America was born on the edge and its edgy pioneers kept moving the edge farther and farther into the risky unknown. Safety & security were servants of greater principles of freedom, truth, justice. We would die climbing higher and higher and no force of evil has ever intimidated a real American. We're still exploring uncharted territory, looking for the edge. Let us never play it so safe that we lose our liberty.
Happy birthday, U.S.A., a grand experiment in opportunity, welcoming, growing, and working out lots of kinks that create dissonance between what we aspire to be and what we are. The key is in the becoming. We are not static. We have had some wars. Our wars have not defined us, but have, at times, refined us. We have had disagreements, inconsistencies, and contradictions, but we have an essentially righteous philosophy that has been articulated and is waiting to be fully applied. The core structure is laid so that we can work these things out.
We are a community of communities.
We are not perfect, but we are capable of fixing our imperfections. We are diverse. We are changing. We are free. We thank our thinkers and our protectors, our builders and our critics today. We join hands and sing of our common love.
Let us be one people.
Independence is an aspiration. Liberty is an seed. Freedom is an unfulfilled dream that is ever widening in scope and realization. We cannot stop, assuming all have been embraced by the tidal wave of America's ideals and potential. We cannot assume that history is the same for all of us. We can assume that what was true for some - and truly true - must be true for all if it is to have any meaning at all: That all men are created equal, that all have been endowed by God with rights that cannot be revoked such as life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It is furthermore true, that, as the fathers wrote, the only legitimate government is that which secures and continues to secure these rights for all.
Let us remember, this day, our earliest settlers and inhabitants in this land, at whose grave cost, we occupied it. Let us embrace them as heirs of that same liberty we celebrate.
Let us be thankful for all who have worn the uniform of our services, even in those conflicts that were unpopular or even misguided. They started no wars. They served without question and at great cost. And because they we a-political in this service, they helped to preserve the independent exercise and separation of powers that keep us from becoming a military dictatorship.
"Now, I say to you today my friends, even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: - 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal." - Martin Luther King Jr.
