The 4th of July

Today is the 4th of July. A day we celebrate our independence from the Crown of England.

Today is a day to be American. Today is a time to drop the other names we have adopted and become and are often un-American for labels tend to distance our hearts from the one-ness we are.

We need to drop the labels of liberal, conservative, right and left, democrat and republican and become again what we once were, patriots laboring in the creation of a nation. America is not yet done in being that shining example of what can be when all are represented equally.

America is an amalgam of beliefs. Being an American means tolerance for all opinions, courtesy of listening, facts in a debate, compromise on the issues of national importance and always putting the country ahead of partisan wants and doled local pork that benefits only a few to the detriment of the greater good.

If we truly want to celebrate our nation, our independence, we must do so every day. First, we need to give thanks for what we have created and then we need to get back to the founding basics: honor, integrity, dignity and truth.

Being a democracy is not easy. We have to work at it. All of us from the President on down.