1st & Foremost: Happy Independence Day To The Free Press

Long weekend, indeed.

Thank you for keeping your eyes open. Thank you for keeping your laptops open. Thank you for not resting for a second, even when the rest of the country is, and you probably need to. Thank you for demonstrating the necessity and privilege that is the 1st Amendment. Thank you for fighting a fight that shouldn’t exist.

Thank you for being fearless, dedicated, and creative. Thank you for keeping track, keeping score, and keeping receipts. Thank you for not letting anyone, on either side of the aisle, forget anything. Thank you for responding to a child in an adult tone of voice.

Thank you for giving up your holiday weekend to show us how people in power are spending theirs. Thank you for seeking out and publishing the truth, regardless of whether or not you agree with it. Thank you for being a representative of our country that isn’t humiliating.

Thank you for the five hours of sleep in between your tweets. Thank you for giving so much of your time and yourselves to work that has never been more important, and more vilified. Thank you for soldiering on in an unpredictable, relentless, and terrifying place.

Thank you for informing us, thank you for refusing to let us live in the dark. Thank you for not accepting unacceptable behavior and treatment. Thank you for questioning those who see themselves above question. Thank you for demanding an answer.

Thank you for challenging and championing each other, thank you for normalizing nothing. Thank you for everything this four years will ask of you, do to you, and take from you. Thank you for doing what needs to be done, what not all of us have the bravery to do.

Thank you for knowing something is wrong. Thank you for doing something about it. Thank you for being above attacks, and at the root of truth. Thank you for becoming more than bylines–thank you for becoming role models.

Thank you for your time, your work, and your passion. Thank you for writing and broadcasting it all, all the time. Happy Independence Day. Be free.