Happy 250th Birthday, U.S.A.!

The signing of the Declaration of Independence, by John Trumbull

In honor of our nation's 250th birthday, here's my program on "Orange County During the Colonial / Revolutionary War Era," from the Orange County Historical Society.

More significantly, here are transcripts of the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. These documents are the foundation of the best form of government yet devised. They would work as well today as ever if we actually followed them rather than trying to warp and stretch them in corrupt and imaginative ways.

We'll have to see how the next 250 (or even 50) years go. Will Americans continue the work of building a more perfect nation using the uniquely powerful and effective tools our founding fathers gave us? Will individuals continue to be able to pursue life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness? Or will the American dream be destroyed by those who perpetually want to rekindle every horrific, failed, disproven system of the past: Communism, socialism, theocracy, and real fascism.

Where do we start to fix our significant drift? Well,... At the start. 

Let's go back and immerse ourselves in these three documents. If we take them seriously, commit ourselves to their purposes, stand ready to fight for their principles -- and if we aren't all enslaved by A.I. -- we might stand a chance of making it to our tricentennial with a form of government that supports freedom, serves as a source of national pride, and continues to be a beacon of hope to the world.

But today it's time to run up the red, white and blue, shoot off fireworks, crank up some John Philip Sousa, and have a few hot dogs. Happy birthday to the country we love!