Today is the Fourth of July, the nation's birthday. For many, however, today will not feel much like a holiday. Many people are still without power and coping with the high heat and humidity and wondering when the power will be restored. And for many, today will be more of an opportunity to clean yards and property from the trees and other debris that fell during Friday's storm, than a cookout.
However, we hope residents will have the opportunity for a few moments to day to reflect on the blessings our Founding Fathers gave us with their experiment in something called democracy.
We know through our history this experiment has faced serious problems, problems that have fractured many other nations. We have our own serious problems at this time. However we have persevered in the past; will persevere today. The gift our founding fathers gave us is a government capable of meeting - and solving - those problems.
Today, we offer some thoughs on democracy that are as true today as they were when written.
We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
- The Declaration of Independence
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
- The Pledge of Allegiance
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.'
- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women; when it dies there, no constitution, no law, no court can save it.
- Judge Learned Hand
America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.
- Abraham Lincoln
