America is not a consumer price index.
Or a jobs report.Or a gross domestic product.
If it was, any middling beancounter could be President.
America is not a defense budget.
Or a military-industrial complex.
Or a series of insider government contracts.
If it was, any mediocre general could be President.
America is not a stock price.
Or a balance sheet.
Or an earnings report.
If it was, any cutthroat CEO could be President.
America is not a church.
Or an exclusionary dogma.
Or a list of sins to keep the flock in line.
If it was, any charismatic pastor could be President.
America is not a conclave of partisan lawgivers.
Or a whip count.
Or a back-room pork barrel deal.
If it was, any slick politico could be President.
America is not a nation of witless rubes.
Or easily duped screen slaves.
Or wild-eyed strident simpletons.
If it was, any dishonest huckster could be President.
America is not a population of coin-operated drones.
Or self-obsessed loners.
Or materialistic isolationists.
If it was, anyone pledging to pad their wallets could be President.
America is not an oligarchy of wealthy titans and flush conglomerates.
Or a cabal of moguls who own the airwaves and the newspapers.
Or a shadow-funded PAC that can buy any candidate.
If it was, a small group of self-interested elites could pick the President.
America is the dream of freedom made real by generations who gave their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.
America is a superpower born of a Great Depression and a war no one thought it could win, midwifed by a citizenry who defied expectations and united in common purpose.
America is a series of faults corrected by men and women who believed in our better angels and our unwavering commitment to unity and equality.
America is a country of compassion where neighbors put out fires and save lives and rebuild in calamity’s aftermath.
America is a builder and an innovator and a trailblazer, driven by the certainty that anything is possible for a people full of curiosity and vision.
America is a land of opportunity, where talent and hard work can pave the way to a better future for generations yet to come.
If it wasn’t, it wouldn’t matter who was President.
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