Good morning. In less than an hour, aircraft from...

Good morning.

In less than an hour, aircraft from here will join others from around the world, and you will be launching the largest aerial battle in the history of mankind. Mankind. That word should have new meaning for all of us today. We can’t be consumed by our petty differences any more. We will be united in our common interest.

Perhaps it’s fate that today is the 4th of July, and you will once again be fighting for our freedom. Not from tyranny, oppression, or persecution… but from annihilation. We’re fighting for our right to live, to exist; and should we win the day, the 4th of July will no longer be known as an American holiday, but as the day when the world declared in one voice, “We will not go quietly into the night! We will not vanish without a fight! We’re going to live on, we’re going to survive.”

TODAY, WE CELEBRATE OUR INDEPENDENCE DAY.

Good ol’ jingoism. I like to pretend that the character Pullman played in A League of Their Own (as an injured WWII vet) was the father of Thomas Whitmore. Nothing in either film corroborates this belief. Which means it is absolutely true (so Geena Davis is likely the mother of the President).

Also: when I got my first TV (with built-in VCR!) in my bedroom at around age 12, I would set the sleep timer to wake at 7 AM and to play the video in the VCR. And I would cue the Independence Day VHS to the beginning of this speech. So, yeah. I woke up to this for a few weeks (and it wasn’t even remotely close to July). That’s embarrassing and ‘Merican.