slatten49 Loc: Lake Whitney, Texas

Chicago Sun-Times, By John W. Fountain Feb 28, 2020

This week’s column is my son's essay for the annual VFW Voice of Democracy essay contest, “What Makes America Great?” In the state competition, he represented VFW Illinois Post 311 Benjamin O. Davis and Illinois VFW 16th District.

“We hold these T***hs 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 opening words of the Declaration of Independence encapsulate what I believe to be what truly makes America great. The United States of America is great because of the ideals that it is founded upon.

The ideal that human beings have equal value — no matter their g****r, race, or religion. That no man has the right to rule over another or that a man by virtue of his birth should be subject to another.

That we all have equal value in God’s eyes because we are all his creation.

America is great because of the people who call it home and have made it the greatest nation in the world.
When Thomas Jefferson penned the words to the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and our Founding Fathers signed the document on July 4, that same year, they were not only declaring their independence but stating the foundational values of this great American experiment in democracy.

They wanted to create a nation that was built on the ideas of liberty and justice and whose government derived its power “from the consent of the governed” or, in other words, the people, who would have a say in their own future.

They wanted the “self-evident t***hs” to be what guided the American people rather than the whims of a tyrant or a king. This is what makes America truly great.

We are always striving, day by day, and from generation to generation, to live up to the ideals that we were founded upon, although America has not always lived up to its ideals. We have stumbled and we have fallen along the way.

But one of the great things about America that our Founding Fathers built into our Constitution is that we can amend. We can change.

We can do better. We keep striving for a greater America.

Abolitionists strove for a greater America and the Union survived the Civil War. Women suffragists strove for a greater America and won the right to v**e. The Civil Rights Movement strove for a greater America and here we are today.

When I was just 10, I went to an Air and Water Show. I witnessed 91-year-old Tuskegee Airman Julius Jackson jump out of an airplane with the Army’s Golden Knights. After his jump, Mr. Jackson stopped as he walked by me as people congratulated him and said, “Young man, stay in school.”

I will never forget that moment and the honor of meeting living history.

Veterans like Mr. Jackson have made America great. Even when our country did not live up to its ideals, people like the Tuskegee Airmen and others who have fought for our country — whether in the military, sacrificing their lives — or as protesters calling us to live up to our values, they all believed in the t***h of the ideals that this country was founded upon.

“We hold these t***hs to be self evident, that all men are created equal … ”

America’s greatness is its ideals and its people. Its ideals have drawn people from all over the world — the tired, the poor, the huddled masses yearning to breathe free—to our shores.

Its ideals have woven the fabric of people from all across the world into the beautiful tapestry that is our country. And although, at times, we may disagree and have our disputes, we are still united as Americans.

Together, we are American. And we are truly what make America great.

DaWg44

That is old school philosophy. The liberal/l*****t/c*******t have no use for that. All the Founders were rogues, all white people are deplorables. The “Creator” is disavowed, denied.

You confuse me, did you post this as satire?

slatten49 Loc: Lake Whitney, Texas

Really...are you serious

Mr. Fountain's high school son certainly was/is.

Liberty Tree

Then why do you support those who are destroying all these ideals?

slatten49 Loc: Lake Whitney, Texas

I could ask you the same thing.

Liberty Tree

Of course you would to try and divert from the t***h.

skyrider

Except that it would be a fictitious question and you know it.

Milosia2 Loc: Cleveland Ohio

You confuse me.
Just exactly what is the “ New School Philosophy” ?
Up is down, down is left , skies are never blue. Orange is really green,
Lies are t***hs,
T***p w*n the e******n. The majority v****g actually cast less v**es than they say they did. Even as majorities go, Being the higher number.
Oh, I can’t wait to hear this !

My guess is you are confused by many things.

DaWg44

You certainly do not support these “ideas”. That is why I thought you posted it as satire. If you support any of it, I have never seen a comment by you that did.

The poor kid will be run over by the likes of you.

Radiance3

=================
Bravo! Now I agree with you wholeheartedly. This is the way how our kids in schools must be taught. With parents and teachers guiding them to this direction, we will always have proud citizens and a great country. They become productive and happy.

On the contrary, public schools currently are run by labor unions. Kids are indoctrinated by liberal teachers and professors, who write their own liberal books, prescribe students to use in their classes.

The liberal teachers and professors create their own history, from K12 to colleges and universities. Anything, that feel contrary to their own beliefs are called r****t. Anything they struggle to learn, and work for, are called r****t. So, they end up in hatred, and self-pity. We have abundant kids and adults like this today.

lpnmajor Loc: Arkansas

That's funny, that's exactly what the left says about the conservative/rightist/f*****ts.

lpnmajor Loc: Arkansas

Here's the t***h YOU refuse to acknowledge; We stopped being the greatest nation in the world...................the moment we declared ourselves the greatest nation in the world. Why strive to create a more perfect union when you've already perfected it?

Liberty Tree

Because we struggle against people like you who wish to turn a more perfect union into an imperfect Marxist State.

Rose42

All our elected critters should read that.

slatten49 Loc: Lake Whitney, Texas

You probably couldn't be more wrong. Unlike some, I do not have an entrenched mindset. Having been on OPP since 2013, the following are but a few of my postings of which you might approve...

https://www.onepoliticalplaza.com/t-12163-1.html

https://www.onepoliticalplaza.com/t-15601-1.html

https://www.onepoliticalplaza.com/t-24689-1.html

https://www.onepoliticalplaza.com/t-29732-1.html

https://www.onepoliticalplaza.com/t-45333-1.html

https://www.onepoliticalplaza.com/t-40247-1.html

https://www.onepoliticalplaza.com/t-43306-1.html

https://www.onepoliticalplaza.com/t-54973-1.html

https://www.onepoliticalplaza.com/t-87071-1.html

https://www.onepoliticalplaza.com/t-97135-1.html

https://www.onepoliticalplaza.com/t-101534-1.html

https://www.onepoliticalplaza.com/t-133160-1.html