Hi there: if you don’t know it, let me introduce the Washington Post. I subscribe, which means I pay them to gather information in my interest as a citizen. They do. Sometimes they use anonymous sources, real people whose information helped bring down a president in 1974. 1/x
More often, the Post publishes on the record quotes and documents that show what’s happening, often out of sight. Some stories embarrass the powerful. It’s a wonder of America that the powerful can’t do a thing about it, except argue their own case before the public. 2/x
Sometimes I read a Post story and think it’s overplayed, or not how I see it. But I know the lengths they go to try to get it right. One of my memories of reporting in Kandahar, Afghanistan after 9/11 was finding a Post reporter there. Same in Iraq and other troubled places. 3/x
Some may think I mention the Post because the president complained about it on Twitter. Really it’s this random news alert. For all our problems, America has more resources than we know what to do with. Not just goods: vast reserves of strength, innovation, talent and faith. 4/x 
Preserving this miracle of a country is the work of armies abroad and the rule of law at home. It is also the work of free citizens, supported by the free press. I’m grateful to those who made this country and will do all I can to pass it on. Happy Independence Day. END
