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William Paca’s words, written in 1787, still ring true today, our country’s 250th Birthday. It is “we the people” who still speak at the ballot box to determine whether our government is being structured for our “happiness”, our common welfare, our common good. And we will soon see how the majority of Americans feel about that.
Meanwhile, as you enjoy the holiday today, in your own fashion, I hope you find time to read and watch a few of the stories I put together—sort of a celebration of our country and an end-of-month roundup—combined.
— I’ll start with a recent 60 Minutes segment with one of my favorite documentarians, Ken Burns, who contemplates what might surprise our founders about America, 250 years later:
— Today, Wes Moore, democratic Governor of Maryland, gave a powerful speech at the Maryland State house in Annapolis, just one floor above the exact room where General George Washington resigned his commission as leader of the Continental Army. General Washington resigned with a letter and short speech before the Confederation Congress, which was meeting in Annapolis, our capital at the time. General Washington’s resignation has long been considered one of the “great acts of statesmanship” because he voluntarily resigned from power.
Governor Moore’s speech today discussed the idea of patriotism and the substantive work required of each of us to guide our country to a more perfect union. “…we are a nation of sacrifice and service”, he said.
— The New York Times Editorial Board published an excellent opinion piece today that laid out five questions it believes our country will have to confront and answer, if it survives for the next 50 years. I’m quoting the first question, below, because I think it’s the most important. Since our government has started lying to us without shame and without punishment, many Americans simply don’t know what to believe. And if we don’t share a common set of facts, how do we form opinions that stand up to reality?
The first question is whether self-governing people still share a common reality. Democracy rests on something we rarely notice — a rough agreement about what is true and what happened. That ground is cracking, as trust erodes in the institutions that once settled fact, and artificial intelligence can fabricate convincing lies in seconds. A citizenry that cannot agree on what is real cannot deliberate. It can only split into camps. When people retreat to tribal enclaves, it can foster a sense of self-righteousness and victimization. The New York Times Editorial Board, July 4, 2026.
— Earlier this spring, The Times also published a brilliant guest essay by Stacy Schiff, author of a book on Samuel Adams, that compared the list of grievances against King George III laid out in the Declaration of Independence with President Trump’s actions today.
They made the American case, in the most concrete terms, that King George III was guilty of every kind of abuse of power. In Jefferson’s accounting, the king had undermined the rule of law, the common good, the judicial system and the political process. It seemed there was little he had not corrupted…
For many who read the litany today, the resonance is unmistakable. So if you really want to know what the founders would say, you might do worse than review a selection of our founding 27 grievances…In 2026 they also feel miserably familiar.
— A fitting end to this July 4th and “reading round-up” post is to honor or at least reflect on the value our country’s most recent immigrants add to our lives, how they are pushed into the shadows while they do the work we think is beneath us, how they toil for little pay and no respect, or even acknowledgment.
Read this New York Times photo essay to get a flavor of exactly how these recent immigrants, here legally or not, keep our society, particularly its most wealthy areas, humming along:
The people paid to wash the large glass windows in the beachfront mansions are also paid to be gone before the arrival of the people who enjoy the clear views of the ocean. The people hired to clean the homes are the bookends to someone else’s summer weekends.
In the Comment Section below, please share your ideas about our country’s big birthday bash, any of the articles and videos shared here…or anything else you think is important. Do you think our government is “working for the happiness of the people”?
