Our Lives Today.....

My parents were very young when Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Japanese, but my grandparents were very much aware of the enormity of what had occurred. Not one time when we discussed it (I loved to talk about these things....odd child that I was) not one time did they refer to it as a "tragedy". It was an act of war. Their lives were never be the same after that. My grandmother spoke of the shock of that attack, and how long it took her to simply understand something that evil could have happened. She spoke of "all those men who died". She was always sad when she talked about it. Of course she knew someone who knew someone whose brother had been killed, which made the whole event more real to her, more personal. And my grandmother never minced words about what had happened, it was senseless, it was evil, it was war. I thought about her this week as I watched another commemoration of 9/11. I thought about how she would have reacted to all of this. But then I knew what she would have said, it was senseless, it was evil, it was war.

Not a tragedy....war.

After the shock of 9/11 passed, I was heartened at the byproduct of this act of war. Our country came together, flags were everywhere....people went back to church....in droves. From an act of war had come what occurred after Pearl Harbor...unity. We were all Americans....all of us had been attacked....and we were all one. One nation under God, indivisible, standing for liberty and justice for all.

And that is what we acted like.



And then all of that went away....blame started. Recriminations, rancor, contention....whether you believe satan exists or not you have to agree all of his attributes have been on parade. We brought all the worst behavior people can have right out on the porch for all the world to see. People who claim to love America clearly were hating Americans (I stole that from a movie - thank you Aaron Sorkin). And today regular Americans are giving up. A school in Brookline Massachusetts wants to ban the pledge of allegiance.

What?

The ten commandments have been banned from the outside of federal buildings...that is funny to me. Ignore the ten commandments? Can you imagine what our lives would be like if people simply obeyed the ten commandments? Let your mind wander there for a minute. We could all go back to being farmers, musicians and artists because 99 per cent of the occupations in the world would be rendered obsolete.

The executive branch of the government is only slightly more popular than the legislative branch of the government. And we aren't very happy with the judicial branch either. What does that tell you? If you want something different then you are going to have to make that happen.

Last night the President said that government should partner with business to make things better. With all due respect Mr. President....no sir that is not how to make America prosperous again, the last thing I want to do is partner up with some of the ne'er-do-wells in Washington. All they know how to do is regulate and tax, point fingers and blame. No thank you.

I can't really decide what I am politically, so I am not throwing stones at any one individual, or group. (Except for anyone who talks over people, personal peeve...I hate it and I will give money to your opponent every time.) Both parties are guilty of hating Americans, and America is my homeboy. From the Urban dictionary a homeboy is a close friend. Originally used among transplanted African-Americans with Southern roots to refer to and aid in the assimilation of someone who might have directly migrated from a common Southern home town or is otherwise well known to the person using the term.

Wow....bet you hadn't heard that definition.

I keep wondering when America is going to come back....When we will finally have enough of this. Because right now we are just standing on the sidelines wringing our hands....we aren't acting, we are being acted upon, and sorry but that's crap.

I am looking for a leader....

I think we are all looking for William Wallace...and I am not going to stop until I find him, or her. When you vote next time ask yourself if the candidate loves America as much as William Wallace loved Scotland....as much as George Washington, Patrick Henry or Thomas Jefferson loved America. Ask yourself about eighteen year old boys who fight and die for the love of their country....who measures up?

And then go vote....

Find someone who loves America. And if you decide not to vote, don't ever sit next to me. I am not as nice as I used to be....another movie line theft.

As Todd Beamer from flight 93 said.......Let's Roll.