By Ken Blackwell and Ken Klukowski<\/p>\n
On the Fourth of July, we don\u2019t only celebrate the birth of our nation. We celebrate American exceptionalism\u2014everything that makes the United States the greatest nation on earth. In celebrating this, we reject President Obama\u2019s blueprint for the kind of country he seeks to make us.’<\/p>\n
On July 4, 1776, fifty-six dedicated patriots resolved to risk everything in the hope of a new beginning. Elected to represent colonists from across the thirteen British colonies on the American continent, they decided to embark upon a grand experiment, to form a self-governing democratic republic.<\/p>\n
They were risking their lives. Had they failed, they would have been hanged as traitors, their lands confiscated by the Crown, their fortunes forfeited, and their families left disgraced and destitute.<\/p>\n
Yet they succeeded, and the freest, safest, and prosperous nation in the world was born.<\/p>\n
We don\u2019t just celebrate the historical fact of America\u2019s birth. When we celebrate Independence Day, we celebrate everything for which the United States stands.<\/p>\n
We celebrate the right to speak what we will, no matter how unpopular, without fear of government reprisal. We celebrate our right to worship according to the dictates of our conscience. We celebrate our right to bear arms in defense of ourselves and our freedom. We celebrate our right to be secure in our homes and our families, and should we become entangled with the law, our right not to be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process, which includes everything from our right to a jury trial, to our right to a lawyer, to our right to not incriminate ourselves or be tortured.<\/p>\n
While many of us take those rights for granted, the reality is that they are rare, both in history and even around the globe today. But those rights, that liberty, is what we celebrate on the Fourth of July.<\/p>\n
In other words, what we celebrate is American exceptionalism.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s the belief that America is something special. We are a shining beacon of light throughout the world and throughout the annals of history. We are the exception, not the rule.<\/p>\n