What does it mean to be an American?  Is it nothing more than an accident of birth?  What principles define American patriotism?
            
In political rhetoric ideas like low taxes, immigration laws, specific religious beliefs and economic growth start to sound like American principles, but the real principles are the ones embodied in the Declaration of Independence and our pledge:  Self-government, the self-evident equality of all people, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, with liberty and justice for all.