The United States of America turns 250 years old this week, defying the odds and defying the haters for over a quarter of a millennium. It’s time to take stock of where we’ve been, where we are, and where we’re going. It’s easy to be a doomer; look at this week’s reaction to a single court case on an issue we’ll eventually win. But then again, it’s always easy to throw up your hands and sob, “There’s nothing I can do,” thereby relieving yourself of the duty of action. That’s un-American.

Let’s not sugarcoat it: We have problems. We see communists elected to positions of authority in New York City, Los Angeles, Denver, and Washington, D.C. Polls show that many Democrats today appear to hate America more than they hate red meat, AR15s, and testosterone. Yet we also have the fresh experience of World Cup fans from around the world arriving in our great country and being knocked out by how impressive it is. And it is a great country.

But the question is: Can it be greater?

We’re not like any other country on Earth. We descend from people who left the relative comfort of their homelands to carve out a new kind of nation from a wild continent full of tornadoes, vast deserts, and fierce, warlike savages (That’s not a diss to Native Americans; it’s a recognition that those tough warriors were worthy foes, and their later service in the U.S. military is legendary.)

The idea of a “nation of immigrants” has gotten a bad name lately because of the illegal aliens, lazy chiselers, learing center entrepreneurs, and brutal criminals who dominate the headlines, while our ancestors—who did the hard, honest work of building the greatest country in human history—get pushed into the background. But our ancestors all came here, and they came here because they were special. America is special, born of a refusal to comply and an obstinate rejection of obedience. We rule ourselves. My upcoming new conservative novel, “American Warlord,” is premised on that truth!

Two hundred fifty years ago, a band........

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