AMERICA PAST 250

 The following  is an editorial.

In my capacity as Editor-in-Chief of The Free Choice E-zine I have written many editorials, but this one I had to stop and seriously think about because besides not wanting anything I said lost in the celebratory hoopla of the United States recently celebrating its 250th Independence Day July 4, I also wasn't quite sure exactly what to say before now.

This country has been through a lot even before America first declared and eventually gained its independence, and the paths to become both a growing nation and a world power have not been easily traversed.

There have been issues both domestic and foreign that have threatened to tear us apart.

Slavery, which eventually led to the Civil War and the Emancipation Proclamation, let alone the long road to reach declaring Civil Rights for everyone back in 1964.

The battle for women's rights still hasn't been completely settled. Ladies may have the right to vote, but the problems concerning rape and abortion, let alone equal pay for equal work have gotten worse over the last couple of decades.

And of course there is always the looming threat of war even after most of the world rallied to put down an evil would be dictator in the early 1940s.

But perhaps what's even worse is the growing problems within the United States right now.

Instead of solving them the current regime—and any dictionary will confirm that is the proper term for those in office right now at the Federal level instead of administration—is not only undoing all the accomplishments of the past but making things worse.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

The Save America Act; deporting the "undesirables" when this nation was founded by immigrants looking for a new life and the promise of a new start made by the lady in New York Harbor who said "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses earning to breathe free."

The ongoing stand against Diversity, Equality and Inclusion when the United States was once "The Great American Melting Pot." Favoring the rich and powerful instead of remembering that government is supposed to be "of the people, by the people, for the people" even while prices continue to rise, the highest executive in Washington DC recently reported earning TWO BILLION dollars last year and the divide between the economic classes widens.

Need I go on?

I truly hope and believe that things will eventually get better. That the United States and its citizens will find their way again. But the only way to do that is if Americans stay informed as well as protect and exercise their right to vote not only in the mid-term elections this November, but in the 2028 Presidential election.

Please remember: "United we stand. Divided we fall."

Lee Houston, Junior

Editor-in-Chief: The Free Choice E-zine

6 July, 2026

The above was an editorial, which is still protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. (All links were active at the time of posting.)