America 250!

by Errington C. Thompson, MD –

I hope and pray it can continue for another 250.

The beauty and the allure of the United States is the promise that is written in the United States Constitution. The preamble basically says everything. It is beautiful.

We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and ensure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution of the United States of America.

I guess one thing we could say is that our founders learned from their mistakes. The original Articles of Confederation were adopted in 1777, and they were a document designed to help us through our war with England. The founders were able to see all the flaws of that document.

There were extremely strong states’ rights, but the federal government was extremely weak. It had no ability to tax. It was nearly impossible to get anything done. You needed 9 of 13 states to approve something for it to pass as law. Every single state got exactly one vote, which meant that large states like Virginia had the exact same say as smaller states like Delaware. There was no president or executive branch. Which, looking at some of the problems we have today, may not be a bad idea.

I hope that everybody had a wonderful and safe 4th of July. We need to remember that although we may disagree, in the end we’re still Americans. I think for the most part we all believe in life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

We should all have jobs where we’re treated with dignity and respect and get paid fairly for our work. We all want to drink clean water. We would like our children to go to good schools. I think we would all like to be able to afford and access the best available healthcare. We would like nice, safe, comfortable neighborhoods with friendly neighbors.

The United States of America is a complex place. We don’t all come from the same background, and because our country is so big, we don’t all grow up in the same environment. Growing up in the Bronx is very different from growing up in the plains of Iowa, which is, in turn, worlds away from the mountains of Colorado.

Because we grow up in different environments, as well as different family histories, customs, and cultural expectations, we’ll have different perspectives on how things should be done. This is what truly makes America great: our diversity. We can look at a problem from multiple different angles. If we’re able to listen to each other, we can come up with a better solution.

Epstein

While he was campaigning for president, Donald Trump promised that he would release the Epstein files. I think that we should do everything in our power to help him keep that campaign promise. We need to continue calling, writing, and emailing our congressional representatives to let them know we haven’t forgotten about the files.

Epstein and other rich men abused and assaulted girls and young women. Yet, no one outside Epstein and his paramour and procurer Ghislaine Maxwell have been held accountable. It is even questionable whether Epstein was held accountable. He didn’t have a lengthy, embarrassing trial: he died in jail awaiting trial. That wasn’t justice for the victims.

Todd Blanche, the acting Attorney General and “former” personal attorney to Trump, seems to be actively defying a court order. US District Judge Emmet Sullivan ruled that the Department of Justice had until July 2, 2026, to comply with the Epstein transparency law passed by Congress, which specifically outlines that the Attorney General must provide the Judiciary Committees with an unredacted “list of all government officials and politically exposed persons” named in the files. “All files” must be released, with the names of alleged victims redacted.

The law specifies that “No record shall be withheld, delayed, or redacted on the basis of embarrassment, reputational harm, or political sensitivity, including to any government official, public figure, or foreign dignitary.”

The files that the DOJ has released were heavily redacted. They’re nearly unreadable, with all those government officials and accused persons blacked out—but the names of many of the victims of abuse were released, in direct contradiction of the law. About another 3 million pages have not been released at all, and the judge wants to know why.

Democrats are holding up Todd Blanche’s nomination to become Attorney General of the United States until they get more information on why some files were redacted and why more information hasn’t been released. The Democrats must continue to apply whatever pressure they can to get justice for the victims because that is what this is all about. Justice.

Immigrants

I know that it is fashionable for some Americans to point to immigrants and suggest that they are the root of our problems. That’s simply not true. Immigrants built this country. One of their great achievements was the transcontinental railroad. This railroad stitched our country together.

The southern economy was built on cotton. Cotton was grown and harvested with slave labor. Immigrants helped build the Empire State Building and the Golden Gate Bridge. Today, immigrant labor is a key part of farming and hospitality industries. These industries would collapse if we deported all immigrants overnight.

Of course, Andrew Carnegie is the poster child for immigration. His parents brought him over here when he was 13. He started as a mill boy, then a telegraph messenger, and then worked in the railroad industry. He slowly worked his way to being a supervisor.

His business genius was to have his company own the entire steel process, from mining to production to shipping. Yes, he owned the ships. When he retired, he was the richest man in the world. He then proceeded to give away hundreds of millions of dollars. He built over 1,000 libraries across the country.

Immigration is as American as apple pie and baseball. We need to come up with a thoughtful way to legalize the immigrants who are already here. We need to overcome GOP obstruction. We need to seal our borders.

We must know who is coming in. This is a must. We are the land of the free. We must welcome immigrants. How many should we let in? 10,000? 100,000? 1,000,000? I don’t know, but I suspect there are some experts who have studied this problem and have come up with a reasonable solution. Zero is the wrong answer.

World Cup

As anyone who has been following this column should know, I love sports. I follow the NFL, the NBA, and some baseball, tennis, and golf. I used to get in a funk when my Cowboys didn’t play well and lost. I thought that was stupid. I shouldn’t let a team, any team, dictate my mood. So, I take Cowboy losses better now.

I played a lot of soccer (football) growing up. I played in these leagues around Dallas. Soccer kept me busy and in shape. You really can’t play soccer and not have some physical fitness. Soccer is about running and positioning yourself. It is about starting and stopping extremely quickly. It is about balance, strength, and controlling a round ball with your feet, chest, and head.

I really don’t watch much soccer, but I recently had the opportunity to watch Mexico vs. England while I was on vacation in Mexico. I was at a restaurant with family and friends. There was an 85-inch TV and 75 people who were all rooting for Mexico.

The game was exciting. Mexico seemed to be dominating England, which was supposed to be the better team. Mexico hadn’t lost in this stadium in over 20 years. Their team had won each of their World Cup games without giving up a goal. So Mexico was pressing England—but they never could get a clean shot off; England was playing great defense.

Suddenly, with the first half winding down, England quickly cleared a Mexican attempt at goal. The ball is passed to the wing. The wingman blows by the Mexican defender and sprints down the sideline. The ball is perfectly kicked to the center of the field, and England heads the ball in the net. GOAL. What the heck. That’s not fair. Mexico was controlling the game. They were pressuring England. England had done nothing on offense until they scored.

Now, the ball is placed in the center of the field. Mexico kicks off but quickly loses possession. England is now sprinting down the center of the field. Pass. Pass. Kick. GOAL. It was that fast, and the home team was down 2-0. Mexico fought back and played well. England played better. The final score was 3-2 England.

This was fun. I’m sorry that Mexico lost, but it was a fun game.

Reflection

So, as we sat down with family and friends on July 4th, or on any day for that matter, we need to remember, and to remind ourselves, to be thankful. The message of love and hope seems to be winning the hearts and minds of Americans. We seem to be rejecting the messages of hate and division. For some reason, we have led ourselves to believe that we can put democracy, our democracy, on autopilot. That we can sit out this election or that election. Nope.

To form a more perfect union, we must be an informed and involved electorate. Read. Stay informed. Vote!

NOTE: The views and opinions expressed here, as well as assertions of facts, are those of the author. They do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of The Urban News.