Happy Fourth of July to all of you. The incredible blessing of our nation’s freedom can not be overlooked today, nor can the spirit and vigor with which it was earned. Because I have spent the last six months in utter fear and shock at quotes like these here, I thought your Independence Day might benefit from the quotes I provide beneath them:“There will be a time again for making profits, but those times are not now.” – Barack Obama“I think when you spread the wealth around it is good for everybody.” – Barack Obama“In America, there's a failure to appreciate Europe's leading role in the world.” – Barack Obama“My administration is the only thing between you [CEO's] and the pitchforks.” – Barack Obama“What do you think a stimulus is? It's spending - that's the whole point! Seriously.” – Barack Obama"A group of investment firms and hedge funds did not make sacrifices. I don't stand with them. I stand with Chrysler's employees, management and suppliers. I don't stand with those who held out when everybody else made sacrifices." – Barack Obama****I thought it might be better to direct our Fourth of July attentions to a few quotes like these, quotes that reflect an era and philosophy that defended American ideals, that recognized the merit of the free marketplace, that viewed America as the “last, best hope”, and not as an arrogant, shameful kid who owed the world an apology for its affluence and accomplishments. In short, I thought a few quotes from those who make me proud to be an American – more proud than I could ever attempt to fully articulate – would be in order:****"Democratic capitalism is not just the hope of wealth, but it's the hope of justice. When we look into the face of poverty, we see the pain, the despair, and need of human beings. But above all, in the face of every child, we must see the image of God. I believe the ultimate imperative for growth is to advance human dignity." - Jack Kemp"Property is the fruit of labor...property is desirable...it is a positive good in the world. That some should be rich shows that others may become rich, and hence is just encouragement to industry and enterprise. Let not him who is houseless pull down the house of another; but let him labor diligently and build one for himself, thus by example assuring that his own shall be safe from violence when built." - Abraham Lincoln“In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact quality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person's becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American ... There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an America, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag. We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language, and we have room for but one sole loyalty, and that is a loyalty to the American people."- Teddy Roosevelt“Freedom has its life in the hearts, the actions, the spirit of men and so it must be daily earned and refreshed - else like a flower cut from its life-giving roots, it will wither and die.” - Dwight D. EisenhowerAnd lastly, from the incalculably brilliant Walter Russell Mead:"As the historical process continues to accelerate, and even as dangers surround us on every hand, much of American society is going to approach this new and so far rather unsettling century with the optimistic faith in the invisible hand that has long been our hallmark. One way or another, large numbers of Americans are likely to continue to believe that the values that have shaped the Anglo-American world and by which the Anglo-Americans have gone on to take the lead in the last three tumultuous centuries remain the values that bring success in their daily economic and political pursuits. They will also continue to believe that these values are leading us westward and upward ... America will continue rushing forward, however steep the slope of forbidding the terrain, bearing its banner with the strange device: Excelsior!"