There's a lot of portions of the Declaration of Independence that we all know...
phrases like liberty and the pursuit of happiness, but there's a lot more in it that people
don't necessarily recall on their first on their first review or from their elementary school
“days. The listing of grievances, for example, is a really important part of the Declaration”
and there's 27 of them and there are all these grievances, is basically our break-up letter with King George and England. And what it really shows is what we expect our freedom to look like in America. And we can actually take those grievances and maybe apply them to date and say, well what should we expect as Americans to date out of our government? Our founders gave us the foundation. But it's on us to carry those principles for it. It's up to us to preserve the
freedom that we have that's made us the greatest nation on earth. So we took that message to Americans and it was widely popular and they took the challenge. Americans are capable of achieving extraordinary things when they have the freedom and opportunity to do so. This is American potential. Hey everyone, welcome to the American Patients. I'm your host, David Brown. So we're recording this episode just after July 4th. And you know, great time to celebrate
America's 250th birthday. You know, it's going to be an ongoing thing all year, but it kind of crescendos, you know, here in with the fourth. Hey, an engineer Matt, what did you do to celebrate the fourth five? Well, I had a little bit of an unorthodox, fourth of July, which happened to me because I live out in Colorado, okay? And I'm out in Custer County, which is currently being affected by the Aspen Acres Wildfire. And it is one of the largest
fires in Colorado history. It's very big and it's gotten pretty close to where I live. So what I ended up doing fourth of July was I wasn't doing fireworks, wasn't doing any of that. It was packin' stuff up, getting ready for pre-avacuation, just getting everything squared away. So if we do get the order, the call on it, that everything would be all set. So my fourth of July, it was exciting, but maybe not in the sort of way, you'll want it to be. So that's
for sure. Yeah, maybe we, I mean, you know, you gotta put first things first. And that makes a lot of sense of prioritize being saved and protecting yourself in your property. But yeah, yeah, probably not the way you want to celebrate before. No, definitely wasn't. But I will say
one of the things that is incredible are all of the fire crews who came from all across the
country and spent their fourth of July fighting the work in that fire line instead of being out, you know, with family and watching the fireworks and all of that stuff. I have to say that's a tremendous tremendous, uh, thing that they did and I really want to thank them for that. Yes, you know, I feel, uh, I feel dumb for complaining that their firework's got rained out on the floor. Well, you could send some of that rain this way. We would appreciate that. I wish we could have
man would have loved to swap that weather anyway. But, uh, well, I'm excited, you know, we, we, the America soon just 50th birthday is such a cool, a cool opportunity for us to connect our
“founding principles and just remember like what makes America unique. So I'm excited to keep talking”
about it. You know, some people celebrate the birthday for a whole week or even a whole month. Well, Americans prosperity is one upping that with America's 250th birthday. We're celebrating all year long, holding events across the country and been lucky enough to attend some of them. But I have feed and stop there finding other ways to mark this great milestone. But none of this would be possible without the declaration of independence and that's where we'll start.
Our guest is no stranger to the podcast. I want to welcome back Daniel Vasali, who's grassroots marketing vice president for Americans from prosperity. Daniel, how are you up?
Doing great, David, thanks Bradley on. Yeah, always fun to have you, man. Especially on this topic. I mean,
we were over half way through the year. If he's been celebrating America soon, 50th birthday in a whole host of ways. Here on the podcast, we've been talking a lot about it. Talking about different guests and different angles. But, you know, we recently went through independent stay. And the, you know, the real kind of high point for the year. And again, we're going to celebrate all year long. But it's super fun. So, you know, what's it been like
“for you as one of the key guys who's been helping put this together and guide this for the organization?”
What's it been like for you to be part of all the different projects this year celebrating America soon, 50th birthday. Well, if I'm being honest, exhausting, but integrating at the same
Time.
I had America's for prosperity. We started talking about this last year. I'm really
“understanding that this is a special moment, you know, most of the time and appropriately. So,”
Americans are focused on what's right in front of them. The kitchen table issues that matter to their everyday lives. And we at America's for prosperity, speak to those issues and give them solutions that can improve their lives and rally communities around those solutions all the time. But the 250th anniversary is a unique moment where we could talk about what really makes us Americans, what defines our country and how are we going to move forward as a country. And I thought
that was special. And so we put together one small step to really commemorate that and then
not just make it a reflection on the past, but really look ahead and and look to what's this
country going to look like for the next 250 years. So, from all the events we've been doing, all the activations, the campaign has just been unlike anything I've ever been a part of before the conversations we've had, the way people's faces light up when you talk to them about why this country means so much to them, why their freedom means so much to them. It's been special. So, you know, before we talk about all the different cool things that we've been able to do,
I mean, there's just a lot of fun things from town-crires, the river arts estate fair and others. But I kind of want to get to like the essence of why we're doing this. I mean, you know, there's a, I don't think many people would disagree that there's a real schism in like society right now in America and political discourse and, you know, kind of like a finger pointing and some real acrimony. And I know that, you know, we felt like focusing on what
Native America, America with the founding principles are, have been a really important part of, you know, potentially the path forward and healing. Maybe, can you talk to like what that's meant to you and kind of what the vision is for, you know, for why we were even doing this project and why we're focusing on the founding principle. Yeah, so, you know, one thing that I'll, I'll say at the top is like we've seen a decline in pride of being an American.
“And that's concerning. And I think everyone can say, that's not a good thing.”
And it's been happening for multiple decades now pretty steadily, not coincidentally at the same time that the size and scope of the federal government has grown and kind of taken over more and more aspects of everyday life, limiting people's agency and opportunity to kind of control their own outcomes. But, you know, at an individual level, I think we can all sense that when you look on social media that vitriol is just so apparent and what I've learned through this year,
though, is that it's not indicative of where the average American is at. When you meet them in person, they are still proud to be an American. They are proud of their community. They don't like everything that's going on and they all have different reasons for that. But they inherently
“still believe this is a good country that you should be proud of. And so what's going on here?”
I think that the political bringsmanship and the partisan divides have actually gotten us into a place where in some cases, people are cheering against America succeeding because their side isn't in control. And I think that's so dangerous and petty, frankly. We should be cheering for America. We should be cheering for the American people having more opportunity, more prosperity. And I think this summer, it's really come to a head, whether you're experiencing America through a fresh lens
from all the visitors we've had from the World Cup saying how unbelievable it is in this country
remarking at how they've never seen anything like the grocery stores and restaurants that we have,
it can be as simple as free refills of your soda or your pot depending on where you are, or something as significant as just the openness of our culture of our people, welcoming them into their cities. It's been incredible to see people kind of like break through the social media lens that has kind of painted us in a bad way. And sometimes in the media the portrayal that we are so divided, don't get me wrong. There are issues. But this summer has been one that
has really re-invigorated me and I hope through one small step and everything that we've been taking out to people that we've been a meaningful part of their celebrations as well of what it means to be
American.
acts or something. You get sucked into like how divided, how, you know, the fighting that's going on,
the just the acrimony. And it was almost like all those, you know, folks from other countries coming here at the World Cup, like loving their barbecue or thinking like this place so beautiful. Like it took them like kind of storming my social media to be like, no, this place is so great. America really is uniquely awesome place. Yeah, it's a it's a fresh perspective and I think we take it for granted to often. And when the visitor comes and tells you, no, this isn't normal. You don't have
this anywhere else. I think we see that to ourselves, especially around the 4th of July, but oftentimes we forget. And so to have that perspective as well as all the festivities, I've been traveling
“all around the country. I know you have to for one small step events. All the festivities bring”
in communities together in a uniquely local way. Each one has a tone flavor and to get their
experience of the American life has been really special. And then to kind of bring it all to a head in our nation's capital around the 250th Independence Day weekend for two weeks now. We went to the Great American State Fair and talked to thousands of Americans from all over the country. And some people cheered against the Great American State Fair too. Some people didn't want it to succeed. And that again is a part of the American dynamic. Now the reality, it's a little
sad if you asked me. But when you're on the ground talking to people, they were having a great time. And we talked to tens of thousands of people. We collected tens of thousands of signatures on the declaration of independence that we had on the exhibit there. And I mean, these were
“Patreys. These were people who were ready to share it. And we had a pretty simple message that”
that exhibit really wanted to make the declaration of independence a focal point of our July fourth celebrations. Too often we forget that that's the real reason why we're celebrating our freedoms. And we don't concentrate on that. We focus on the fireworks or on the barbecue we're going to have. But we had over 120,000 Americans read the declaration of independence as part of their celebrations this independence day. Thanks to the work that we did at Americans for prosperity and I'm incredibly
proud of that. That's wonderful. And that was part of the declaration project. Why don't you just tell us a little more about it? Yeah. Well, I mean, our whole thing was that we just want people to to be familiarized themselves with the words that started all. It's not that very long. It's 1,320 words. It takes about seven to 10 minutes, depending on your pace to read it. And we just challenged Americans. Have you read the declaration
of independence recently? What better moment than America's 250th anniversary to read the words themselves to reflect on what our founders were telling the world about what they believed to be true because some of the ideas in there are radical. They were radical at the time that our rights don't come from a king, a monarch, or a government that they come inherently from our creator. And that we have certain unillianable rights. And there's a lot of portions of the declaration of independence
that we all know famous phrases, life liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. But there's a lot more
in it that people don't necessarily recall on their first review or from their elementary school
days. The listing of grievances, for example, is a really important part of the declaration. It there's 27 of them. And there are all these grievances. It's basically our break-up letter with King George and England. And what it really shows is what we expect our freedom to look like in America. And we can actually take those grievances and maybe apply them today and say, well, what should we expect as Americans today out of our government? Our founders gave us
the foundation. But it's on us to carry those principles forward. It's up to us to preserve the freedom that we have that's made us the greatest nation on Earth. So we took that message to Americans and it was widely, widely popular. And they took the challenge and hundreds of thousands of people engaged with the declaration of independence this 4th of July and the whole month really.
“And that's what I think we can take moving forward. Like is the 250th anniversary going to mean”
something beyond just a nice date and a nice anniversary? Or are we going to make it something that actually changes the trajectory of how this country is going to look moving forward? Well, I'd love the something innovative stuff that you and your team would dream
Up and that are that we've been doing to help encourage folks to celebrate th...
One of them is the Town Chryer Project. I mean, hopefully folks noted Town Chryer is maybe you can explain that. But I love I just love this kind of theater. Let me tell you, I learned Gen Z does not know what a Town Chryer is. We were talking to some folks about it as we were preparing
and a lot of it was just a real emotional first one town. Yeah, I mean, look, there was a time
before social media and before cell phones and iPhones existed where you actually had someone's full-time job was to get the news reported by going out into a public square and just screaming it and we thought what a fun way to mark the anniversary and to take this message about the decoration project that we were running out into the communities all across the country. So we hired
“Town Chryers and I think I think 15, 20 different states that we went to and they just showed up”
in some very notable locations and just read the decoration out loud and when you have someone reading the decoration out loud, that's weird. So people flock to it. I don't want to see what was going on. We had a lot of fun with it and it attracted a lot of attention to the really the core message that I had just shared about once the last time you read it and do you want to actually familiarize yourself with it again? Do you want to pass that on to your children? We were given
out three copies of the decoration of independence with that and it was just another one of the fun parts about this campaign. Our jobs are pretty fun here. Yeah, I thought it's sort of so awesome. Just see some guy that looks like a colonialist, just out there in modern society, reading the declaration, it just didn't fit and I thought it was wonderful because because of that reason,
“it just was wonderful and great reminder that it was so wonderful. I think credit to all those”
guys who did it as well because it's been a hot summer. So they're decked out in that and it's like in some cases, 105 feels like 115 and so that in and of itself was like, who's this crazy person
dressed this way right now? Yeah, I always think about that when I just think about the founding
of the nation, they're wearing like wool, you know, with these multiple layers and you know, July 1st through 4th, they're writing the declaration independence. It's like crazy hot in Philadelphia and they're just like, you know, nowhere conditioning. I always think about that. It's just like a reality back then. I'm surprised the declaration wasn't cranky. Well, it was plenty cranky. I mean, we had our grievances. One of the reasons, maybe, and I just learned this, I'm not joking, like,
just like literally in my last meeting because we were talking about the summer heat. So Thomas Jefferson was obsessed with the weather and he actually journaled about the weather almost every single day. And so we actually know what the temperature was and apparently it was a beautiful day, mid 70s in Philadelphia when they signed the declaration of independence. So that might have some reason as to why they, you know, were being a little bit more productive at that time.
And then additionally, I went to Mount Vernon with my family on the 4th of July and we learned in the summer their clothing was actually made out of linen and it was super breathable. So while they were covered heads to toe, they actually had the appropriate gear there. So give, give the early founder some crack. All right, let me show you a little bit. Hey, you mentioned the the Grinmer and
“State Fair and on the national mall and we were fortunate enough to be part of it. What was it like?”
It could tell us like the, like, what was the scene and what were, uh, what were your reflections of it and kind of the conversations like? Yeah. Um, so to be again, very direct with you guys, it was chaotic at first. You know, we found out personally, we found out that we were actually going to have the opportunity to go to the Great American State Fair nine days prior to it starting. So that was not a lot of runway to plan out in exhibit. Luckily, we have a fantastic team
that jumped on the opportunity because we saw a lot of value in it. I mean, 2 million Americans
over the course of two weeks were going to visit the national mall and view the exhibits at the Great American State Fair and you can't pass that opportunity by and, and it's a historic moment at that. So we wanted to be there in the center of the action. So the sprint leading forward chaotic, but man, nothing brings together a team like being under the gun, right? Um, and then once we got started, I mean, everyone who had a shift who was working there, it was almost the same
story. They were nervous about how tough it was going to be. These are very long days. It's 10 a.m.
To 10 p.
sweltering sun. Thankfully, we were inside in a nice pavilion. Um, that was air condition, but, um,
they were surprised by how nice it was to just be able to talk to Americans about this anniversary, to talk about what we were doing around the Declaration of Independence and the response, people were asking us, hey, can I sign up? We didn't even have to sell them on it because they wanted the reminder like, no, I'm going to do this. I'm going to go home and I'm going to read the Declaration of Independence with my kids. They need to hear this. Some of them told us, they're not
getting this conservative education at their schools right now. We're a little concerned
that they're not grounded in, you know, the civics of the foundation that this country was built on.
We need to do that at home. We are reminded about that. Thanks to this experience that we've
“had at the Great American State Fair. And so honestly, our jobs were pretty easy. We just had to”
talk to people and then the rest kind of did itself. And we did that at a grand scale talking to tens of thousands of people over the course of those two weeks. So the stories kind of from our team were very similar. And I just think it was a special experience for those who got to go up. Yeah, what a cool opportunity. That is great. You know, I think it kind of points to what I think we've suspected and kicked off all this stuff, which is that the founding
principles of our nation really are a unifying force that can point the way to more unity in the future. You know, I kind of think when people come up and interact with us on and talk about the principles of declaration, that's kind of what we see, you know, and maybe it helps point the pathway to more reconciliation and just a more productive discourse in our politics. Absolutely. I mean, this isn't about partisanship. It's not about politics. We're not even talking
about specific policy solutions, though. We obviously care a lot about that, too. Inherently, what we're talking about, we should all agree on. And it started with those founding words in the declaration of independence. They communicate the principles of dignity that we all have rights. Equality. We talk about the rule of law. We talk about freedom and opportunity and limited government and civic duty. Those are things that we should all be able to
agree on, because we as Americans chart our own path. It's what defines us as a country. We have the unique ability to see a problem and solve it as individuals, as a community. And that's how we do things. And it's a better formula than anywhere else we've seen in human history and it's why we're the greatest nation on earth. It's the core part of it. It's not the only reason
“why America has been so successful in 250 years, but it's really the foundation. And that's why”
I think it's so unifying where at least it should be. Yeah, I agree. I mean, there's it is interesting to watch people cheer against America. You know, it's just odd. You know, people don't do like the great American state fair. It's like, do you not like America or the state fair? I thought we like it. But, you know, I do think that we have to get to a better place where we're talking to one another in people sharing ideas, not being offended just by the existence of
the other person. I know that at America's prosperity, that's something that we really want to play a role in. You know, it's not feeding it. You know, being responsible in how we, you know,
discuss issues or, you know, or critical of bad policy proposals and not adding to like the
acoustic environment, but trying to make it so like we have productive conversations or we point out what's what's bad. You know, what's bad policy and what's going to be bad for our nation,
“but, you know, but doing it in a respectful way, I think it's important. And I think that, you know,”
just over my lifetime, the political discourses, you know, it's really become much much worse. And I, that doesn't benefit anybody. Yeah, and I, you can sum it up. I think really easily in saying, if you're proud to be in an American when you're parties in control or you're preferred president is in office and not proud when you didn't win in the elections or when the trajectory of the policy is not the way that you would want it to go, then I think you're not really thinking
About what truly defines us as Americans.
a underlying part of this initiative. We don't talk about it as explicitly, but we're just trying
to remind folks that there's something deeper that we all share that we should all be able to agree on and build a certain kind of dialogue from. And those are those founding principles. And that's
“what one small step takes to Americans. And that's why we've seen folks from the right,”
folks from the left swing voters or folks who consider themselves independent or not even that political at all, really engaged with this. And you know, when I kind of reflected back on the fourth of July in the anniversary and kind of the discourse that I saw afterwards, I do think that
it elevated a little bit. I do think that people who do not believe that we're headed in the right
direction right now in this moment still were able to say, yeah, but I still love this country. I still love the opportunities that it afforded me. And that was heartening for me to see at least, maybe a slight break in the ever-increasing temperature of our politics. Yeah, I think America hopefully continues to be just unflinchingly optimistic.
“I think that that's some that's characterized as throughout our time as a nation and”
and our, you know, is a quality that our people often exhibit. I hope we kind of get back to that or kind of at least don't lose it. Well, how about how about this? I read this and I was like, wow, what a truly remarkable concept. In America, we don't celebrate the day that we won the
Revolutionary War. We celebrate the day that we declared our independence. What an optimistic view
that we celebrate the decision we made, not the outcome that that transpired afterwards. In most other countries, it is the day that they won the war that they celebrate, whether it's independence or some other monumental date in their in their nation's history. But here, it's about the idea. It's about the declaration. It's about what it means for who we are as a people. I thought that was super inspiring. I love that. That is super inspiring. So we're just
over halfway through the year in this year's celebration. What are some of the other things coming
“up that you're excited about? Yeah. Well, I think a couple things that I can share with you guys”
that we're working on. One is our marquee events and events throughout the country continue on all the way through December. So if you were able to celebrate on the 4th of July or some other time in your community, one of those America 250 events fantastic, but you don't have to stop. And if you weren't, there's still an opportunity. We are traveling through the country. I know we've got Las Vegas coming up. I know we're going to New Jersey. Iowa, let's see here South Carolina, Nevada.
Those are all coming up. So you can go to 8252kit.com and find an event that's coming near you. These events have been fantastic. They've looked different everywhere we've gone. Some have been a country concert and Sandy Utah with low cash. Others have been focused on other things like in May. We went to Jacksonville, Florida. We were on the USS Orlick and a battleship of retired battleship and we welcomed lots of veterans there to honor their service. And of course to
remember those who gave their full and last measure of devotion to this country and the freedoms that we have preserving them. So it's just been really fun. I definitely encourage folks to look up the events that are coming up through the rest of the year. And that's not all. I mean, we're still going to be releasing a new toolkit on a 250 toolkit.com based off of our different themes for every single month online. And so if you go there at a 250 toolkit.com, I'm going to keep
plugging it. You can sign up and you'll get in your inbox a fresh set of resources, educational materials to use and leverage with your family, your friends, your neighbors to continue celebrating America, those founding principles. And finding the way to activate your community around you around that. And because again, this should be a unifying experience. And so those are two great activations that we're going to continue doing through the rest of the year. And there's going to be
a whole lot more. I don't want to give out all our surprises. Well, you know, here with the podcast, we've been privileged to attend a number of the age of 50 marquee events. And they're just a blast.
Just joining with folks there.
super fun. We're looking forward to being at a bunch of them coming up in the next few months.
“So, probably you folks watching, you'll be joining us with them at those also. And yeah, I hope”
folks do go to hoolkit.com. And even, you know, look at the events and see if there's one near you
because it's a good time. And it's just great to be with folks who want to celebrate the founding
principles of our nation. And what's made this nationally greatest one in the world. So,
“Danielle, I really appreciate all the hard work that, you know, you and your team have done.”
It's been just a cool experience to be part of an organization and a podcast that can join in on
the celebration. It's been an absolute privilege and an honor for me. And I know for everyone on our team as well. And I can't thank you enough, David, for helping us get the work out for being at these events. I'm sure there have been a lot of folks who have come to them just to kind of see David Frong from the American potential podcast as well. You've gotten to interview quite a few interesting people have through this whole series as well. And it's been awesome. You've done a great
job with it. It's been a awesome partnership. And it's been a great experience. And we're going to keep it right. Awesome. Well, can't wait to want to see what's next. And we'll keep everyone updated. Thanks, Daniel. Awful. Thanks, David. Hey folks, if you like this episode and like to see connected with the podcast, be sure to like and subscribe to our channel as well as following us on
“Facebook, YouTube and Instagram. Now, as you remember, liberty and freedom are easily taken”
right. Don't take them for granted. We're out there in defend freedom, liberty. Thanks for joining us and we'll see you on the next episode. Thank you for listening to American potential. You may listen to more stories from Americans working every day to expand freedom and opportunity in their communities by visiting of americanpotential.com.
