The Great American Experiment

Most years I would be spending part of the Fourth of July in Show Low, walking in the annual Independence Day parade. Now that celebration is marred by the devastation of the Rodeo-Chediski fire.

Of course, even absent this catastrophe, this year’s gathering promised to be more somber than usual, proceeding in the shadow of the September 11 by al-Qaeda terrorists.

Amid the trauma Arizona and the nation have endured in recent weeks and months, it is perhaps a more fitting time than ever to remember what it is that makes America the envy of the world. And what makes us all so fortunate to be a part of this country.

It has been called the Great American Experiment, when men and women fleeing tyranny carved from wilderness a great nation. On July 4, 1776, when our Founding Fathers signed the Declaration of Independence, the notion that a liberal, secular democracy was the best system of government was a theory. The United States has tested this hypothesis for more than two centuries, and the ups and downs of America’s fortune serve as a sort of data stream in an ongoing trial to see whether such a nation, as Abraham Lincoln said, "can long endure."

From its very start amid a revolution, America brought to prominence a grand democratic system that to this day serves as a model for fledgling nations. We also have been a nation of firsts – the first great empire in the modern world to largely refuse colonies or possessions, among the first to accord rights to women and minorities, the first to enshrine religious freedom in a Bill of Rights, to land on the moon, and the leading force for conquering Nazism, Communism, and now terrorism.

The specter of terrorism, in fact, is the greatest threat to our fundamental principles since the Cold War. As scholar Bernard Lewis has said, "In the Middle East, anti-Americanism is nourished not so much by America’s power as by the sources of that power – America’s freedom and plenty." Global terrorists hating these sources that we cherish seek the destruction of Western democracy. The War on Terrorism’s ultimate aim is to eliminate this threat to our way of life. This is our challenge.

We began promisingly by freeing the Afghan people from the cruel and dictatorial Taliban regime. As a result, this July 4 Americans can celebrate not only our own independence, but the independence we gave Afghanistan, whose new leaders already are sowing seeds of democracy. Looking ahead, we can combat terror by confronting other regimes such as Iraq and the Palestinian Authority. Leaders who assist or perpetrate terrorism against the United States or, in the case of the PA, against our close friend Israel, must be opposed. Terrorism is an intolerable assault on its victims’ inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. As such, it is fundamentally opposed to the principles on which our country is based. It is fundamentally opposed to the spirit of this day.

The last 216 years have shown the world how great a country can be when built on individual rights and freedoms. Our commitment to securing these principles is affirmed today in this celebration of our country. And as we watch the celebrations tonight, we should bear in mind that the country our soldiers fight for, the country we all love, is overwhelming proof that liberty is superior to tyranny.

And Independence Day is a good time to do something else -- something that judges on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently said our kids couldn’t do in school. That is to recite these words: "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands: one Nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

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