Today, July 4, Independence Day, is when we celebrate the one thing that makes America, America: Freedom.
For me — and not just because I make my living as a journalist — the prime embodiment of American freedom is the First Amendment to the Constitution. I can write what I want, and the government cannot do anything about it. That does not absolve me or other journalists if we are careless with what we write; with great freedom, comes great responsibility. But it does shackle the government, at any level, from using its authority to silence me, or to block others from reading what I write.
The freedom the First Amendment guards is not just for journalists, but for all who live here. Without it, we are not free. Without it, this is not America.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
The genius of the First Amendment, and of the whole Constitution, as well as the Declaration of Independence, is that it is driven by the belief that as human beings, as the governed, we are born with certain qualities, with certain liberties, that always must be protected, that always take preminence over the preference of the governors. And when the rulers forget this, it is time for revolution.
That's one reason I am so passionate about cause of Cuban liberty — especially as championed by Cuba's independent journalists. Americans do not deserve to be free because we are Americans, and Cubans do not deserve to be free because we are Cubans. All men and women deserve to be free because that is how we are born.
And as long as there is one tyrant left in the world, none of us are as free as we deserve.
To learn more about your First Amendment freedoms, go here.
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