Today is a special day for America, a holiday that celebrates our independence.

We like to think of our nation as exceptional, and, true, today, there are many remarkable things about this country.

But we are rapidly becoming a nation where an exceedingly small percentage of the population holds much of the wealth. A wide swath of our country is frustrated and increasingly alienated.  Not a good sign. 

As we celebrate this fourth of July, American entitlement threatens American exceptionalism and the values that helped this nation thrive.

As we think about this day and reflect on what it means to be a US citizen, perhaps the words and wisdom of a once desperately poor Senegalese footballer, now one of the best players in the world who earns $10.2 million a year, will cause us to rethink what it means to be exceptional.