Welcome to a special edition of the MS NOW Daily newsletter.
On the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States, MS NOW’s series “America in the Balance: The Fight for Our History and Future” features eight writers wrestling with our country’s promises and contradictions. Baptist minister Brian Kaylor expresses approval that ours is not a Christian nation. Tom Ginsburg, an expert on the world’s constitutions, imagines a new Constitution for the U.S., and Sheryll Cashin celebrates the founders who spoke out against slavery from the start.
Deborah Archer suggests a civil rights framework that would honor the Declaration of Independence, and Helaine Olen explains why the pursuit of happiness is increasingly hard to afford. Anthony Fisher longs for a less partisan semiquincentennial, and retired Marine fighter pilot Richard Westmoreland explains his ambivalence on this 250th anniversary. Christian Schneider, who champions America’s greatness, argues that our government deserves only a little credit for it.
America is not just a country; it’s an experiment, and these writers have thoughts on how it’s working out.
— Jarvis DeBerry, editor