A couple of years ago I made this list of things I love about my nation — the United States of America — and it is all still true. I hope you all have a wonderful and safe celebration of Independence Day. Maybe make your own list. I’d love to see it.

1. I love that we have three co-equal branches of government.
2. I love that criticizing leadership, elected officials, and policies we disagree with is an act of patriotism. America was born in rebellion!
3. I love Election Nights. I’ll take Super Tuesday results over a Super Bowl any day.
4. I love the Bill of Rights and the fundamental freedoms–religion, speech, press, assembly, personal protection, and trial by jury.
5. I love that we can amend our Constitution to correct wrongs, like slavery.
6. I love all of those Lincoln/Kennedy comparisons.
7. I love that spot in Michigan where I can look south and be looking at Canada.
8. I love that the French helped us beat the Brits, and then we repaid the favor by kicking the Nazi’s out of France.
9. I love the ideals of our Founding Fathers–equality, opportunity, fairness under the law, and liberty.
10. I love that we chose English as our language, because English is so messed up and thus is more fun to play with.
11. I love that Texas history is pretty much American history.
12. I love the Southwest–desert, cactus, dry, and beautiful.
13. I love Puget Sound.
14. I love the sugar white beaches of Destin.
15. I love the unique characteristic of each region of the nation, that New Yorkers and Idahoans share the same love of country and national destiny, but not the same culture.
16. I love how we are an amalgamation of so many different peoples–Germans, French, Mexican, Irish, Iranian, Native American, Polynesian, and so many other rich heritages that add to this unique experience of being American.
17. I love the classic movies of Hollywood–Casablanca, Red River, North by Northwest, Bullitt, and Mars Attacks.
18. I love Hamburgers with mustard, onions, tomatoes and French fries doused in ketchup washed down with a cherry Coke.
19. I love American cars and blue jeans.
20. I love the American Flag. It has an intrinsic beauty beyond the sum of its parts.
21. I love baseball at the diamond on a hot day.
22. Speaking of baseball, I love that our national anthem is practically unsingable–because who wants an easy national anthem!