PARSIPPANY – You can’t go wrong supporting freedom.

That’s the proclaimed goal of a group called America’s Future, which was founded in 1995 to encourage young people “to be active, civil, and curious citizens who build freer communities that lead to fulfillment, dignity, and happiness for all.”

The group held a party Thursday night at a local Italian restaurant with the theme of, “All NJ Wants for Christmas is Freedom.”

The man honored was Justin Musella, a township councilman.

“It is our responsibility as guardians of freedom to remain vigilant, to act with integrity and to champion individual liberty at every opportunity,” he said.

That also means, Musella said, holding those who betray those principles accountable.

Sam Adofo, the group’s northeast hub coordinator, said the organization strives to empower the next generation “in the liberty movement.”

The group’s website speaks of embracing the ideas of “free markets, limited government, and personal responsibility.”

While these are conservative, if not libertarian, ideas, the group says it is bipartisan.

Some may be skeptical about that, although it is certainly true that traditional conservative ideas are no longer in sync with today’s MAGA-driven Republican Party. So there may be something to this bipartisanship.

More generally, the group says:

“We’re working toward a time in America where young people collaborate to drive change in their communities – change that equips the individual to build a free and happy life.

America’s Future offers rising generations opportunities for networking, mentoring, leadership and community engagement through our national network and extensive array of programming.”

About 100 or so people attended the event, including Assemblymen Christian Barranco and Brian Bergen, Morris County Surrogate Heather Darling and county Republican Chair Laura Ali.

Getting back to Parsippany, Musella is occasionally a dissenting voice on the all-Republican council. As one speaker put it Thursday night, he brings “flavor” to council meetings.

It will be interesting to see what happens next year when Democrat Judy Hernandez joins the council. This presumes that her narrow victory survives a recount next week.

The future will unfold in time, but on this night, any infighting on the council to come took a back seat to soaring idealism. As Musella put it:

“Let us be unwavering in our commitment to liberty, recognizing that what we do when nobody’s paying attention is the true measure of our dedication to the principles that make our societies free and just.”