The pursuit of happiness rules Philly

TWO HUNDRED and thirty-seven years later, Philadelphia made another declaration yesterday.

Young and old, in old-school hats and wild hairdos, the pursuit of happiness took over the Benjamin Franklin Parkway last night, as locals and folks who came from all across these United States celebrated the Fourth of July where it all began.

"Hello, Philadelphia. This is a party," Mayor Nutter told the tens of thousands spreading out for blocks around the main stage below the Art Museum steps shortly after 8 p.m.

"Philadelphia owns the Fourth of July."

Singer Ben Taylor, son of James Taylor and Carly Simon, started off the 4th of July Jam with his acoustic guitar, a few rhymes and a little cussing.

But the party on the Parkway didn't really start until Nutter introduced Philly's own the Roots, with the hardest working man in modern music, drummer Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson, who gave the crowd a beat to dance to.

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It had to be the best wedding ever.

Tens of thousands came to the reception, the Roots had all the guests on the dance floor and it was capped off with a hell of a light show for the newly-minted Mr. and Mrs. Rodriguez.

The Allentown couple, childhood sweethearts, now 29, tied the knot on the beach in Seaside Heights in the morning and decided to celebrate in style in Philly.

Jaimee Rodriguez - she can't believe that's her name now - stood on the Ben Franklin Parkway, in her floor-length white gown as Philly's Jill Scott echoed in the distance.

"He loves fireworks," Jaimee said of her impromptu wedding reception with her new husband, Nicholas. "The whole day has been like a dream."

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It was a day when you didn't know who you might meet.

Hours before he was set to host the festivities, Philly's Kevin Hart gave out free tickets to his movie "Let Me Explain" at the United Artist Riverview theater on Delaware Avenue.

"He even bought us popcorn," said Paulette Freeman, 39, of Wilmington.

Freeman and her husband, Robert, drove up to celebrate here in the morning, choosing a shady spot beneath some maples on Spring Garden rather than pushing closer to the main stage.

"This is close enough," Robert Freeman said. "I've got my cooler, a breeze and my wife."

On stage, Hart whipped the crowd up early, asking them to sing him "Happy Birthday."

"I'm home. I'm home. I'm home," yelled Hart, a graduate of George Washington High School who grew up in North Philadelphia.

Alex Gustaitis, 20, an Elizabethtown College student, came to celebrate America's birthday with her dad and enjoy the scenery on stage, just 50 yards away.

"I'm a big John Mayer fan," she said.

Michelle Gilbert, 41, and Vienna Griffiths, 48, both of San Francisco, stopped in Philly for a few days on an East Coast tour.

They attended the Gay Pride parade in New York City last month and hope to climb the steps at the art museum before they head back to California.

"It's been a good week," Griffiths said.

Both women were taken aback by the Philadelphia Police Department.

"Nicest cops ever we've ever met," Gilbert said.

"They told us where to go, how to stay safe. Very helpful."

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The party started in the morning as more than 5,000 people participated in a one-mile parade, marching from Independence Hall to 6th Street to Market Street to Front Street.

The participants were a diverse lot: Members of all military branches, fife and drum re-enactors, high-school bands from Washington and Wisconsin, drill teams, steppers and some guy dressed up as Darth Vader, complete with a couple of Jawas and a few storm troopers.

But this year, the Fourth of July in Philadelphia also proved a highly political affair - including a protest march against excessive government surveillance by 120 people calling themselves Restore the Fourth - as in the 4th Amendment.

Independence Day also offered up two very different views on the current debate about pending federal legislation on immigration reform.

Mayor Nutter, speaking at Independence Hall yesterday morning, noted not just the 237th anniversary of the Second Continental Congress' adoption of the Declaration of Independence, but also the 50th anniversary of the struggle for civil rights in Birmingham, Ala., and across the country.

Nutter spoke in support of the U.S. Senate measure last week on immigration that offered a "path to citizenship" for people who entered this country illegally while strengthening border security. Framing the issue along the lines of the Emancipation Proclamation and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, Nutter said the Declaration of Independence must be reinterpreted to fit the times.

"Our makeup is constantly changing as we welcome people who desperately want to be Americans," Nutter said. "And with our changing demographics, Americans must once again reinterpret its core values and principles through a modern lens."

Across the street, the Independence Hall Tea Party Association took a dim view of the legislation. Keynote speaker J.D. Hayworth cited Article 4, Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution, which says the federal government shall protect each state against invasion.

Hayworth, an Arizona congressmen for 12 years before losing re-election in 2006, challenged U.S. Sen. John McCain in the 2010 Republican primary, but lost by a wide margin. He is now a sports radio host in San Diego, Calif.

The tea party favorite had as many barbs for Republican senators such as McCain, Marco Rubio and Paul Ryan - along with a shot at Fox News - on the topic as he did for President Obama, who he called a "committed doctrinaire and a leftist."

He said some Republicans, backed by groups such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, see immigration reform as a path to "cheap labor" while some Democrats see it as a way to win "cheap votes."

"And you and I and your neighbors, we're the folks who know it ain't cheap," Hayworth said. "It's going to cost us."