We learned this week what the Democrats truly think about America. They proudly said it on TV for several nights in a row. They preached about the systematic racism inherent in our very society. They talked about Nero fiddling while Rome burned, and claimed that America has always been fundamentally flawed. They blamed their opposition for the millions of jobs lost in the last few months. They said their opposition is trying to destroy America from within. They said they would fight the darkness of their foes with the power of their own light. It was a week of speeches that talked about how dark and disturbing our nation and our people are in these days.

I am happy that I do not live in the Democrat’s America. I did not grow up in it. I do not live in it now. I grew up in an America that knew racism was not only bad, but unthinkable. I was taught that it was rude to even see the color of a person’s skin. In the tradition of the Reverend Martin Luther King, we were taught to look to the content of character, not the color of skin. We were taught about the lengths we have gone through to protect the Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness of not only our own people, but the world. We joined two World Wars to fight for freedom, and stood against both the National Socialists and the Soviet Socialists as they killed millions of their own people. We fought our own civil war to end Slavery in our nation.

I have always been proud of America. We are not perfect, but we have spent centuries making ourselves better. And sometimes worse. We were designed to change. We knew from the beginning that America was a step in the right direction out of the Age of Kings. Our Republic was a necessary step, and the ability to take her on more steps was baked into our Constitution so we could do so without further revolutions. And with each generation we have done that. We have stepped further and done better things. Sometimes we failed and fell back. All journeys sometimes result in such paths.

It is my great hope that we will step further forward in the future, rather than going backward once again. Now I know that no matter how hard we try, we will make missteps. That is the way of things. But as long as we hold to the faith that Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness is our ideal, we will keep moving forward. And that is what I hold to. That is what I am proud to defend.