As many of you know, I had the honor of serving all eight years in the Reagan administration, ultimately serving as the president’s chief domestic-policy adviser in the White House. Ronald Reagan was all about putting America first, and he helped to restore our nation’s pride after years of strife, scandal, and malaise. 

In his first year as president, Reagan wrote an essay entitled “What the Fourth of July Means To Me." As we prepare to celebrate the 243rd anniversary of our Declaration of Independence, I’d like to share some excerpts of Reagan’s thoughts about American patriotism.

For one who was born and grew up in the small towns of the Midwest, there is a special kind of nostalgia about the Fourth of July. I remember it as a day almost as long-anticipated as Christmas…

Somewhere in our growing up we began to be aware of the meaning of days and with that awareness came the birth of patriotism. July Fourth is the birthday of our nation. I believed as a boy, and believe even more today, that it is the birthday of the greatest nation on earth…

What manner of men were [gathered in Philadelphia in July 1776]? Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists, 11 were merchants and tradesmen, and nine were farmers. They were soft-spoken men of means and education; they were not an unwashed rabble. They had achieved security but valued freedom more. Their stories have not been told nearly enough.

John Hart was driven from the side of his desperately ill wife. For more than a year he lived in the forest and in caves before he returned to find his wife dead, his children vanished, his property destroyed. He died of exhaustion and a broken heart.

Carter Braxton of Virginia lost all his ships, sold his home to pay his debts, and died in rags… [Thomas] Nelson personally urged Washington to fire on his home and destroy it when it became the headquarters for General Cornwallis. Nelson died bankrupt.

But they sired a nation that grew from sea to shining sea… In recent years, however, I’ve come to think of that day as more than just the birthday of a nation. It also commemorates the only true philosophical revolution in all history.

Oh, there have been revolutions before and since ours. But those revolutions simply exchanged one set of rules for another. Ours was a revolution that changed the very concept of government.

Let the Fourth of July always be a reminder that here in this land, for the first time, it was decided that man is born with certain God-given rights; that government is only a convenience created and managed by the people, with no powers of its own except those voluntarily granted to it by the people.  We sometimes forget that great truth, and we never should.

By all means, enjoy this Fourth of July. Celebrate our independence with friends and family. But please take a moment to remind your children and grandchildren about America’s exceptionalism and the significance of Independence Day.

Remind them about the sacrifices at Bunker Hill and Concord Bridge that were necessary to create this nation and secure our freedoms. Tell them about the courage of George Washington crossing the Delaware River on Christmas night.

Most importantly, tell them about America’s "mission statement.” It can be found in the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence:

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. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed…

Let us rededicate ourselves to the vision of our Founding Fathers — of ordered liberty under God — so that freedom and prosperity may be preserved for our children and future generations to come.

God bless you, my friends, and may God bless the United States of America!

The Left vs. America

I want to comment on the ongoing culture war over the meaning of America. 

Increasingly, the Left’s attack against conservatives is morphing into an attack against the country itself. The New York Times recently ran a video op-ed, the theme of which was, “Quit telling me America is great." 

As I noted yesterday, the leftists who run Nike caved in to the leftist who is its chief "brand ambassador,” Colin Kaepernick, when it pulled shoes featuring the “racist flag” of Betsy Ross. 

By the way, some investigative journalism at Breitbart discovered that Nike has made shoes with whatever flag you want on them, including the flag of communist China. According to our State Department, China is the biggest human rights abuser in the world, with millions of people in real concentration camps. 

I guarantee you that Kaepernick would not object to shoes featuring the Chinese flag. He has a problem with America.

The progressives who control Charlottesville, Virginia, have just decided that they will no longer recognize the birthday of Thomas Jefferson, the author of our Declaration of Independence, and the man who founded the University of Virginia, located in Charlottesville.

Remember when Donald Trump warned that attacks on Civil War monuments would eventually lead to attacks on the Founding Fathers and other symbols of our country? Clearly, he was right. The left now sees the Betsy Ross flag and Thomas Jefferson as beyond the pale.

Speaking of Trump, he is promising that today we will see a Fourth of July celebration in Washington unlike any other. Of course, his plans are under attack from the entire left-wing complex. 

MSNBC is refusing to air his address live. CNN has not committed to broadcasting the event either. According to Politico, it currently plans to run a “special report” on the rise of white nationalism — on July 4th of all days. What a way to “honor” America, CNN. 

This denigration of our country is exactly what I am so outraged about. Where is the CNN special report on Antifa and the rise of left-wing fascism? Oh, that’s right, CNN supports Antifa!

I don’t believe these attacks are happening because this a Trump Fourth of July celebration but because the theme is the greatness of America. 

Tuesday the president publicly thanked the two pyrotechnic companies, Phantom Fireworks and Fireworks by Grucci, that are providing today’s fireworks free of charge. Police were stationed outside the Youngstown, Ohio, headquarters of Phantom Fireworks after it received multiple bomb threats.

Years ago, Dr. James Dobson and I wrote that we were in a civil war over values. It is a sobering thought this Fourth of July that the left is increasingly deploying threats of violence and actual violence against anyone who defends the American idea and has the audacity to praise America’s history and accomplishments.

Confusion Over the Census

There are mixed reports as to whether the administration will continue to insist that a citizenship question be included on the census or if there is simply no way to feasibly delay the printing. 

After reports emerged that the printing had begun, the president tweeted Tuesday night, “I have asked the Department of Commerce and the Department of Justice to do whatever is necessary to bring this most vital of questions, and this very important case, to a successful conclusion.”

But I was pleasantly surprised yesterday to see the results of the latest Harvard poll — 67% of the American people, including 88% of Republicans, 63% of independents and even 52% of Democrats, support including the citizenship question on the census. It’s only the radical open-borders fringe that opposes this common sense question.

Demonizing Law Enforcement

There is a full-throated effort by the media, every Democrat presidential contender and the cultural left to vilify and demonize the brave men and women of the U.S. Border Patrol. Progressive politicians are once again accusing Border Patrol agents of abusing migrants and children.

In addition to our military and police officers, Border Patrol agents have the most challenging and increasingly thankless jobs in America. They have family members, spouses and children too. 

And every day their family members, spouses and children are hearing left-wing politicians compare their loved ones to Nazis and concentration camp guards, accuse their husband or wife, their mother or father, their son or daughter who serves as a Border Patrol agent of child abuse. 

Whenever conservatives question the effectiveness of a government policy, the left’s first reaction is to become outraged that we would dare question the hardworking men and women of the civil service. They even defended the IRS during the Lois Lerner scandal! 

When Trump questioned the deep state’s efforts to meddle in the 2016 election, the left blasted Trump for smearing the brave men and women of the FBI and CIA. 

But if your job as a federal employee is to guard the borders of the United States, the left acts as though you are wearing white sheets and hoods. It is disgusting, but not surprising given the left’s usual disrespect for law enforcement.