Columnist Leonard Pitts Jr., in his July Fourth article, “America the Greatest,” reminds us that despite America’s fall from being greatest, Americans always rise to the challenge of greatness when having a common mission. This is the story of our Revolution, the Great Depression, the second world war, and the civil rights movement, to name a few.

What is the next great American mission?

Our fading respect for Congress and its inability to pass any reasonable laws that are not corrupted, watered down or killed by the influence of money and special interests dictate that the next great mission of the American people is to take money out of politics.

We cannot leave it to the politicians to fix this, as they are already tied to money for their re-election. It will have to be the mission of the American people, who must start an ongoing discussion on the ways and means of accomplishing this goal.

No matter what our individual political leanings, we must come together and make the mission of taking money out of politics our priority. It is far too important an issue to allow it to go unaddressed. Let the discussion begin.