The American flag, flying high since first flown in 1777 during...

The American flag, flying high since first flown in 1777 during the Revolutionary War. Credit: AP/Mark Schiefelbein

Controversy is no stranger to the American way of life.

We were the first nation to break away from a colonial power not to be founded upon religion, culture, ethnicity or hierarchy, but rather on “unalienable rights, that among them are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

We were the first nation to engage in, and recover from, a civil war pitting family against family, friend against friend and neighbor against neighbor, and rise from the ashes to become better than before, even though some scars remain to this day.

We have survived world wars, economic collapse and social unrest because of our faith in our system and trust in those employed by it.

In the past, we have behaved like a mildly dysfunctional family. Constantly bickering but always supportive, loyal and protective of each other and never failing to say, with affection and sincerity, goodnight before retiring.

Until now.

We’ve become a house divided because we no longer hold the basic truths that Thomas Jefferson wrote about so long ago, as self-evident. We cannot agree on behavior that is moral and ethical and that which is not. Fact has become fiction, and fiction has become fact.

We are demonstrating to the world that our great experiment, our model, no longer works, opening the door for the return of other forms of governance that have proved to be so much worse.

We are at the crossroads of enlightenment and darkness. The next four years will determine our choice.

— Ed Weinert, Melville

WE ENCOURAGE YOU TO JOIN OUR DAILY CONVERSATION. Just go to newsday.com/submitaletter and follow the prompts. Or email your opinion to letters@newsday.com. Submissions should be no more than 200 words. Please provide your full name, hometown, phone number and any relevant expertise or affiliation. Include the headline and date of the article you are responding to. Letters become the property of Newsday and are edited for all media. Due to volume, readers are limited to one letter in print every 45 days. Published letters reflect the ratio received on each topic.

FLASH SALE

$1 FOR ONE YEAR

Unlimited Digital Access

SUBSCRIBE NOW >>Cancel anytime - new subscribers only