The 9/11 truthers at the 2008 Takoma Park Fourth of July Parade.

If there’s one thing that’s quintessentially American and sure to be celebrated on the Fourth of July, it’s freedom of speech. And at yesterday’s Takoma Park Parade, two groups took their freedom to express themselves—no matter how disagreeable or odd their opinions are—seriously.

For yet another year the local chapter of the 9/11 truther movement—the folks who don’t believe the official story about what happened on September 11, 2001—marched in the Takoma Park Parade, driving a pickup truck called the “Truth Mobile” festooned with U.S. flags and signs demanding the real story behind the attacks. Despite the town’s long-standing left-leaning ways, the truthers didn’t seem to garner much support or attention—according to parade-goers, they were mostly met with silence.

A little more humorously, at least two groups used the parade to protest Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney’s famous admission that he used to put his dog in a crate on the roof of his car during family vacations. One man drove a station wagon with a dog crate on top of it (there was a woman in the crate, while a fake dog hung out the window), while the Good Dog, Bad Romney group walked their canine companions in the procession.

The Palisades Parade in D.C. saw its own share of political advocacy. Supporters of a proposed initiative that would ban corporate contributions to local campaigns marched, as did advocates for D.C. statehood. They were joined by midwifery supporters and Spring Valley residents demanding a formal study of a part of the neighborhood once used by the U.S. Army to bury toxic munitions.