We celebrate another anniversary this weekend, this nation’s 239th birthday. Parades, barbeques, speeches, editorials and fireworks are at the Fourth of July ready.
When this special holiday is over, however, may there be more than freelance noisemakers, cowering pets and patriotic bromides in its wake. May this be the year we look long and hard at where we are after these 239 years and assess the eclectic challenges we face that no Founding Father could have envisioned. The short list:
* Where does the United States fit–economically, militarily, geopolitically and environmentally–in this increasingly complex, combustible world?
* Can we balance the innate intrusiveness of big government surveillance with anti-terrorism priorities, including would-be, jihadist lone wolves?
* Can public officials and show-business opinion-shapers back off on channeling the Founding Fathers and cherry-picking the Bill of Rights to pander to political constituencies?
* Can we make more meaningful progress toward a post-racial America?
* What’s a realistic–and relevant–definition of the American Dream?
* Will the exercise of responsibilities ever be as revered as the exercise of rights?
* Can we acknowledge climate change without further polluting the political atmosphere?
May this, in short, be the year of the American Resolution: To become better informed–not just validated by our self-selected sources–and vote accordingly out of private conviction, not group dynamics. We re-elected George W. Bush and his puppet masters. We almost had Vice President Palin. We do have Gov. Scott. Again. This won’t do.
For this noble American experiment to thrive–not just survive–we have to give more than hubristic lip service and bumper-sticker shout-outs to our ideals. We have to care passionately, for example, about more than Second Amendment misreadings and First Amendment loopholes. Our bottom lines should transcend profit and loss.
For “American Exceptionalism” to be something more than a glib Marco Rubio applause line, we have to live it, not simulate it.
Have a happy Fourth, U.S.A.