Mathew Habrock

Proud resident of The Good Life.

[Mathew Habrock @MatHabrock]

#family

[Mathew Habrock @MatHabrock]

GBR #Huskers

[Mathew Habrock @MatHabrock]

Hey @codyjohnson! Come on down and tailgate the Huskers with us!

[Mathew Habrock @MatHabrock]

GBR

[Mathew Habrock @MatHabrock]

Getting #AndyClean on a Saturday afternoon. @apasztor82 needs to make a car air freshener that smells like the soap!

[Mathew Habrock @MatHabrock]

@nilly21 Could agree more, mustard for life.

[Mathew Habrock @MatHabrock]

@apasztor82 I love this idea. #GBR

[Mathew Habrock @MatHabrock]

The radio needs a Bon Jovi mode that gives a volume boost every time You Give Live a Bad Name comes in.

[Mathew Habrock @MatHabrock]

@michael_bergen Absolutely, awesome book with a great worldly perspective

[First Five Nebraska @FirstFiveNebr]

Congratulations on being selected for the Early Childhood Policy Leadership Academy, @MatHabrock! #ECLeaders #PLA #EarlyChildhood

[Mathew Habrock @MatHabrock]

@WestForkFarm Glad to hear you are okay. We have all been thinking about you and praying for your recovery.

[Mathew Habrock @MatHabrock]

Excited to kick off the Adams County Fair with this morning’s parade thru downtown Hastings. Wonderful opportunity to honor the late Darrel Stromer and his contributions to the community and agriculture industry. @LandMarkImp

[Mathew Habrock @MatHabrock]

@LandMarkImp

[Mathew Habrock @MatHabrock]

Lined up, and ready for the Juniata Days parade!

[Joshua Claybourn @JoshuaClaybourn]

British Prime Minister Margret Thatcher famously once said, “Europe was created by history. America was created by philosophy.” Nearly all European nations trace their beginning to a common ethnic kinship or a cultural characteristic, but America was created by exiles united in voluntary assent to shared political beliefs. That’s why British writer G. K. Chesterton visited the United States for the first time and remarked that America was “a nation with the soul of a church,” not because of its religiosity, but because of a common creed enshrined in “sacred texts” of the Declaration of Independence and Constitution.

In 1776, a near-miraculous stew of ideas and leaders came together to form a Declaration of Independence, and 11 years later an equally miraculous gathering formed the Constitution, both centered on a belief in universal human dignity.

Government does not grant you the right to free speech, assembly, religion, press, protest, or redress of grievances. We believe that these rights are inalienable and government’s role is simply to protect those rights and ensure human dignity. Government is just a tool, not a source. That’s really a remarkably profound idea we take for granted and fail to celebrate enough.

Of course, the sad irony is that the very Founders who argued these ideas so frequently fell short of those same principles. Some owned slaves, and nearly all opposed equal rights for women. So it naturally caused upheaval when nineteenth century Americans increasingly adopted a view held that “All men are created equal,” including black Americans, and a few generations later it came to encompass women as well.

Abraham Lincoln believed that the Declaration of Independence did not necessarily proclaim people equal in all respects. Instead, it meant that all people were created with certain equal, inalienable rights—they are ours by right of simply being human—among which are “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” A free society should always strive to achieve these equal rights, even if, as in the case of the Founders, it fell short of that goal in the past. The Declaration’s concept of equality is an aspiration, Lincoln said, “constantly looked to, constantly labored for, and even, though never perfectly attained, constantly approximated, and thereby constantly spreading and deepening its influence and augmenting the happiness and value of life to all people, of all colors, everywhere.”

That is the genius of Lincoln’s argument: that the Constitution is concrete (at least until amended), but the Declaration of Independence is aspirational, and the American project is a move toward the aspiration.

Despite its roots in American independence, the 4th of July is incomplete without understanding and celebrating Lincoln too. His unique view of the Declaration as an aspirational goal helped properly frame American independence for what it was and what it was bound to be.

[Mathew Habrock @MatHabrock]

@zjhunn Same. Our family from Germany apologized for flying into Omaha and making us drive to pick them up. We lived in NE Lincoln at the time - 50 minutes from the Omaha airport.

[Mathew Habrock @MatHabrock]

There is nothing better than watching someone absolutely kick ass at what they love to do! @WeTheCurves

[Mathew Habrock @MatHabrock]

Putting #AndyClean soap to the test cleaning up some new-to-us toys at the center. Fallon gives it the thumbs up! @apasztor82

[Mathew Habrock @MatHabrock]

It was a great morning for breakfast with the Red Cloud senior class. @LandMarkImp appreciates the opportunity to join and wish these students well in their future successes!

[Mathew Habrock @MatHabrock]

@Elk_Slayer1 @KatzbergAg @HinrichsBrock @RupeCalvin Stick with the Casey’s cups. Cheaper, and you get to enjoy the drink.

[Mathew Habrock @MatHabrock]

@MMC_JD Awful close to home after our fire this summer. You are absolutely correct, the people are what make the dealership, not the structure. Hoping for the best for your team.