Yesterday, the New York Times printed an op-ed in video format entitled “Please Stop Telling Me America is Great.”

The article reads as this:

America is the greatest country on earth. It’s a phrase, a slogan, and a dogma for patriots. And as we stare down the barrel of an upcoming election, we’re prepared to hear this refrain echo.”

It also adds that American greatness is “at best outdated and at worst, wildly inaccurate.”

An accompanying video is laced with propaganda devaluing the country, and compares the U.S. to other Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) member nations.

“Of course, there is no single way to measure greatness but one good test is how we rank in the OECD,” the narrator says.

It claims that we have the greatest level of poverty of all OECD members, suggesting one in five kids is poor. Moreover, it points out our nation lags behind in science and math (true, but that’s thanks largely to the public education system.) And it notes we spend the most on healthcare expenditures.

The narrator continues, “We have freedom and everyone is jealous or something.”

“It turns out, a lot of countries have freedoms too,” it added.

It then mocks American greatness for having the most civilian gun ownership (a favorite punching bag of the NYT), the most mass shootings, the most TV watching, the most prescription drug abuse, the most prison population, the most environmental damage, and so on.

The video also tries to suggest the U.S. is a lot like Nigeria and Pakistan. Huh?

Just in time for America’s 243rd birthday, no? You can watch the full video below:

The myth of America as the greatest nation on earth is at best outdated and at worst, wildly inaccurate. If you look at data, the U.S. is really just O.K. pic.twitter.com/pFrWBH0Zfl — New York Times Opinion (@nytopinion) July 2, 2019

This is the same New York Times that employed Stalin apologist and mouthpiece Walter Duranty as their Moscow Bureau Chief. This very same publication also dedicated a “Red Century” section to whitewashing the crimes of the Soviet Union to commemorate a century since the bloody, deadly Bolshevik Revolution. Lest we forget “The Gray Lady” also buried coverage of the Holocaust and its ghastly crimes against humanity.

See where this is going?

However imperfect this country is, it’s still the best damn place out there. Why else have people have sought refuge here, both legally and illegally, for centuries?

We have boundless freedoms and opportunities here that is the envy of the world thanks, in large part, to the U.S. Constitution. Most countries lack these foundational documents and God-given rights to enjoy free speech, freedom of assembly, gun rights—plus the opportunity for social and economic mobility.

Where else in the world can someone go from rags to riches? Where else in the world can someone practice their religion freely? Too many bite the hands that feed them. For shame.

I should know about American greatness. I’ve benefitted from it, thanks to the sacrifices my parents made to come here over 33 years ago.

America is great because it gave my parents, uncle, aunts, and grandparents shelter after fleeing the Evil Empire, specifically Soviet-occupied Lithuania, in the 80’s. America is great because it has given millions of people from all over the world a second chance at life after enduring tyrannical regimes or squalid living conditions. America is great because when a wrong has been delivered, a right is enacted. America is great because it is still the last best hope in the world.

As we celebrate Independence Day on Thursday, let’s use it to unify, open a cold one, grill some meat, and spend time with loved ones because of the freedoms afforded to us thanks, in large part, to those who protect us from harm’s way.

America is the great experiment ever devised. Let’s make it greater than ever before with a return to civility, a return to a truly free enterprise system, and a return to smaller government, for example.

God Bless the USA, the GREATEST nation on the Earth.