Joe Scarborough
And freedom continues to ring
http://www.NewsAndOpinion.com | Americans across the world celebrated our country's Independence Day. It's been 227 years since our Founding Fathers launched the greatest experiment known to man. How are we doing over 200 years later?
After the Constitutional Convention adjourned, Benjamin Franklin and a friend walked away from Independence Hall and were greeted by a woman who asked, "What kind of government have you given us sir?" Franklin replied, "A republic ma'am, if you can keep it."
The question Americans have asked through the ages has been whether we and our leaders have stayed true to the ideals of Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison. Our founders believed, like Ronald Reagan, that America should be a city shining brightly on a hill for all the world to see. They believed that America's greatness would rest in the hearts of individual Americans, not in the halls of Congress. And yes, they even believed that the government that governs least, governs best.
Despite the fact that our government continues to grow, while eroding the individual freedoms guaranteed by our founders, we as a nation have done pretty darn well for ourselves. We are the longest surviving continuous democracy; we have led the world in science and exploration, have freed the world from the tyranny of Nazis and Communists and have dared to believe that all men are created equal. Tonight our men and women in uniform are in Iraq liberating a battered and destitute people. Tonight our troops are also in Afghanistan, Kosovo and across the world in an effort to bring hope to the hopeless. And the headlines today told of how the citizens of Liberia were begging our president to free them from the cruel grip of their tyrannical leader.
Make no mistake of it: Where America goes, freedom thrives. Where America goes, women's rights expand. Where America goes, things get better. Naysayers will tell you that America is doing nothing but empire building. That is nothing more than a cynical lie. Just as we freed France, Germany and Japan, and gave them a right to abandon us when we needed them most, we are bringing the same freedom to Iraq, Afghanistan and the rest of the world. And we are doing it for all the right reasons. If that doesn't make you proud to be an American on this country's 227th birthday, I don't know what will.
Let freedom ring, not only from sea to shining sea, but across the world as well.
As Benjamin Franklin was concluding his remarks at the Constitutional Convention, he pointed to an image of the sun that appeared in the chamber. He said to George Washington, "Mr. President, throughout these deliberations I have questioned whether that picture was of a rising sun or a setting sun. Tonight sir, I can assure you the sun is rising."
And so it is Mr. Franklin, and so it is.
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Former Congressman Joe Scarborough (R-Fla.) hosts “Scarborough Country,” 10 p.m. ET, weeknights on MSNBC. Comment by clicking here.
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