That legacy of every generation of Americans insisting that the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is no relic of the past.

At every moment in our past, those who led through exclusion and isolation have tried to win power and enrich themselves by turning us against one another. Division is the oldest trick in politics, and the cheapest.

“Anniversaries of this scale are not just invitations to reflect on the past. They are also a mirror.”

It is loving our country enough to fight for the fulfillment of its ideals.

American exceptionalism, the conventional wisdom tells us, makes our freedom a little more free.

Hundreds of thousands of Irish immigrants arrived with stomachs aching from a famine manufactured by imperial cruelty.

The freedoms we enjoy were not handed down; they were won.

patriotism is not pretending our country has no flaws

The truth, my friends, is that America is exceptional, because here nothing is fixed into place.

We are told that America is exceptional because we are richer, stronger, more powerful than everyone else.

anniversaries of this scale are not just invitations to reflect on the past

Set your AC to 78 degrees, turn off lights/electronics you're not using, and unplug what you can.