The Jagged Line of American Progress on America’s 250th Birthday

 It is July 4^th, 2026.

250 years ago, 56 white men of courage signed the Declaration of Independence from the King of England. In fact, if the USA had lost the revolution, these men could have been tried and killed for treason.  So it took more than a noble effort to do what's right; it took courage.

“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."

Like 40 other signers of the Declaration of Independence, the author Thomas Jefferson owned slaves.

These men of courage did not think all men were created equal, but they apparently thought of white men from Europe. They most certainly did not consider Native Americans or women.  In fact, it would take almost 90 years for slavery to be abolished by the 13th Amendment, after the Civil War.

I am reminded that with all this country has accomplished, its progress on human issues has been somewhat slow and not a straight line indeed.   We bravely fought and helped defeat tyranny in two World Wars, and at times, tried to champion human rights around the globe.  We have also used our might, not so wisely or humanely.

As we planned to celebrate our 250^th birthday, I have been challenged. For me, this is a challenging time for our country.  Where the rule of law is defined by the privileged.  That power is controlled not by being right and kind, but by the wealthy and divisive politics that promote hate and fear of our differences from one another.

Erroneously, we seem to want to erase the bad in our past.  Minimize the impact of slavery on human beings who, for no reason other than their continent of origin and the color of their skin, were doomed to be owned by other human beings.  That even past the Civil War, the presumption of superiority of one race over another was the rule of the land, and I would suggest continues to drive divisive politics today.

Today we face challenges that remind me again that our progress can be slow and lines jagged at best. 

• Women face the greatest assault on their rights in decades, including the right to control their own being and bodies.
• We face a time when a country partly founded over the tyranny of one religion over another and the separation of church and state has among its state and country leaders the desire to rewrite this history and force a religion into public institutions and schools.
• We face a moment where the color of your skin, the origin of your heritage, your gender, and your sexuality can all be levers to impact legislation and politics.
• We face a moment where science, academics, and education are under attack.
• We have faced climate challenges in the past, remember the Ozone Layer, but we seem to want to deny global warming in the middle of a globally punishing heatwave.
• We face a moment when this country’s military might is being used to impose our will around the globe, rather than serving more as a deterrent and a lever to promote peace.

We saw the current President at the dedication of the Teddy Roosevelt Library.  I would suggest, from all I have read, that I don’t imagine Teddy Roosevelt would want to be in his company.  Nor could I imagine him wanting Trump’s face on Mount Rushmore near his.

So, I had been somewhat challenged by my country's birthday.  

A good friend in Dubai reminded me yesterday that this is still my home, my country.  The visitors to the World Cup, and their many videos, have reminded me of the diversity of cities, terrain, cultures, and food, and that there is still much to be proud of.

I also was thinking of the Bicentennial in 1976.  I remember it as a joyful celebration in my youth.  I remember bicentennial minutes on TV.  I remember it as quite happy.  But when I look back, we had many challenges. 

• The Vietnam War had just ended in 1975.
• Women had just won the right to have their own credit cards and loans without a man’s signature.
• Nixon resigned in 1974 due to the Watergate scandal.
• We were in the middle of a Cold War with the Soviet Union.
•  In 31 states, I could have been jailed for being gay.

So, we have made progress in some areas and remain challenged in others.

This past week, the Supreme Court gave more power to the Executive Branch but held somewhat firm on rights spelled out in the Constitution.

We continue to lead the world economically.  We are advancing at a rapid pace with new tech from AI to Medicine and more.

But most importantly, I am reminded that the magic of this country is that we do progress, just not in a simple straight line. I think one of the greatest gifts of the Constitution is that it slows change, making our government somewhat predictable.

• Hopefully, as we hold elections, we will return to progress across all human rights, rather than focusing on just one gender, race, or religion.
• Hopefully, we will be reminded that we are all created equally, regardless of whether we have one dollar or a trillion dollars in our pockets.
• Hopefully, we will return to being a beacon of hope and morality around the world.  I am particularly reminded of Hillary Clinton's courage in 1995 to speak on women’s rights and human rights in Beijing.
• Hopefully, the beacon of hope at the opening of the Obama presidential library will remind us of what good, honorable, hopeful, thoughtful, and optimistic can look like, and return to the polls with the hopes that elected and reelected him president.
• Hopefully, we will see in the near term a return to positive change in this country, led by kindness, genuine concern for all people, and civility.
• Hopefully, Congress will step up and work to rein in some of the power achieved by this president.  Not just to curtail the powers when presidents are not good, but to return to a slower-moving government with real checks and balances that is not only somewhat predictable inside our borders but also outside them.

In the end, I am still proud to be an American.  

Not ready to be an Expat, but I do consider it more than at any time in my life.  

I have had the luxury of traveling to many great countries in my life.  

Many whose histories are much longer than our own, but I have always been happy to return home.