What is an American?

Some have wondered about what is an American - Who are we?

I will take a moment to offer my opinion on that question.

Mostly we are nation of people who honor their family, their country and have hope for a better future.

The institutional structure of the Constitution and our legal system serves to promote those values.

RULE OF LAW

No man or woman, regardless of what position s/he holds, is above the law. We rebelled from England largely because the King thought he was above the law.

Anyone breaking the law will first be granted due process and then be punished according to the law.

WE MAKE OUR OWN LAWS

No foreign person or nation may impose their laws on our citizens on our soil.

But, Americans who break the law in another country are subject to that country's processes.

DISTRIBUTED AUTHORITY

Authority over institutions in the several States is reserved to the citizens of that State except as provided in the Constitution. In practice, this means that the institutions affecting citizen's lives are subject to control by the citizens whose lives are affected; we do not have centralized institutions.

RESPECT AND COURTESY FOR INDIVIDUALS

Every person in the United States is deserving of the respect and courtesy due any citizen, regardless of race, creed, color, faith or citizenship status. And every person shall be subject to the law.

PROTECTION OF THE WEAK

All people who are in the United States are expected to protect the weaker among us from the depredations of the stronger. These can include but not be limited to children, the elderly, the disabled for any reason and any disadvantaged person.

ALL FAITHS ARE HONORED

All religious faiths are welcomed and protected in the United States, but no faith has any prior claim on government processes or policies.

PUBLIC SERVICE

Americans expect that the people who are elected to public office or who serve as civil service employees will place their duty to the greater public good over any personal gain. It is both a crime and a moral outrage when any public official profits from his or her office. Those who do so can expect to be prosecuted criminally.

PRIVATE BUSINESS

While private property and private business ownership remain the foundation of our economic system, Americans expect that those who profit from that system will use their gains to benefit the less fortunate. Andrew Carnegie, who was a Scot born near Edinburgh in 1835 and who made a fortune in America, said it best: 'The man who dies thus rich dies disgraced.'

There is an aberration today in the behavior of firms in our market economy; wages for workers have been repressed for about 50 years and the Middle Class is withering away. We hope it will be restored, for a strong Middle Class is the foundation of our success as a country and as a people.