Today is the United States of America’s 242nd birthday. Much is not well on this occasion, but let’s take a moment on this day in particular to celebrate much that deserves our attention and offers us some reassurance.
For the first time since they began asking the question, a major poll found that there is not much of a majority of Americans that are proud to be Americans. Even among those who remain proud, a majority is “not proud of America as it stands today.”
Still, there is much to celebrate on this day. This is a democracy well into its third century,
More than most calendar days, it seems like a LOT happened in this date throughout history. 
While attending a wine dinner recently, the sommelier expounded about the conditions in which the grapes that produced the wine we were enjoying that evening.
There is a key phrase in the title above – “so far.” This sorry saga is far from over; some hard lessons are surely to come for just about everyone. But some useful lessons have already arrived. Let’s look at a few of them.