On other days, we may think of ourselves as Republicans or Democrats or Libertarians or Independents or “other”, as liberals or conservatives or middle-of-the-roaders, as males or females, as senior citizens or young adults or somewhere in between, as blacks, whites, yellows, reds or “mixed,” and as native born or naturalized citizens. But as diverse as we are, on this one particular day of the year, there is one word to describe us: Americans.

This is the day to celebrate that which unites us. It is a time to call a brief time out in a presidential campaign that already has been far too long and is likely to become even more divisive to celebrate the fact that, whether we support Barack Obama or John McCain or some other candidate, we live in a nation where we have the right to choose our leaders.

We can celebrate that we have the freedom to express our views, no matter how unpopular they may be. In fact, we do so regularly in letters in this and other newspapers, in call-in programs on radio, on the Internet and in conversations with our friends and neighbors.

We can celebrate that we have the freedom to worship as we choose — or to not worship at all. Many of us gather regularly in churches, in synagogues and in mosques. While some do not like that we are becoming more diverse in out faiths, we continue to respect the rights of others to worship peacefully in a manner in which we disagree.

The freedoms we all enjoy did not come cheaply. Generations of young men and an increasing number of women have made the ultimate sacrifice for that freedom. Millions of ordinary people — farmers, and merchants and teens barely out of school — have defended freedom on the bloody battlefields of a war that threatened to forever divide this nation, in two world wars and in Korea and Vietnam and other distant lands.

Today our soldiers are involved in increasingly unpopular wars in Iraq and in Afghanistan. While we disagree over the necessity of those wars, we are united our support of the troops. So on this day we remember the men and women who pledged their lives and sacred honor to the protection of liberty-loving nations.

We are governed by a Constitution that remains unchanged in the high ideals it expresses, but has been changed to grant freedom to more of our people. When this nation was founded, blacks were enslaved in a number of states and women were denied the right to vote and treated as second-class citizens. But in this year, a black candidate is about to be nominated for president by the Democratic Party after eking out a victory over a woman in the closest primary election in decades. Certainly a century ago — and perhaps even 50 years ago — neither Barack Obama nor Hillary Clinton would have even qualified to run for president.

And president is not the only leader we will be choosing in November. We will be electing members of our city government and school boards. It may even be someone who lives down the street from us. We have the freedom to choose these leaders, and when we disagree with their actions, we are free to criticize them and even to choose others to replace them. That’s what democracy is all about. That’s what freedom is.

In our courtrooms stand the innocent and the guilty, chosen so by their peers and not by the rich and powerful. We have a right to challenge our accusers and to defend ourselves with vigor. And, as the Supreme Court recently ruled, that right extends even to those who have been designated as “enemy combatants.

We are granted the right to read as we want, to sample wisdom and foolishness, to praise, to question, to doubt, to challenge, to grow in understanding of mankind and mankind’s relationships with fellow beings, Earth, the stars, inner selves, and gods.

It is a freedom that too many of us take for granted. Too many of us fail to vote. We know who the president is, but many of us can’t name the mayor of our city or any other members of the governing council. The only time we care about what they do is when their actions directly impact us.

But on this July 4th, we choose to look past our differences and our shortcomings and celebrate our unity in what remains the greatest country in the history of the world. No, it’s not perfect and never will be as long as it is governed by imperfect men and women, but it’s a whole lot better than the alternatives.

So we will spend this holiday by munching on hot dogs, watching the parade in downtown Ashland and taking in the fireworks — or by just doing nothing. After all, we have the freedom to celebrate it as we choose — or not at all.

And that’s what makes this country great.

On this one day of the year, let’s put aside our differences, and in one loud voice, sing out for freedom.