We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.

The Declaration of Independence

July 4, 1776

More than two centuries after our Founding Fathers established with these words a new nation, America-the "shining city on a hill"-remains a beacon of hope and freedom for the world.

The Constitution and Bill of Rights, which limit the power of government in our republic, were built on this foundation.

Yet today this foundation is being shaken at home, even as our nation faces its greatest threat from abroad since the darkest days of World War II.

The long twilight struggle against Islamo-fascism and in defense of Western civilization is undermined by politicians concerned more with the next election than with victory.

Meanwhile, American men and women fight with courage and commitment a barbaric enemy on far-flung battlefields. They and their mission merit full support, for the price of failure is too dreadful even to contemplate.

At the same time, however, underpinnings of our democratic society are in peril, as evidenced by recent events in the other Washington.

A case-in-point is last week's Senate debate on the misnamed "immigration reform" bill, which would have benefited illegal immigrants while snubbing millions who seek American citizenship legally.

Despite the threat of terrorist attacks, this bill would have done little to secure our borders. And a nation without borders soon will lose its sovereignty.

Worse still, it would have made it easier for millions of immigrants to flood the United States without assimilating and becoming citizens-the historic cornerstone of immigration in America.

Writing for opinionjournal.com last week, author and former Reagan speechwriter Peggy Noonan, the granddaughter of Irish immigrants, noted that immigrants once let go of their old country and held on to their new home.

"In succeeding generations ... the holding on becomes a habit and then a patriotism, a love," Ms. Noonan observed. "America ... has history, meaning, tradition. Suddenly that's what you treasure."

But, she continued, many newer immigrants hold back from becoming Americans.

The threat of an American Balkanization resulting from a lack of assimilation is a key reason why the bill generated such vehement opposition.

Contrast the unwillingness of some immigrant communities to assimilate with other immigrants who came here from around the world-and who we welcome with open arms as they become Americans citizens today.

These immigrants embrace this country and want to be a part of it.

Of great concern, too, is the clandestine way in which the Senate bill was written and amended.

Some of its backers wanted their colleagues to vote on a major amendment package that neither they nor we the people had seen.

By their conduct in support of this bill, Senate leaders undermined rather than strengthened the cause of free and open government in America.

It was the voice of the people from sea to shining sea, not reasoned deliberations, that doomed this bad legislation.

Now some in Congress are calling for an abridgement of free speech by curtailing talk radio under the guise of "fairness."

Angered by constituents who oppose their actions, these lawmakers fail to understand the dynamics of the marketplace of ideas, which is a hallmark of freedom.

Eighty-seven years after 13 American colonies declared their independence from Great Britain, with the outcome of the Civil War still uncertain, Abraham Lincoln expressed the hope "that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom-and that this government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth."

On this day of patriotic celebration, may we rededicate ourselves as Americans to the cause of Liberty.

The views of Ralph Nichols are his own, and do not necessarily reflect those of Robinson Newspapers. He can be reached at ralphn@robinsonnews.com or 206-388-1857.