In honor of America’s recent 249th birthday, let’s take a moment to celebrate some of the most incredible things about her.

We are a nation of settlers. This is the country where ancestors risked — and often lost — their lives in pursuit of religious freedom and opportunity. From the Mayflower to the Oregon Trail, they persevered in extreme hardship. Davy Crockett and Laura Ingalls Wilder continue to inspire children.

We defeated the mighty British Empire to secure our independence. American soldiers endured the cold, disease and death of Valley Forge. Under the instruction of Baron von Steuben, a Prussian, the Army emerged with greater discipline, unity and skill.

Our country’s founding documents are marvels. The Declaration of Independence eloquently lays out the purpose of government — to secure our God-given, unalienable rights. The Constitution, drawing from the wisdom of the Bible, history and political philosophers, uses checks and balances to limit the government’s power.

At the cost of hundreds of thousands of Union lives, we threw off the scourge of slavery. Our heroes are too numerous to mention, but include Nathan Hale, Harriet Tubman, Teddy Roosevelt and Billy Graham.

Our land is beautiful. Consider the vastness of the Grand Canyon, the power of Niagara Falls and the stunning views in Canyonlands National Park. Our beaches, from Hawaii to California to the East Coast, draw people from around the world.

We conquered the continent with the Transcontinental Railroad and later, the Interstate Highway System. We completed the Empire State Building in less than 14 months. We built the Hoover Dam. We carved the faces of our greatest presidents into the side of a mountain.

We created the first airplane in 1903. Less than 70 years later, we put a man on the moon.

We have the most powerful economy in the history of the world because we have largely embraced a free market system. The average American enjoys luxuries, like air conditioning, air travel, cell phones and microwaves, that the richest people 200 years ago could scarcely have dreamed of.

We have the best athletes in the world. We have more than twice as many Olympic medals as the next-closest country — the Soviet Union, which doesn’t even exist anymore. American football is way more exciting than the world’s version of that sport.

We have the mightiest military in the history of the world. We played pivotal roles in winning World War I, World War II and the Cold War. Our B-2 bombers can take off from Missouri, successfully bomb a buried Iranian nuclear site and return home without landing. Hundreds of thousands of men and women have given their lives for the freedom we enjoy.

Here are two ways leftist cynics attempt to disparage America. For one, they’ll claim America is defined by her faults, not her accomplishments. Note well that they don’t apply that standard to their heroes. In 1969, the late Senator Ted Kennedy drove off a bridge on Chappaquiddick Island. That accident resulted in the death of his passenger, Mary Jo Kopechne. The left spent the next 40 years celebrating him anyway.

This hypocrisy shows the left doesn’t truly believe you should define countries or people by their flaws. They just hope those who love America and her heroes do.

The left also attempts to sever our connection to this marvelous history. They tear down monuments to American heroes like Thomas Jefferson and Christopher Columbus. They rename holidays. They teach children that America’s success comes from oppressing others.

You aren’t just an individual. You are part of a family, which is part of a community, which is part of a state, which is part of a country. Celebrating your country is both good and natural. It should be easy to do when it’s the greatest country in the history of the world.

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