🇺🇸"Memorial Day" Edition

May 25, 2026

This Memorial Day, we pause to honor the Americans who sacrificed everything in defense of a nation built on liberty, self-government, and the enduring right of free people to speak their minds without fear. Their courage preserved not only our borders and institutions, but also the uniquely American tradition of loudly arguing about politics at backyard barbecues, around dinner tables, and across editorial pages.

In a free society, patriotism is not measured by unquestioning loyalty to politicians or parties. It is measured by our willingness to defend the principles that allow citizens to challenge power, ridicule arrogance, and hold leaders accountable, whether they reside in Congress, the White House, corporate boardrooms, or cable news studios. The freedom to mock elected officials may not appear in marble monuments or soaring speeches, but it remains one of the clearest signs that liberty still lives.

So amid the cookouts, parades, and solemn ceremonies, Counterpoint remembers those who never came home, whose sacrifice made it possible for Americans to speak freely, dissent openly, and yes, occasionally laugh at the absurdities of modern politics. That freedom was purchased at a terrible cost. It should never be taken lightly, even when we use it to take our leaders a little less seriously.