The searing natural beauty that consecrates nearly every mile of these still formally united states struck me virtually every daylight hour, as I drove recently, coast to coast, and back again, in an electric vehicle (but not a Tesla!).
If only the nation’s politics matched its physical subtlety, a brighter future for “our Posterity”1 would be more fully secured.
A key theme pursued in this space these last several years is that respect for the rule of law amounts to a prerequisite for our assumption of leadership among nations in combating the climate crisis, among other urgent obligations.
But, as the conservative jurist Michael Luttig has documented2 with considerable force, including in a broadcast yesterday, our presently dominant federal leadership is moving fast against virtually every democratic ideal that had animated the nation’s Founders.
For ease of reference as to those ideals to which Judge Luttig refers, we have here reprinted the Declaration of Independence, now 249 years old. That declaration is not without its flaws. It nonetheless is worth reading, or reading again, even, or perhaps especially, at this late hour.
- US Constitution, Preamble, which reads in its entirety:
“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.” ↩︎ - Judge Luttig’s July 2, 2025 essay, The Self-Evident Truths of Freedom—and of Tyranny
Twenty-seven truths about America, our Democracy and Rule of Law, and our rights, freedoms, and liberties, was published by Telos News here. ↩︎