The Valley Forge Project

Author unknown, but perfect for an election year:

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.

(Sample presidents shown below for clarity)

Valley Forge still resonates.

https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/january-12-2024?r=as83y&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email&fbclid=IwAR2a0yhTEDcMwlx4Z6eixo6DZ3IVJVZUi_6HBUgAO31tTAiB4rQrUYKOggk_aem_AYpL6RmwQSg1wmSVLDdPxM2TrX9IQFAf6-pYO8Yombzq7naSmpqgmQNhvMjTAA_Udv8

January 12, 2024 Last week, after President Joe Biden went to Valley Forge and then spoke in Pennsylvania, I got a chance to sit down with him to ask a few questions. What I wanted to hear from him illustrates the difference between journalists and historians. Journalists are trained to find breaking stories and to....

~ Seneca the Younger

https://www.valleyforgeproject.org/

Valley Forge Project | Change America's Politics The Valley Forge Project is a grassroots political movement to amend the Constitution of the United States.