What does it mean to be an American? Ask a conservative.

Source: USA Today
by Nicole Russell

“America’s abundance is easy to admire. What’s easier to forget is that prosperity isn’t what made America exceptional. Liberty did. In much of the world, rights are treated as privileges the government grants to its citizens. In the American system, it’s the opposite: Rights are inherent to the individual, and the Constitution exists to dictate what government cannot do to you. It’s an extraordinary concept, and one conservatives have committed to upholding.” [editor’s note: Well, that there’s a spit take moment – TLK] (07/02/26)

https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/columnist/2026/07/02/america-250th-anniversary-liberty-conservatives/90737397007/