America is celebrating her 250th anniversary. Since the beginning, we have seen ourselves and much of the world has looked to our nation as a City on a Hill with the promise of opportunity, prosperity and freedom. Thirteen years before our Bicentennial celebration, Martin Luther King reminded the United States of its "promissary note" contained in the Declaration of Independence that we would be a nation in which ALL men "are created equal" ("men" used in here to represent men and women) and forced the hands of lawmakers to recognize that promise. America fought the world's greatest power and achieved independence. Our civil war ended slavery but preserved our unity. Our soldiers turned the tide in the first World War and were key to the survival and triumph of Western values in the second. America helped the world back on its feet and won the Cold War. There is much to be proud of.  But we have tremendous challenges ahead.  Competition is greater than ever, we are trillions in debt with no sign of reversing that trend. The advance of AI promises a new economic revolution, socialists in the U.S. are on the rise, China and Russia are seeking to expand their footprints, and the West has a crisis of values.

The question today is not necessarily about where you see the United States now. The question is about where you see the United States in the future.  Are you optimistic that the best days for the United States are ahead of us?