Note to AOC and the Squad - America IS Great

Note to AOC and The Squad – America is Great!
The View from the Middle

One of my favorite Presidents, Abraham Lincoln, famously said, “If you look for the bad in people, expecting to find it, you surely will.” And the same can be said for countries. No country is perfect. In fact, every country has blemishes throughout their histories that have delivered them to their current state. And, if you focused only on their flaws, no country would seem worthy of existence today. Somalia, which Ilhan Omar left to come to the United States, has plenty of warts in its history and even current state, lest Ms. Omar would not have left there to come here. Puerto Rico, home of AOC’s parents, certainly doesn’t boast of a perfect history and is not flawless today, otherwise they would have stayed there. Finally, the Palestinians, whom Rashida Tlaib defends, support the likes of Hamas who celebrates suicide bombers and lobs Scud missiles into Israeli neighborhoods.

Yet these three, plus Ayanna Pressley, which make up “the squad”, constantly tear down The United States by focusing only on and even exaggerating our imperfections. So, today I offer some balance to their false argument by shining the light of truth on America’s rich history.

No matter what the New York Times tries to tell you, this country, this Republic did not even begin to form until Thomas Jefferson composed The Declaration of Independence which informed King George III of our intent to separate from the Great Britain and launch a new nation. I believe that Jefferson knew exactly what he was saying when he wrote, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal”. He knew this was not even true in this new country at the time, but he also knew that these words would someday demand the abolition of slavery here. And, this was just the beginning of America's great history.

In 1861 our country entered into a Civil War which had the elimination of slavery in our Republic at its heart. Hundreds of thousands of men and women, both black and white lost their lives to make this new “free” country a reality. Both The Emancipation Proclamation of 1863, and the 13th Amendment to our constitution, which was written in 1864 were products of this epic conflict. You can argue that all of this was just the first step in a realization of the true meaning of Jefferson’s words.

Over the next 100 years, as we struggled as a nation to refine the true intent of America’s promise, we defeated the likes of Jim Crow and prejudice as we marched on a continuing path towards real freedom and equal opportunity for all. And exactly 100 years after the 13th Amendment was passed, our Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This was not the end of our journey, but just another step in the direction of true liberty for all of our citizens. This relentless pursuit of freedom for all is just another reason why this country is so great.

And while we were pursuing a more perfect realization of our founding values, we were using our free people and free markets to establish the greatest economy the world has ever known. Today, for example, our annual economy exceeds $20 Trillion or over 24% of the world’s GDP while our population represents only 4% of the world’s 7.7 billion people. And it is our value of “liberty for all” that has unleashed the drive and ingenuity of our people to deliver these results. Let’s be honest. This is a great country.

Of course we should not forget the accomplishments of our armed forces. From the very beginning our military has performed amazingly. In our Revolutionary War and in the war of 1812, the plucky US Army defeated the most powerful military power in the world. During World War I and II we saved Europe and the world from the tyranny of Fascism. Today we have the most powerful and advanced armed forces in the world with more resources than the next nine countries combined. Not too shabby!

On top of all of these social, industrial and military Accomplishments, Americans are also the most compassionate and giving people on earth. We give about $400 billion a year to charities. That’s three and a half times per capita as much as the French, seven times more than the Germans and 14 times more than the Italians and maybe 100 times more generous than the Chinese (do they care about anyone but themselves?). On top of this, our government gives $40 billion to over 100 countries in our names (the government actually has NO money). I’m really proud of how Americans share their prosperity.

Maybe that’s why more people are trying to immigrate to this country, both legally and illegally, than any other country in the world. If the United States of America was so terrible, why would millions of people literally risk their lives to come here every year? Why did Ilhan Omar come here? Why did AOC’s parents come here? Why is Rashida Tlaib here? I believe that America is the most wonderful country in the world, and I’m glad that I was fortunate enough to be born here. It is not perfect, but we have made great strides in our first 243 years and I have faith that we will continue to get better as we strive to create a country in which, “All men are created equal, (and) that they are endowed by (our) Creator with certain unalienable rights, (and) that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.”