America is both great and terrible.

We hear about the terrible on most regular days. Just scroll your Twitter feed.

We hear about nothing but the good on days like today. Happy Fourth of July, with fireworks and picnics. (I'm grilling hamburgers soon, if you want to come over and join us).

But, it is time to move away from our binary thinking when it comes to thinking about America. Stop with the either/or and live in the both/and.

America is both great and terrible.

We have freedom. But not everybody has an equal amount of freedom. We live in beautiful diversity. But not everyone celebrates the diversity. We have a glorious 242 years of history. We have a horrific 242 years of history (some of that horror taking place in the past few weeks).

Independence Day is a good day to reflect on all of this. And to consider: