Because today is Flag Day, I am adding a bonus post, in addition to my continuing series about "My Antonia." When my Mother was a little girl, her father teased her about all of the flags flying on her June 14th birthday. He told her the flags were for her. I'm not sure she ever really doubted that they were!
In a way, those flags do fly for all of us, and so I post this special Flag Day blog with some wisdom from past Presidents, and one from the United States Supreme Court, to remind us why we honor that glorious symbol of our nation.
The way to secure liberty is to place it in the people's hands, that is, to give them the power at all times to defend it in the legislature and in the courts of justice. John Adams
A primary object should be the education of our youth in the science of government. In a republic what species of knowledge can be equally important? And what duty more pressing than communicating it to those who are to be future guardians of the liberties of the country? George Washington
We do not consecrate the flag by punishing its desecration, for in doing so we dilute the freedom that this cherished emblem represents. United States Supreme Court, Texas v. Johnson
America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves. Abraham Lincoln
No government is perfect. One of the chief virtues of a democracy, however, is that its defects are always visible and under democratic processes can be pointed out and corrected. Harry S. Truman
America has never been united by blood or birth or soil. We are bound by ideals that move us beyond our backgrounds, lift us above our interests and teach us what it means to be citizens. George W. Bush
May the wisdom of those words inspire all of us, and long may our flag fly.
No comments:
Post a Comment