July 4th is the day that is marked more by fireworks than by any thought as to its real meaning. We take our freedom for granted in this Country and that is a shame. Today, most of our institutions are under attack. We look down on those who serve in political office. We love to criticize, but many of us do very little to make things better. The general public thinks that no one really cares about them and that politics is all a game. This cynicism has been growing for years and is reflected by the fact that the percentage of voters in each successive presidential election (with one exception) creeps lower.

I personally disagree. I believe that the American people can handle the hard and sometimes unpleasant choices if given the facts. I believe that this Country reached greatness because it believed in intangibles, words such as freedom, opportunity, equality, justice, and even words such as duty, honor and country. To many in America these are not just words, but a way of life.

I have learned that no one man or woman or political party has all the answers, but there are answers and they can be found through honest, open and vigorous debate. Compromise is not giving in, but working toward a solution to a problem. We have to learn that we must listen to and respect the ideas of others. It is fine to disagree, but we don’t have to be disagreeable. We shouldn’t attempt to put a negative label on those who disagree with us. This is a big country made up of people of every race, religion and background. We should expect honest and deep differences of opinion.

I personally look forward to an America that will continue to get better. We don’t go up in a straight line and it is not always a smooth ride. Many times we bumble, but usually we bumble in the right direction. Some years ago, Archibald Macleish in his epic, Land of the Free, summed up the question we face in this new century:

“We wonder whether the dream of American liberty was 200 years of pine and hardwood or three generations of the grass, and the generations are up—the years over, we don’t know. We wonder whether the great American dream was the singing of locusts out of the grass to the west, and the west is behind us now, the west winds away from us. We wonder if the liberty is done, the dream is finished, we can’t say; we aren’t sure; or if there’s something different men can dream or if there’s something different men can mean by liberty. Or if there’s liberty a man can mean that’s not lost. We wonder. We don’t know. We’re asking.”

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Lou Frey represented Central Florida in the U. S. Congress from 1969 to 1979. In his last election, he received nearly 80% of the vote. He was elected one of five Republican leaders in the House of Representatives during the 93rd and 94th Congress. He served on...