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Liberty and unity: What America’s 250th anniversary asks of us today

Thu, 31 Jul 2025 07:00:48 -0400

Sixteen months before Thomas Jefferson crafted the powerful words that would become our Declaration of Independence, he sat quietly in Richmond's St. John's Church, absorbing the oratory of Patrick Henry. Henry’s call, "Give me liberty or give me death," ignited a revolutionary spirit that Jefferson would later capture on parchment.

As we approach July 4, 2026, America's 250th birthday, Jefferson’s words resonate with renewed importance: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." These words mark the beginning of our nation. These words inspired men and women, enslaved and free, native and immigrant. These words changed the world forever. Every movement for human dignity, equality, and liberty from then on, here and in every corner of the earth, has looked to these words for inspiration and justification.

Throughout our history, America has persistently worked toward these aspirational ideals, often imperfectly, but always purposefully. The freedoms promised in 1776 were not immediately or universally granted; generations of Americans - enslaved people, women and others denied their full rights - would wait decades to taste freedom, and the fight for true equality has continued into our own century.

PROTECTING THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE IN OUR 250TH YEAR

We are the only nation in human history not founded on ethnicity, territory, or religion, but rather on a bold set of ideas, ideals, and a system of government. When we lose sight of where we came from or forget what our founding was meant to establish, our differences begin to divide us rather than bind us. That is why civic renewal is essential. We must reconnect Americans with our shared story, and re-engage those who feel left out or believe our founding ideals no longer apply to them.

Virginia played a pivotal role in this founding. From the Committees of Correspondence in Williamsburg, to the Fairfax Resolves in Alexandria, to the voices of the Overmountain Men in Roanoke and Patrick Henry in Richmond—courageous actions were taken by people who did not always agree, did not always like or trust one another, but who chose to act because their common cause was more important than their divisions.

Even in the face of deep risk and uncertainty, people made difficult, often dangerous choices. Enslaved men like James Armistead Lafayette and Gowan Pamphlet took great personal risks to fight for the hope of freedom. Native communities, despite displacement and division, joined in the cause for liberty. These stories, too often untold, remind us that our history is complex—but it is also rich with courage, resilience, and sacrifice.

As Americans, we know we have not always lived up to our ideals. We’ve fallen short time and again. But our optimism for the future rests not on wishful thinking, but on our enduring belief that the system of government we inherited gives us the tools to repair our faults and fulfill our promise. The work of forming a more perfect union is never finished—it must be taken up by every generation.

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This milestone year is not just about fireworks and parades. It is a time for national reflection and civic renewal. It is a moment to recommit ourselves to liberty, and civic responsibility—principles that remain as essential today as they were in 1776. As National Honorary Chair of Virginia 250 and Board Chair of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, I’ve seen firsthand the energy building across Virginia to make this commemoration meaningful. We have a unique opportunity to tell the whole story—to educate, to engage, and to inspire. When 2026 draws to a close, may every American be able to look into the mirror of our history and see themselves and each other more clearly.

Now is our time to step forward and do our work so that every citizen understands their role in sustaining our democracy. While we may never all agree, and will remain as spirited and diverse as we have always been, now is our time to remember why we are all Americans.

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E Pluribus Unum.

It doesn’t matter where you come from, how you started or what you look like. If you believe in the promise of America, in individual liberty and equality before God, then out of many, one is still possible.

Carly Fiorina: It's time to take our government back. Here's how

Thu, 12 Nov 2015 13:23:00 -0500

Too many of the men and women I have met on the campaign trail are disillusioned with a government that they believe no longer works for them. Indeed, 75 percent of Americans now believe that our government is corrupt. They believe that it favors the big, the powerful, the wealthy, and the well-connected—and they are right.

For decades, under both Democrat and Republican leadership, the government has continued to grow in size, in power, and in complexity.

Spending increased to $3.5 trillion in 2014. Our national debt is over $18 trillion. Since 2001, there have been over 4,500 changes to the tax code—an average of more than one per day. There are nearly 1,000 rules governing the operation of small businesses, more than at any point in the last decade.

As the government grows more bloated and more complex, it naturally favors the big, the powerful, and the well-connected—because only they can afford to hire armies of lawyers, accountants, and lobbyists to handle big government. And here's the truth: It can't be fair unless it's simple.

That is the dirty little secret of giant, expensive regulations like ObamaCare or Dodd-Frank. They were written in part by lobbyists for big companies who want the rules to work for them.

The passage of ObamaCare is bringing rising premiums for many Americans—and tens of millions of dollars in profits for drug companies. Dodd-Frank has crushed more than 1,500 of the community banks that provide half the loans to small businesses—while the ten banks too big to fail have simply become five banks too big to fail.

As government grows, it also becomes much more difficult to hold people and agencies accountable and to root out this type of corruption.

It is how Lois Lerner was able to get away with her illegal, partisan attacks on conservatives.

It is how the Department of Veterans Affairs became a stain on our nation’s honor, with hundreds of thousands of veterans dying awaiting health care.

It is how Hillary Clinton has been able to repeat her lies about Benghazi.

But there is an opportunity here, if our next president is prepared to seize it.

All of our wounds are self-inflicted—and all of our problems are fixable.

It will take citizenship and it will take leadership, but together, we can fix them.

There’s an old saying that if all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. For politicians, regulations and bureaucracy are their hammer. For too long, they have been in the business of managing problems and they have forgotten that leadership is about envisioning solutions.

We need a proven, tested leader in the White House—someone who has challenged the status quo and who is not afraid to make enemies.

She must be prepared to change the order of things because she hasn’t spent her whole life in the system.

We need a president of courage and conviction, who is committed to citizen government and who will engage you to solve our nation’s problems.

I have spent my whole life challenging the status quo and overhauling bloated bureaucracies. It’s what I did at Hewlett-Packard and it is what I will do when I lead the federal government.

First, we have to move to zero-based budgeting. Every agency must justify every dollar that they spend. We have to roll back the regulations that are crushing the small businesses that create two thirds of the jobs in our country.

We must also shrink the size of our bloated bureaucracy. Over the next five years, hundreds of thousands of federal employees are expected to retire.

I would not replace a single one. At the same time, we must move to a pay-for-performance system and turn the federal government into a meritocracy.

We must examine every regulation on the books today. Congress should pass the REINS Act, which will require every major regulation from the White House to be reviewed and voted up or down.

Finally and most importantly, we must engage the American people. Technology allows us to do this easily.

I will use that technology to engage you and put pressure on the political class to actually get something done.

Politicians have gotten us into this mess. It will take a proven leader and citizens to get us out of it.

It's time to take our government back.

How GOP will win in 2014

Mon, 30 Jun 2014 07:00:57 -0400

America suffers from self-inflicted wounds. We have always been a nation where more things have been more possible for more people than anywhere else on earth.

We have become an exceptional nation and the world's most powerful economy because people of all kinds could fulfill their potential. And yet today, we are crushing too much of the potential of too many through bad policy, bad governance and bad politics.

Women represent half the nation, constituting 53 percent of the electorate in 2012.

Of that figure, 56 percent voted for President Obama over Republican nominee, Mitt Romney. Romney held an eight-point spread among male voters, but it was the double-digit margin with women that helped re-elect the president.

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In part, that was due to the unmitigated and bogus charge that, somehow or another, Republicans are on a crusade against women. It permeated then, and we’re seeing Democrats rolling out the old playbook again in key Senate battlegrounds states such as New Hampshire, North Carolina and elsewhere.

The challenge for Republicans in 2012 was compounded by the Obama 2012 field operation, which ensured its spot in presidential campaign history books by demolishing the GOP on the ground. Let’s look at three key states – Ohio, Florida, and Virginia.

In Ohio, the combined efforts of the Obama campaign and of national Democrats had 131 field offices. Governor Romney and the national Republican Party had forty. That disparity stood at 106-47 in Florida, and 61-30 in Virginia. At minimum, Democrats had double the field presence per state. They won all three.

President Obama and his party invested in reaching voters on a personal level, while we overinvested in television – a medium offering diminishing returns -- and other cookie-cutter formulas that are no longer enough to win national elections.

If only team Obama could run our country like they ran their campaign.

Our economy has taken a shellacking at the hands of their liberal policies. Entrepreneurship, innovation, and opportunity have given way to Obama’s “new normal” of long-term unemployment, underemployment, and of diminished expectations among hardworking families.

No one should be surprised that women consistently cite jobs and the economy as their top concerns. Women are paying the price for this administration’s reckless economic policies.

When it comes to economic freedom and opportunity, our Party has the right message. Women know our nation is moving in the wrong direction. They expect more than the status quo under President Obama, and they are not getting it.

Our challenge, however, is that too many women still don’t trust the Republican Party to solve our problems, either. This must change.

It doesn’t have to be this way. Republicans can no longer wait to close the gender gap. We must transform the way we run our campaigns. We must stand up for our policies, which help women both in the workplace and at home. And we must invest in people, not media consultants.

To begin, Republicans should confront, head on, the ridiculous notion that we are engaged in a “war on women.” During the 2012 election, Republicans allowed this notion to remain uncontested. I say, no more.

We need to name and to shame every Democratic candidate or group that uses this dishonest, divisive rhetoric in the service of defending terrible policies that leave women out of work, or underemployed.

The Republican Party must reach women using more relatable messengers and with fresh messaging, backed by our timeless conservative principles. We must restore traditional modes of outreach and coalition building.

Reaching one hundred percent of voters with generic messaging has gotten us nowhere. It is the quality of the conversation that matters. That means more personal engagement and less electronic mass message broadcasting. It means listening instead of “controlling the debate,” and demonstrating the tangible ways in which our conservative policies enhance the lives of every American.

This means the Republican Party must put more boots on the ground, not more “Gross Rating Points” on the air. I’m suggesting nothing less than a real dialogue with a segment of our nation that agrees with us on most issues, but too often votes the other way. Like-minded Republican and independent women are the keys to leading this dialogue.

Here's why Democrats' phony "War on Women" won't work in 2014

Tue, 19 Aug 2014 12:29:56 -0400

So here’s my prediction: The Democrats’ “war on women” rhetoric will continue to get uglier and nastier and less credible as they continue to sink in the polls. 2014 is our year to expose this deceptive campaign tactic for what it is.

It’s already begun in Colorado where Republican Rep. Cory Gardner is in a very close race to defeat liberal incumbent Sen. Mark Udall. Violent and chaotic conflicts continue in Ukraine, Syria and Iraq; we have a crisis along the southern border of the U.S.; our economy continues to underperform and too many people are unemployed or underemployed; and we’ve got half-a-dozen unresolved scandals in Washington, especially the shame of the Veterans Administration, which have eroded Americans’ confidence in their own government. But, hey, this is politics so Mark Udall wants to talk about … abortion and contraception. Those are the subjects of his latest attack ad against Cory Gardner.

Missing from the ad, of course, is that Colorado women are losing access to their health care because Mark Udall cast the deciding vote for ObamaCare. Thousands have had their coverage cancelled. Many women lost their doctors and have to drive further from home or work for treatments and hospital visits.

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If Sen. Udall’s lame tactics make you shake your head, it might be best to just look away from the race for Texas Governor between Attorney General Greg Abbott (R) and State Sen. Wendy Davis (D).

Abbott is well ahead of Davis in the polls and Texans broadly support his conservative agenda. As a result, Davis’s rhetoric has become so shrill she has begun airing an ad that accuses Abbott of “siding with a corporation over a rape victim.” The ad – which I will not link to here – is a classic political attack ad with a scary voiceover and zero regard for context and legal complexity. Davis’s over-the-top antics will be tough to beat. But it’s only August.

Tactics like these are motivated by a world view that sees women as easily manipulated single issue voters. But that’s not what I see as I travel the country as Chairwoman of the American Conservative Union Foundation and most recently as the Chairwoman of the Unlocking Potential (UP) Project.

I founded the UP Project because everywhere I go I meet strong, intelligent women who are tired of being taken for granted and are sick of current political environment belittling them. From career women to dedicated public servants to stay-at-home moms, they are thirsty for a genuine debate about real issues impacting their lives.

The flood of bad news concerns them greatly. Women age 55 to 64 will carry the bulk of ObamaCare’s premium hikes. Poverty among women is at a record high. Roughly 55.3 million women have left the workforce since the Great Recession; over a quarter million have dropped out since May alone.

But here’s some good news. The Democrats’ “war on women” won’t work this year. Those of us who demand more from our politics are organizing like never before.

Conservative women are going to force the nation’s politicians to talk about real issues. We’re going to hold Democrats to account for their failed policies. And we’re going to spearhead a conservative victory in 2014.

A false choice and a flawed deal

Thu, 02 Apr 2015 13:51:15 -0400

The deal that the United States has negotiated with Iran poses a grave threat to American security at home and abroad.

U.S. officials know that Iran has had a long-term plan to gain a nuclear weapon and destabilize the region through its support of terrorist organizations. And it is known that President Rouhani has never agreed to full and unfettered United Nations inspections of Iran’s nuclear facilities.

The Iranian government has repeatedly, flagrantly violated sanctions put in place by the United Nations. We know that they have flat-out lied about every nuclear facility they have built over the last three decades.

This is not the behavior of a potential ally or of a partner. These are the actions of a country trying to bluff its way into persuading the United Nations, the United States, and its allies to allow it the freedom to develop a nuclear weapon for military purposes.

Because of these facts, we cannot trust anything they sign. Until Iran is prepared to (and opens its nuclear facilities to) full and unfettered UN-sanctioned inspections and demonstrates that they are willing to halt uranium enrichment, we cannot place any trust in any deal that is made.

The message we have sent by making this deal is simple: Take our diplomats hostage for 444 days. Kill our soldiers. Cheat, lie, and be a menace to our allies in the Middle East. Raise the cost of international security, threaten your neighbors in the Persian Gulf, and support terrorist groups. Assassinate dissidents abroad and kill young Iranians who are fed up with your tyranny. Do all of that and we will reward you. We will treat you like a partner, like an ally, and we will place our trust in you.

This message has been received by Iran and by our allies, all of whom will view this deal as a capitulation by Washington. We were once viewed as an international leader that our allies could rely upon. We demonstrated our strength and capabilities, protected human rights, and led the fight to stamp out terrorism. We are sending a message to the world now that rogue governments can quash free speech, sponsor terrorism and denigrate our way of life, all with the tacit consent of the United States government.

The Iranian government has requested untenable concessions to legitimize their earlier violations of international law -- and this administration has given in to these requests. The U.N. Security Council has repeatedly called for Iran to stop its uranium enrichment efforts, but this deal recognizes Iran’s right to enrich uranium. Iran secretly built numerous uranium enrichment facilities in violation of its Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty commitments. This deal would legitimize those facilities.

This is not an agreement which will make Americans proud. It is not a deal that demonstrates our strength and resolve at home and abroad. Our allies will not point to this as a signal of our continued support.

It is a sad chapter of American history when President Obama and Secretaries Kerry and Clinton are more concerned with their legacy than they are with our national security. Unfortunately, this behavior is no longer unexpected; it continues six years of alienating our allies, weakening our international stature, and negotiating with states who have demonstrated that they cannot be trusted.

Too often, this administration has presented the American people with a choice: follow our flawed national security strategy that destabilizes regions and undermines our allies or commits thousands of American ground troops to a protracted war. This is a false choice. There are other options -- and a bi-partisan Congress should insist on voicing their opposition to this deal. We have many other options that have been left unexplored or underutilized. We should start by providing the support our Jordanian, Egyptian, Kurdish, Saudi, and Emirati allies have asked for.

We cannot let this agreement with Iran follow the disastrous Russian “reset” orchestrated by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. We cannot make concessions to a government which will then take advantage of our trust. We must meet these governments with strength.

This type of foreign policy cannot continue. We must stand up for our allies and for our American interests. We must re-assert American leadership and strength abroad. The world is a more dangerous and tragic place when America is not leading. For these reasons, we cannot and must not accept this deal with Iran.

Lt. General Michael T. Flynn served as the director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, commander of the Joint Functional Component Command for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance, and chair of the Military Intelligence Board from 2012 to 2014