Welcome to the 40th edition of the Pivot Points e-newsletter...

This Week's Post: Rights, Patriotism, and Service
On the occasion of our latest national birthday, Pivot Point bloggers Ed Crego and Frank Islam reflect on what it means to be a patriot... 

http://bit.ly/rights_patriotism_service 

What We're Reading: Silverberg, Gerson, Brooks, Will
Sarasota Herald-Tribune columnist Kathy Silverberg finds American patriotism in pluralism, not partisanship, dating back to the founders...

http://bit.ly/silverberg_american_patriotism

Washington Post columnist Michael Gerson argues that right wing attacks on the NSA and the Obama "regime" cross a line to poison patriotism...

http://bit.ly/gerson_poisoned_patriotism

New York Times columnist David Brooks looks back on the last time our country was so divided, the differences between what ideals were and what they meant on the ground, then and now...

http://bit.ly/brooks_whytheyfought

...while Washington Post columnist George Will examines Civil War battles Gettysburg (and Antietam) as case studies for the way history is made by choices, not impersonal forces...

http://bit.ly/will_civilwar_choices



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