MMN Editor

The far left is taking its political playbook nationwide, moving from high-profile primary wins in New York City and Colorado to a string of upcoming Democratic contests in Missouri, Michigan, Wisconsin and Florida.After far-left and socialist-aligned candidates scored ballot-box victories over establishment-backed contenders in congressional primaries in New York City and Colorado the past two weeks, the left is taking aim at the Midwest.Hours after Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) backed challenger and first-time candidate Melat Kiros toppled 15-term Democratic Rep. Diana DeGette in Tuesday’s primary in Denver’s deep blue 1st Congressional District, former Rep. Cori Bush of Missouri pledged on social media, “On August 4th, St. Louis will do the same.”Kiros’ victory, coupled with wins a week earlier by three far-left congressional candidates heavily supported by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, is emboldening progressives as they try to turn isolated blue-city upsets into a national pressure campaign against the Democratic Party. VICTORIES BY MAMDANI-BACKED CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATES SPOTLIGHTS GROWING RIFT IN DEMOCRATIC PARTY”Only socialism can solve decades of capitalist mismanagement in the US. Our newly elected leaders will fight for the working class — not for crumbs,” the DSA proclaimed in a social media post on Wednesday.In Missouri, the DSA-backed Bush is running to win back her seat in the state’s St. Louis-anchored 1st Congressional District.Bush, a nurse, pastor and Black Lives Matter activist, first ran against Democratic Rep. Lacy Clay in 2018 before ousting him in the 2020 Democratic primary. But two years ago, she lost renomination to St. Louis County prosecuting attorney Wesley Bell, who was backed by millions in outside money, including pro-Israel groups opposed to Bush’s position on the war in Gaza.DEMOCRACY ’26: STAY UP TO DATE WITH THE FOX NEWS ELECTION HUBFast forward to today, and Bush and Clay are locked in an expensive and combative rematch.The far left is also training its firepower on the crucial Great Lakes battleground of Michigan, which holds its primary on the same day as Missouri.Abdul El-Sayed, a former Wayne County health director who unsuccessfully ran for governor eight years ago as an insurgent, is one of three major candidates trying to succeed retiring Democratic Sen. Gary Peters, D-Fla.Backed last year by far left champion Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, El-Sayed on Thursday was endorsed by progressive rockstar Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York.THESE MIDTERM RACES WILL DETERMINE WHETHER REPUBLICANS HOLD THEIR SENATE MAJORITY”AOC has changed the trajectory of American politics and inspired a generation to believe that government really can work for working people,” El-Sayed wrote on social media. “Together, we’re proving that even in the face of unprecedented outside spending, a movement powered by the people can win.”One week later, on Aug. 11, Wisconsin holds primaries.Wisconsin state Rep. Francesca Hong is on the rise among a crowded field of candidates in the race to succeed retiring Democratic Gov. Tony Evers.”It’s a great day to be a democratic socialist,” the DSA-aligned Hong posted on X last week after the progressive victories in New York City, in which two Democratic congressional incumbents lost renomination. “Wisconsin is next!”A week later, the spotlight will shine on Florida, where DSA-backed Oliver Larkin is challenging two-term Democratic Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., in the state’s 25 Congressional District, which includes portions of Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties.”Tonight, @MelatKirosCO, tomorrow @OliverALarkin. The movement moves from New York to Colorado to FLORIDA!,” the DSA wrote on X hours after Kiros’ victory.Kiros, who lost her job as a lawyer in New York after writing an essay critical of Israel, was also backed by Justice Democrats, the nearly decade-old political group known for heavily supporting “Squad” members Ocasio-Cortez, and Reps. Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley and Rashida Tlaib as they toppled entrenched incumbents in their initial elections to Congress. Hasan Piker, the controversial far-left streamer who attended Kiros’ primary night event in Denver, told Fox News, “I think progressive politics, left populism, a politics that centers the needs of the working class, can work in every district, in every state. That’s why I kept saying over and over again, it’s coming to a city near you.” Progressives also scored an impressive victory in the neighboring 8th Congressional District, a crucial swing seat which stretches along the I-25 corridor north of Denver.State Rep. Manny Rutinel tallied a convincing double-digit victory over former state Rep. Shannon Bird, a more moderate candidate. Rutinel will now take on Republican Rep. Gabe Evans, who flipped the seat in the 2024 cycle.The race is considered one of two or three dozen that will determine if the GOP holds onto its razor-thin House majority in the midterms.Longtime Democratic strategist Joe Caiazzo, a veteran of progressive champion Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns, told Fox News Digital that “it is undeniable that progressives have built a coalition and have a message that can serve to buoy a candidate when they are an acceptable alternative to the status quo.”While plenty of mainstream Democrats have racked up primary victories in recent weeks, it is the far left’s wins that are grabbing the media spotlight.And that is giving Republicans who are facing a rough political climate as they work to hold their slim House and Senate majorities, more ammunition as they portray all Democrats as radicals.President Donald Trump has repeatedly warned of a “communist” threat.Vice President JD Vance argued Tuesday on Fox News’ “The Ingraham Angle” that Democrats have “a view that the United States is an evil country that must be dismantled from the ground and then built back up. That’s communism at its core, and you see more and more momentum in that direction from the Democrat Party.”

Just two years ago, no one would have believed it.While Donald Trump and Republicans celebrate the 250th anniversary of the birth of America, the freest and most powerful nation on Earth, Democrats and their rising radical tide are embracing communism, the worst and most destructive political system in history.In June, Marxist radicals calling themselves Democratic Socialists swept the New York City primaries, confirming the trend that’s upended the Democratic establishment and created what one of those candidates dubbed “the Commie Corridor,” stretching from New York to other blue states and cities.DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISM IS SWEEPING THE NATION. VOTERS SHOULD BE ALARMEDDon’t be fooled by the name. Democratic Socialists of America may not call themselves communists, but they work closely with communist fronts like Red Star and Springs of Revolution, and even the Communist Party of China. The DSA has successfully drawn young people and other dupes into the Marxist fold, with their promise of free everything by confiscating the wealth of Elon Musk and other “billionaires and oligarchs.” They’ve vowed to replace the “rugged individualism” of American capitalism with what their kingmaker, Zohran Mamdani, calls the “warmth of collectivism” — another name for communism.Let’s look at the record of that collective warmth. Since the first revolution in Russia in 1917, communist governments have cost, by a very conservative estimate, more than 100 million lives, including 20 million in the Soviet Union, 65 million in China, 3 million in Vietnam and Cambodia, and millions more from Cuba to Africa and North Korea.MY MOTHER FLED CUBA AND FOUND THE FREEDOM TOO MANY AMERICANS NOW FORGETCommunist-style socialism has brought poverty, mass starvation and subsistence misery to tens of millions worldwide. It has turned countries with once-flourishing societies like Venezuela into economic basket cases; reduced others like Poland and Romania to Third World status — including the former Soviet Union — until Ronald Reagan and the United States won the Cold War and set them free.Socialists like to say, “Capitalism kills,” but socialism and communism kill many, many more.What’s the United States’ record during those same years? Radicals like to attack the American “military-industrial complex,” even though it managed to set free millions with victory in World War II and then in the Cold War. It may be poised to do something similar in Iran.AMERICA’S NEXT 250 YEARS DEPEND ON PASSING FAITH AND FREEDOM TO OUR CHILDRENThey blame America for supposed “genocide” against Native Americans, just as they blame Israel for genocide today. The truth is, deaths of Native Americans in frontier wars pale by comparison with the actual genocide waged by Spanish settlers in Mexico and across Latin America, or the Russians in conquering Siberia — or the Chinese against their Muslim Uyghur minority today.They attack Trump for “anti-immigrant” policies when, in fact, it’s been America’s highly successful capitalist economy that’s drawn immigrants, legal and illegal, for 250 years.By contrast, socialist and communist economies attract no one. Just the opposite: People flee the result as soon as they can, as they did from East Germany, Cuba and North Korea, and just as they’re doing from America’s socialist offshoots in California, Illinois and New York.That’s because, in the end, socialism and Marxism are a rebellion against human nature, even — with their embrace of transgender extremism — against nature itself. Socialism asks people to abandon their sense of individualism, their personal commitment to family, faith and nation, in order to serve what socialists call the common good — which means what their socialist and communist masters decide is the common good.That includes handing over whatever you own or have earned for yourself. Socialists like to say private property is theft. In fact, under socialism, government is theft. “What you thought was yours,” it tells its citizens, “is actually mine. And I’ll decide how much I’m going to leave you after I take what I want.”Abraham Lincoln once said the principle behind slavery was, “You work and toil and earn bread, and I’ll eat it.” That’s the principle behind socialism, as a modern version of slavery. It’s one millions in the former Soviet Union endured, and that millions more in Cuba, North Korea and China are enduring still.Fortunately, our Founding Fathers knew this. They knew enough history to know how, in a free society, demagogues like Zohran Mamdani and Sen. Bernie Sanders could manipulate millions of voters into believing that economics is a zero-sum game and that the only way to make their lives better is by stealing from other citizens.Therefore, our Founders built into their Declaration of Independence the principle that our rights are God-given, not government-given, including that all-precious “pursuit of happiness,” which is left to the individual, not government, to define and discover.They included the Fifth Amendment in the Bill of Rights, which protects your property under the takings clause.They also made sure that the power of individuals to create and discover new ideas and technologies would be safe under our Constitution, with the creation, under Article I, Section 8, of the right to intellectual property and patents, which Lincoln, himself a patent holder, predicted would unleash the “fire of genius” that has grown and sustained the freest and richest economy on Earth, from the telegraph and electric light bulb to the automobile, the microchip, and today’s AI and quantum computers. What America as a free society is able to create, communist regimes like China have to steal, as socialism dries up human creativity and imagination, even as it rejects human nature.CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS OPINIONIn short, our Founding Fathers made sure America would become a fountainhead of other founders — people with the vision, drive and realization that risk is a signal for opportunity, not danger — who would spawn businesses, industries, institutions and even movements like civil rights under Martin Luther King Jr. and Turning Point USA under the late Charlie Kirk. Founders who would boost their fellow Americans’ pursuit of happiness and freedom, instead of forcing them to submit to the Marxist dream of utopia.Americanism or communism; freedom or slavery; an economy built on human creativity and invention, or one built on organized theft. That’s the choice Americans face, not just in the upcoming midterms and then in 2028, but far into the future.The original Founders trusted us enough to believe we’d continue to make the right choice, as we have over the last 250 years. Let’s hope and pray they were right.CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM ARTHUR HERMAN

My 13-year-old son’s “social studies” textbooks appear to be written by committees whose chief concern is to dull boys’ minds in order to make them open to indoctrination by politically correct dictum.Indeed, the very term “social studies” was promulgated by a Progressive Era committee.”The social studies are understood to be those whose subject matter relate to the organization and development of human society, and to man as a member of social groups,” decided the National Education Association’s (NEA) Committee on Social Studies in 1916. They thought it would be better to present history in the context of social narratives to teach politically useful interpretations.OBAMA TAKES NEW SWIPE AT FOUNDING FATHERS AHEAD OF AMERICA’S 250TH BIRTHDAY: ‘DEEP FLAW’The bad idea soon spread across the land.And so boys, now for more than a century, have not been told the real story about how George Washington had two horses shot out from under him in the Battle of the Monongahela in 1755, yet still attempted to get the stubborn British general to change tactics as they were being slaughtered, and when this failed, how a then 23-year-old Washington saved what was left of the British army.Today’s textbooks don’t set the scene to vividly show how Washington rallied a frozen army to cross the Delaware River to take Trenton on Christmas in 1776. They certainly don’t put the boys in the room to show an older Washington wiping his glasses as he made his former officers feel shame for attempting to make him a dictator or king in the Newburgh Conspiracy in 1783.SECRETS OF REVOLUTIONARY WAR BATTLEFIELDS EMERGE 250 YEARS AFTER AMERICA’S FOUNDINGNo, all of those stories have, at best, become dead dates on a page.The stories of adventure and human achievement are gone. In their place are narratives about social ills and the conflicts between races, men and women, the rich and the poor.All of those are important themes, but instead of honestly putting today’s students in the footsteps of human action, our boys are drowned in passively written prose, or worse, in preachy diatribes, as if to purposely uninspire them — or perhaps to safely, as committees will, navigate around the real things that teach.DISCOVERIES THAT RESHAPED WHAT HISTORIANS KNEW ABOUT AMERICA’S FOUNDING FATHERSWe now wonder why our boys are struggling in school. When we do, we talk about how growing boys need to get up from those rows of desks, move around, play sports and experiment. Again, that is all true, but no one is talking about how real tales of adventure have been turned into thin politically correct gruel.Instead of just telling boys how many patents Thomas Edison had or simply reporting that he gave us a long-lasting incandescent lightbulb, how about telling them how he was tossed out of school for being “addled” when he was a boy? How about teachers explaining about how one of Edison’s experiments set fire to a train when he was 12 years old — a period in which he was busy printing his own newspaper on that train?As they do, they could explain that just after he was thrown off that train, the stationmaster at Mount Clemens — who owed Edison for saving his son’s life — taught Edison how to be a telegraph operator and so helped to set the course of his life and thereby changed the world. An educator could then set the scene of Edison, much later, as he ran his “Invention Factory,” a place that must have inspired the Tony Stark (Iron Man) character.If a teacher started telling real stories of adventure like these, I guarantee the boys in class would sit still a lot longer and listen a lot more attentively. The real stories stay with us. Indeed, within them are the themes that school administrators, via social-studies classes, want to emphasize; only, instead of dumbed-down narratives designed to indoctrinate, they’d be teaching well-rounded, honest history.Consider Davy Crockett. We could toss out his years and note that he was caught between the cultural friction then occurring between people of European descent moving west and members of Native American tribes. Or we could talk about his heroic stand against the Indian Removal Act and how, after he lost his seat in Congress the second time because of this moral stand, he said (this is the popular paraphrase of the quote), “You may all go to hell, and I will go to Texas.” Then, talk about his last stand at the Alamo and even show a picture of the knife he died fighting with — it is now on display in the San Jacinto Museum in Harris County, Texas.Boys would go home still talking about that!CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS OPINIONInstead of doing any of that, the committees who write our kids’ textbooks flipped the script in the Progressive Era so they could reduce the great men of history into useful caricatures as they shoved history into politically correct filters.Parents need to push back, as the real stories are what excite and teach boys. Real stories about the Founders and other great leaders stay with us. Anyone who has heard about Teddy Roosevelt’s capture of the three outlaws in Dakota Territory in 1886 can picture how he marched them at gunpoint for 36 hours straight and that, after getting them to the town of Dickinson, everyone, including the bad guys, was surprised he had not simply hung them on the spot.America has some of the coolest heroes, but we don’t do a good job these days of telling their stories. This is, of course, why I wrote “Cool Heroes for Boys—20 True Tales of Adventure” for my son and for America’s boys, but don’t just hand them a book. Rather, talk to them about these heroes and all they faced and what they got right and wrong. As you do, you’ll find that it’s the real stories of adventure that gets boys interested in learning.CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM FRANK MINITER

As Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce get set to tie the knot at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Friday, July 3, a hot topic of debate is the celebrity couple’s plans for a cocktail hour ahead of their ceremony — an event that could far surpass the traditional hour and instead go as long as 2.5 hours, according to multiple reports about the weekend events.”Yes, cocktail hours traditionally last one hour,” said Florida-based etiquette expert Jacqueline Whitmore in response to reports about the unusual length of the pre-wedding event as part of a whirlwind day that could last into the wee hours of Friday evening. “This gives the newly married couple time to take pictures, and it gives the guests time to socialize and relax.”But “sometimes,” she said, “the cocktail party can last more than an hour if the wedding party is quite large, running late — or if guests and the wedding party have to travel quite a distance to the reception venue.”TAYLOR SWIFT’S UNUSUAL WEDDING GIFTS RULE IGNITES ETIQUETTE DEBATE: ‘HONOR THEIR WISHES’Whitmore also said that, in her view, “it’s perfectly acceptable for the cocktail hour to run longer, as long as enough food and beverages are provided. Otherwise, the guests will most likely get cranky.”As Fox News Digital previously reported, Swift’s wedding to three-time Super Bowl winner Kelce may be a days-long affair involving street closures, hundreds of VIPs, a special police detail and taxpayer-funded security measures, according to a source with knowledge of the event.Roughly 1,000 guests are expected to attend — with many described as “high profile” and “VIP” by the police department. The reported schedule is igniting debate, however.CLICK HERE FOR MORE LIFESTYLE STORIES”Hospitality is measured by comfort, not by the clock,” said Lisa Mirza Grotts, a California-based etiquette expert and founder of Golden Rules Gal.”If guests are well-fed and have plenty to drink, comfortable seating and opportunities to mingle, the celebration simply begins earlier. At larger weddings, an extended cocktail party also allows the couple more time to greet family and friends before the ceremony.”She also said that today’s weddings “are less about following a timeline and more about creating an experience. Traditionally, the ceremony came first and the celebration followed. Today, many couples are reimagining that order.”CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR LIFESTYLE NEWSLETTERShe noted that a “cocktail party before the ceremony allows guests to relax, connect with one another and settle into the celebration before the vows are exchanged.”When a bride writing on Reddit asked about her own planned two-hour cocktail party, many commenters had strong opinions.”So cocktails are from 4:30-6:30? That does seem like a long time,” one Reddit user said.TEST YOURSELF WITH OUR LATEST LIFESTYLE QUIZ”Don’t do this to your guests. A lot of couples just don’t attend cocktail hour because of photos and that’s totally fine. If you really want to attend cocktail hour, do all your photos beforehand,” another said.”I think two hours is [way] too long. One hour should be the cap for a cocktail hour. You can sneak away for the sunset photos during dinner,” a third person chimed in.A fourth said, “There’s a reason it’s called cocktail HOUR, and not cocktail two-hours! You could push it to 90 minutes if absolutely necessary, but two hours is definitely too long.””Seems a little long! I’d be exhausted and people may get very drunk,” yet another said.Whitmore said etiquette rules are in place for a reason.Still, “wedding traditions have changed, and that’s perfectly fine,” said the Florida-based authority. “The one thing that should never go out of style is consideration for your guests.”Michael Ruiz of Fox News Digital contributed reporting.

Former U.S. Navy SEAL Robert O’Neill, who is credited with killing Usama bin Laden, reflected on America’s 250th anniversary, praising opportunities for those willing to work hard while urging Americans to preserve the nation’s values amid what he described as a growing hatred of its history.”As we come up on our 250th anniversary of being the greatest country ever, it’s just the opportunity here from my personal experience that reminds me, and I almost get to a point where I’m jealous of younger men that were my age when I joined because they literally have the world at their fingertips,” O’Neill told Fox News Digital.”You can do anything, seriously, in this country.”O’Neill, who served with SEAL Team 6 during Operation Neptune Spear, the 2011 raid that killed the al Qaeda mastermind and chief, encouraged more young people to step outside their comfort zones and contribute to America’s success.BILL MAHER TELLS LIBERALS TO STOP ‘PARTISAN SULKING’ AND JOIN AMERICA 250 PARTY”I’m able to attribute a lot of my successes in life simply because I left the house,” he said. “I went to join the military, and I did. In this country, I just proved you can do anything by not doing one thing. I just didn’t stop. I never quit.”Looking back on his service, O’Neill said it was a “great honor” to leave home, rise through the ranks on merit, and earn a place on a team chosen solely on ability, calling his experience an example of “the greatness of the country.””That team was proof of equal opportunity,” he said. “You have an equal opportunity to try out, but you’re gonna be tested every day, and if you don’t pass, we’re just gonna get rid of you. But the team was built because of this country, and the country has the ability to do that over and over again.”As millions prepare to celebrate the anniversary, O’Neill acknowledged that not everyone views the milestone positively, blaming a growing “victimhood” mindset for turning people away from the nation’s history.YOUTUBER AMIR ODOM CHALLENGES BLACK AMERICANS TO REJECT VICTIMHOOD AND RECLAIM THEIR FUTURE”Part of the issue is we stop teaching our kids the past, and we’re actually raising a lot of victims,” he said. “I don’t know why the victimhood is here. Maybe it’s because the country is so great, we have to look back on the past and invent problems, and that’s what we’re doing right now.”A driving force behind this growing disdain is “institutional cowardice,” according to O’Neill, who warned that “if we keep importing the enemy and won’t call it what it is,” the country risks deeper political division and, ultimately, “civil war.””We’re at a place right now of institutional cowardice where we’re importing people based on untruths because people in political positions know that they’ll vote for them if they keep doing what they’re doing,” he said.”Once that base starts growing, they’re going to get rid of what was referred to by communists as the ‘useful idiots.’ It’s growing right now. I mean, it’s almost ironic that we can look over the ocean at Great Britain on an anniversary from a country where we gained independence, and it’s not like looking at another nation. We’re looking at a glimpse into our future.”O’Neill said the nation loses its strength despite its ability to “win anything with force,” arguing America would need to “import the enemy in order to lose.””We’re seeing right now that we can win anything with force, but we need to import the enemy in order to lose,” he said. “What I mean by that is if we get infiltrated, pound for pound, we’re never gonna lose a fight. Instead of telling the truth, we just try to appease. That’s what we’re seeing right now. We win the wars that we’re in until we involve too many laws that we make up ourselves.”WHO IS RAISING AMERICA’S CHILDREN? MENTOR WARNS KIDS ARE SEEKING ROLE MODELS ONLINE AS COMMUNITIES FADEBut O’Neill said America can continue to succeed if it preserves its founding values, saying the country is “fragile” as “it’s still an experiment.”Pointing to the British, Persian, and Ottoman empires as examples of powerful nations that eventually declined, O’Neill said America’s 250-year run does not guarantee its future and people “need to reflect on our great nation and how it’s very important that we keep it that way.””We gotta realize that the American project, the experiment that it is, it’s still worth continuing, and it’s good to see that we made it 250 years, but also keep in mind, that’s usually the lifetime of most empires,” he said.O’Neill said people should not take the country’s freedoms and opportunities for granted, saying he has seen “true poverty and real dictators” and that “it’s a blessing” to be here.”We need to realize that we have been padded by two oceans, the Pacific and the Atlantic, and you don’t want to do the whole ‘don’t know what you got until it’s gone,’ because this country is great,” he said.

Authorities have uncovered networks of men accused of drugging and sexually assaulting women, then evidence of the crimes with one another online.

The heat wave threatens to overwhelm U.S. grids and may force some to change their plans on one of the busiest travel weeks of the year.

Asia-Pacific markets traded broadly higher Friday as investors continued rotating out of technology stocks, tracking declines in the U.S.

Americans will celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Founding tomorrow with an extravaganza of concerts, parties, fireworks, and parades. Our friends from abroad are joining the party with gusto: Yesterday, an armada that descended on New York Harbor as part of the festivities included service members from over 100 countries.
The signing of the Declaration of Independence is a world-historical event, and it is fitting that friends of freedom from all around the world hail it as one of the great advances in liberty. The Declaration became so consequential not merely because of the profound insights within it, but also because the signers got the geopolitics right. This country will only endure if Americans stay clear-eyed about both the great truths embodied in the Declaration and the grubbier realities involved in its defense.
The same day the Founders signed the document announcing their independence from the British Empire two-and-a-half centuries ago, a different armada bore down on New York Harbor. On July 2, 1776, British troops landed on Staten Island. As the ink dried in Philadelphia, the battle for New York began.
Many now think of the Declaration as the foundational text for understanding the ideas underpinning the American way, but the Continental Congress needed it to answer a more immediate and practical problem. The “glorious cause” of the American Revolution could not survive without funding, weapons, and military assistance that could only come from Europe, but no monarchs were interested in intervening in a local tax revolt. To get the support they needed, and to turn the rebellion into a global war, the Congress needed to convince Europe that the break with England was irreparable.
The prudent course would have been to downplay the anti-monarchical ideas driving the revolution, but that is not what the Founders did. Instead, they asserted “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.” They continued, moreover, “whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of” their citizens’ rights, “it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government.”
This is still not the court politics version of How to Win Friends and Influence People. But they believed in their cause so strongly that they couldn’t help themselves but write it, even when they knew a diplomatic failure would mean their ruin and, almost certainly, their death.
Despite this outpouring of republican fervor, geopolitical realities pushed Paris and Philadelphia together. France armed and funded the revolution, and eventually allied with the Americans, because the benefit of harming their hated rivals in England was so apparent. Not for the last time, the Americans defended their way of life as part of an international coalition that fought around the world. The war began in Boston and spread as far as the Bay of Bengal.
The former colonists knew that if they prevailed, their revolution had the potential to change the world. As Alexander Hamilton wrote, “it seems to have been reserved to the people of this country, by their conduct and example” to show all if men could be governed by “reflection and choice” rather than by “accident and force.”
But for the American system to thrive, it needed to survive a dangerous international environment. The United States was effectively surrounded after the war. Britain still owned Canada to the north, Spain’s control of New Orleans could choke off westward expansion, and the Atlantic Ocean was a highway for any adversary’s fleet. The revolutionary-era Articles of Confederation also left the central government too weak to do much.
This could not last. As Hamilton told his fellow delegates at the Constitutional Convention, “no government could give us tranquility and happiness at home, which did not possess sufficient stability and strength to make us respectable abroad.”
The text of the Declaration of Independence has inspired freedom movements around the world and helped Americans understand their glorious cause. Abraham Lincoln called it the “apple of gold” at the heart of the American experiment. In his view, the Constitution was the “picture of silver” that would “adorn, and preserve it.” The Declaration’s “great principles of political freedom and natural justice” convinced the escaped slave Frederick Douglass that the Constitution was a “glorious liberty document.”
As Americans celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration, many can see storm clouds on the horizon. Russia is still attacking Ukraine and threatening the United States and its allies, Iran has been bloodied but is vengeful, and China looms behind them eager to overturn the U.S.-led order.
The Founders would find this predicament all too familiar. To win their independence, they had to get the geopolitics right. To maintain it, they had to create and sustain a government that could effectively protect the American way of life. To preserve this precious heritage, we must too.
The post Preserving America’s Principles in an Unprincipled World appeared first on .

TheStreet aims to feature only the best products and services. If you buy something via one of our links, we may earn a commission.Why we love this dealCitizen is a watch brand that’s built its reputation on a combination of quality, style, and innovation. That’s why I’ve personally owned a number of Citizen timepieces over the years (specifically, Eco-Drive models) and will surely own more in the future. Because of a deal we just found at Amazon, you can join me in this endeavor, and do so at a big discount. Amazon is currently selling a Citizen Eco-Drive watch, in titanium no less, at a price that’s even making me wonder if this could be my next piece.The Citizen Eco-Drive Super Titanium Field Watch is on sale for only $241. That’s 46% off the regular price of $450. This might be the perfect price for the perfect watch at the perfect time. If you’ve been on the verge of starting your own personal luxury watch journey, but have been waiting for the right watch, you may have just found it.Citizen Eco-Drive Super Titanium Field Watch, $241 (was $450) at Amazon

Courtesy of Amazon

Shop at AmazonWhy do shoppers love it?Thanks to the aforementioned Citizen foundations of quality, style, and innovation, this watch is a world-beater. Starting with 100 meters of water resistance, you’ll be able to do just about anything with it, and feel confident doing so. Its 100 meters of resistance means you can swim in the pool or ocean without worrying about damaging the watch. What’s more, thanks to the proprietary Citizen Super Titanium case and bracelet, this watch is virtually indestructible yet lightweight. While some people prefer to feel heft on their wrist when spending on a luxury watch, there’s no denying the easy comfort of titanium. Additionally, the industrial-looking Super Titanium finish is five times harder than stainless steel, and that’s not the only benefit. It also has a slightly dark, almost silky finish to it that looks great on the wrist. This brings us into the second benefit of Citizen watches, which is their style.In addition to the beautiful titanium shimmer of the piece, the Weekend Garrison watch also boasts an interesting and attractive dial configuration. The dial has a lovely silvery-gray color that incorporates a larger textured concentric circle around the outside. Over that circle sit Arabic numeral hour markers with the exception of the 3, 6, 9, and 12 o’clock positions, which include dashes and a triangle in the place of numbers, respectively. All hour markers have a luminescent coating that glows in the dark. There is also a subtle minute track around the outside of the dial with red markers at 20-minute intervals. Finally, there is a nicely finished day/date window at the 3 o’clock position that allows you to keep track of your personal calendar. This is a nice feature that most watches at this price point don’t include, and it brings us to the final quality of Citizen timepieces, which is innovation.While the above day/date function of this watch is convenient, it’s hardly the most impressive technical aspect within. The watch is powered by the brand’s vaunted Eco-Drive movement. Eco-Drive watches contain very small solar panels, which are embedded underneath the dial and virtually undetectable to the eye. They collect solar energy throughout the day and store it in a rechargeable battery. That energy is then released through the handset, allowing for constant timekeeping without hand winding or the need to constantly replace the battery. In fact, Eco-Drive models should never need a battery replacement for the entire life of the watch. Related: Citizen’s trendy salmon dial luxury watch is nearly $150 off at AmazonThat’s a big benefit they have over most other quartz-regulated watches, which require regular battery replacements. The only possible downside to an Eco-Drive movement is that if you have a large watch collection and leave an Eco-Drive model in complete darkness for months at a time, it may need a short period of recharging. However, that’s an unlikely scenario for most people. If you buy this watch, you’ll want to wear it as often as possible.Pros and Cons of the Citizen Eco-Drive Super Titanium Field WatchProsWater resistance: The 100 meters of water resistance allows you to swim confidently without fearing internal damageConstruction: Citizen Super Titanium is durable, lightweight, and attractive.Movement: The solar-powered Eco-Drive movement constantly recharges and never needs a battery replacement.ConsLack of heft: Those who tend to equate a feel of heaviness with quality may not like the lightweight feel on the wrist of this watch.Potential charge drain: If not used regularly, the solar charge could drain, requiring a recharge period exposed to sunlight.Amazon shoppers were quite pleased with the Citizen Weekender Garrison model, and shared their pleasure in the reviews. One called it an “excellent timepiece with an understated but handsome design.” They added that it was “tough, and easy to read at a glance.”Shop more deals Citizen Promaster Sea Eco-Drive Dive Watch, $290 (was $475) at AmazonCitizen Eco-Drive Promaster Navihawk, $446 (was $595) at AmazonThe Citizen Eco-Drive Super Titanium Field Watch does not disappoint. In fact, at the current price of just $241, it surpasses all expectations of what affordable luxury can be. Don’t wait too long, though, before putting one in your cart. They’re likely to go quickly at this price, and you’ll want to get yours before time is up.