For Independence Day

"Make America Great Again"?  Bah.  Here is what makes America great, so long as we adhere to it:

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. -- Amendment I

So long as this is upheld, no one religion can be given any official status or recognition above any other, nor can religion be officially privileged over atheism.  And we bloggers can write freely, without fear of "blasphemy" laws, or "hate speech" laws, or any other form of censorship that some un-American types would like to impose to punish us for expressing incorrect opinions.

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed. -- Amendment II

The government cannot stop us from owning guns for self-defense, if we so choose.  By the plain meaning of the words, the "militia" reference is there as a reason why this right is guaranteed, not as a limitation of the class of people to whom it applies.  The phrase "the people" means the same thing it means in Amendments I, IV, IX, X, and elsewhere in the Constitution -- everybody.

Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction. -- Amendment XIII, section 1

The final verdict on the institution which the Confederacy was created to preserve.

And don't forget:

.....but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States. -- Article VI

A further affirmation that adherents of religion, or of a particular religion, cannot be officially privileged.

In most countries these rights, even if they currently exist, could in theory be taken away or eroded away by legislation, if an authoritarian party came to power.  Not here.  So long as this remains true, the United States is, in that sense, a special place.