal on which he stands and see how far you can see.

If you happen to like the picture and you’d like a larger copy, you can download it here. It’s 2880×1800, so it’s set up for the display size of a MacBook with retina display, although it should work just fine at lower resolutions, too.

Have a great day. Enjoy food and fireworks if you can, wherever you are.