Go, Fourth!

Warts and all (and there have been a lot of warts in our past and present), give me modern-day America over any other country past or present.

There is so much baggage in the closet of our history, so much wrong about society today, and so much danger that could lie ahead.  So we must be vigilant and not complacent, aggressive and not passive, actively hopeful and not fatalistically pessimistic. 

But we also have much to celebrate, about this country and about the idea about this country, that all men are created equal, that government is for the people and by the people and of the people, and that life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness are worth working hard to make sure are freely available to all.

And so I say today, Happy Fourth of July!  U!  S!  A!