Tammy Duckworth: Trump sees these true patriots as enemies (opinion)

Editor’s Note: Tammy Duckworth, a Democrat, is a US Senator from Illinois. If those Americans two and a half centuries ago had subscribed to Donald Trump’s definition of patriotism—of unwavering, unquestioning, unequivocal support for those in charge—the fourth of July would be just another summer day. America was born out of an act of resistance, and America has become more American with every peaceful protest since, from those who sat-in at lunch counters in the 1960s to those who stood up to another President’s abuses one Saturday during Watergate, from immigrants like Lt. Col Alexander Vindman who risked his career to say that here, “right matters,” to those who’ve taken to the streets these past couple months, demanding that the country whose Declaration of Independence states that we’re all created equal actually treat Black Americans equally as well. Join us on Twitter and Facebook So in the echo of the Fourth of July, let’s remember that fighting back against injustice isn’t just the right thing to do, it’s the most American act imaginable. Our nation was founded by a group of patriots who refused to blindly follow their leader—and 244 Independence Days later, it’s only by continuing to speak truth to power that, someday soon, we may all live free in that more perfect union envisioned by our founders.