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Wall Street Journal
3 hours ago
- General
- Wall Street Journal
The Declaration of Independence Made America Great
The countdown to next year's 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence starts on Friday. It might seem odd that our focus isn't the first shots fired at Lexington and Concord (April 19, 1775), the British surrender at Yorktown (Oct. 19, 1781) or the signing of the peace treaty (Sept. 3, 1783).
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Editorial: Congress must reclaim war power
Editor's note: This editorial originally ran in fellow CNHI paper the Joplin, Missouri, Globe. Congress has been dropping the ball for years. It needs to reclaim its authority among the three branches of the federal government; in fact, the Constitution lists the legislative first among equals for a reason. It first lays out the duties and powers of the legislative branch, then outlines the authority and responsibilities of the executive and judicial branches. Intended to be the branch that most closely represents the will of the people, it instead has been captured by partisans beholden to party and president. With the power to challenge even controversial rulings by the Supreme Court through legislation or proposing amendments to the Constitution, it instead seems to duck its responsibilities and give away its power. The founders implemented a government of divided authority and responsibility — divided power between not just the three federal branches but also the states — to limit the risk of runaway government. Congress' tendency for years now has been to cede its power to the other branches. Legislation written to counter questionable rulings by the high court has all but stopped, and we haven't seen a constitutional amendment proposed in generations. Lawmakers have been actually energetic in giving away their power to the executive branch, actively writing laws that hand over their authority to increasingly imperial presidents. After all, bearing the responsibilities of the legislative branch carries much more risk than posturing and bloviating while dodging those things for which a Congress member might be held to account. As we said in an earlier editorial about Congress yielding its tariff authority to presidents, 'How the nation drifted is a long and legal story, but most Americans recognize that central to that story is the failure of members of Congress to get in the game.' Though game is really much too gentle a term for Congress yielding its most deadly authority — the constitutional power to declare war and to establish, regulate and fund the instruments of war. The recent action by President Donald Trump in bombing Iran without congressional approval — regardless of whether history ends up showing the action vindicated — is just the latest example of Congress abdicating its authority. U.S. Constitution Article I, Section 8: 'The Congress shall have Power To … declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water; To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years; To provide and maintain a Navy; To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces …' The founders separated the war powers for a reason, making the president the commander in chief of the armed forces when they are called into action — a power to carry out a war Congress declares. While we understand the occasional modern need for rapid emergency action, the president's authority should not extend to singular action without Congress. Congress granted the president the authority to make rapid strikes in emergencies but requires Congress, or at least key members with national security oversight, to be informed beforehand. and lawmakers retained the right to review and end such conflicts. Presidents over the years have continued to stretch this power beyond the scope of the original law and to call things emergencies for which they rightly should have sought approval. It is time for lawmakers to revisit Congress' use of force authorization, to tighten and redefine it and insist that no executive have the unilateral power to launch a war.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
I'm not sure what being a patriot means in Trump's America. Are you? Tell us.
It seems you can't go anywhere the week of the Fourth of July without coming face-to-face with the Stars and Stripes. Independence Day always ushers in a collection of red, white and blue words whose meanings have morphed over the years – hardening some as they seem to become more insidious and far removed from our Founding Fathers: patriotism, nationalism, freedom, liberty. America. I've been thinking a lot about what it means to be a patriot in this 2025 version of our American experiment – President Donald Trump's America, which more often than not seems so divorced from the ideals and the very Constitution I grew up revering. The things that made us American: freedom of speech, a melting pot of ideas, the pursuit of happiness. Acceptance. Should billionaires be running America? Is America's billionaire boom good for government, democracy? Tell us. | Opinion Forum I'll be honest. I don't have any easy answers. And as we approach our nation's 249th birthday (though she doesn't look a day over 240), we want to know what you think. What does being an American, and being a patriot, mean to you? Do you think our country is headed in the right direction? Are you worried about our democracy? Amid this holy week of hot dogs and hamburgers, fireworks and flags on every corner, "America the Beautiful" and "God Bless the U.S.A.," are you proud to be an American? Take our poll below or send us an email to forum@ with the subject line "Forum patriotism." We'll publish a collection of opinions from all sides of the conversation. And stay safe out there this July Fourth. Janessa Hilliard is the director of audience for USA TODAY Opinion and Opinion at Gannett. Do you want to take part in our next Forum? Join the conversation by emailing forum@ can also follow us on X, formerly Twitter, @usatodayopinion and sign up for our Opinion newsletter to stay updated on future Forum posts. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What does it mean to be an American? Tell us | Opinion
Wall Street Journal
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Wall Street Journal
‘Thomas Sully's Philadelphians' Review: A City in Portraiture
Next year—2026—may mark the 250th anniversary of America's founding, but for New Englanders, 2025 is the real quarter millennial of the nation's independence. The soldier who fired 'the shot heard round the world,' as Ralph Waldo Emerson put it, did so on April 19, 1775. Just as skirmishes between minutemen and redcoats in Concord and Lexington, Mass., led to the signing of the Declaration of Independence at the Pennsylvania State House, 2025 commemorations in New England will migrate in 2026 to Philadelphia. The city founded by William Penn not only had facilities—the State House (later Independence Hall) and Carpenters' Hall—large enough to accommodate the Continental Congress and afterward the United States government. At the time, Philadelphia was also the Athens of North America, home to many of America's best minds, elite cultural institutions and distinguished architecture. Peter Conn's book on the Philadelphia subjects of the artist Thomas Sully captures the aristocratic element of the city's early history. W.C. Fields once joked (though the line may be apocryphal) that spending a day in Philadelphia felt like a week. In 1800, a day in Philadelphia would have been too short to enjoy its charms. Mr. Conn, a retired professor of English at the University of Pennsylvania, enlists Sully to highlight the city that hosted the nation's origins partly because the artist, one of America's greatest portraitists, captured what the Founding Fathers saw. He was born in 1783 in Horcastle, England. In 1792 Sully's parents and their nine children emigrated to America, where Thomas followed a circuitous route both to painting and Philadelphia. He lived and worked in the city for more than 60 years. Sully started with historical subjects—he was the first to depict George Washington's 'Passage of the Delaware' (1819). Soon he pivoted to portraits, a reliable way to support himself since he lacked a patron. Sully kept meticulous records—Benjamin Franklin would have been proud. His register lists all of his more than 2,000 paintings. Extant papers also reveal that he asked $80 for a head painting, $300 for a waist-up or 'half-length' portrait and $600 for a full-length portrait. An obsession with finances and finding clients did not hinder his talent. Sully's work led to commissions from Andrew Jackson, John Quincy Adams, Thomas Jefferson and James Monroe. Mr. Conn says little about the presidents Sully painted, giving attention instead to the artist's urban surroundings. Two hundred and fifty years removed, some of Sully's neighbors are little remembered today but once held great importance. One such was William Henry Furness (1832), a Unitarian minister, childhood friend of Ralph Waldo Emerson and one of Philadelphia's leading abolitionists.
Fox News
15-06-2025
- General
- Fox News
Historian Bill Federer Says Month of June is Filled with Patriotism and Faith: Flag Day, Father's Day, and Juneteenth
The most patriotic day for America is July 4th when we celebrate the country's birthday commemorating the Founding Fathers' signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. But the month of June that precedes it is filled with three commemorative days also steeped in faith and patriotism, made possible because of what happened at the Second Continental Congress as America woke up to its power as a free Republic, and its even greater responsibility to bow down to Divine Providence. Flag Day, Father's Day, and Juneteenth. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, historian, best-selling author and speaker William Federer explains how all three of these special days exist only because of the authority the signers gave to the vital importance of faith in an Almighty God, and the value of the family. Hear how Father's Day began because of the worst coal mining explosion in the nation's history; how the American flag stands as a standard that should unite all Americans; and how Juneteenth celebrates the day the last slaves were told they were free from bondage. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit
