Give me Liberty or give me Harrods

I'm paraphrasing Patrick Henry's rousing comment: “Give me Liberty or give me death” that inspired both Jefferson and Washington to revolution and dissolving the bonds with Britain. I got my inspiration from seeing our secretary of state, John Kerry alighting from his plane in London yesterday onto a mat that said: Harrods Aviation. We're good friends with England now so let's go shopping. First to Harrods and Liberty, two of the major stores as well as Selfridges, started by a man from Chicago. Of course Kerry had a serious agenda: on to Germany for discussions about the refugees and some meetings about Russian actions in Syria. In “1984” Orwell had demoted England to “Airstrip One”. I've spent a lot of time on Airstrip One including a day when I had breakfast in London, lunch in Zurich and dinner in Amsterdam (where I promptly got pneumonia. Of note are other revolutionary quotes updated: “These are the times that try men's wallets” Thomas Paine. “ I have not yet begun to shop” Mrs. John Paul Jones. “I've got the horse right here, his name is Paul Revere”..actually that's “Nicely Nicely Johnson, a gambler in Guys and Dolls. End of today's history lesson and let that be a lesson to you!