I'm sure some folks are happy about that. I'm sick of yelling at the top of my lungs: ignorance, p.c., laxapathy and the enemy within will bring this once proud and noble country to it's end and those that decry the right as alarmists, bigoted, war-mongering and un-caring will be leading the parade, while burning the flag, all in the name of free speech. What's ironic, in the former Soviet countries even after years of brutal oppression no citizen burns their flag, in the middle east no one burns their flags, only here in the land of dumb and blind it's considered freedom of speech. People have long confused freedom of speech with rebellious treachery. And before you accuse the forefathers about being rebellious to England, remember that England was a monarchy, which is still a form of dictatorship benign or not. And our forefathers had the courage to follow through with their intent, something the cowards who hide behind the veil of "freedom of speech" will never dare, no they rather work behind the scenes, start at the root and slowly kill the tree. Well we're here, I feel sorry for my kid and his kids, what they're going to inherit will be an abomination.
As always Strat - spot on, and I agree 200%. I fear that two generations from now (your kid's children), the common public will have been so dumbed down and mislead that they won't even realize the actual abomination (in your words) that they have inherited. Hell, the present generation more or less fails to recognize the trend analysis.
On the flip side of the coin however - and I've done tons of thinking on these matters, perhaps every generation has felt that the next two generations are doomed. Sure, we have come a long way since the Revolutionary era - we have abolished slavery, we have created infrastructure from coast to coast, we have leveled the playing field for both white/black and male/female, we have proven that the "Democratic Experiment" is a success, we helped stop Hitler in the 1940's, we defeated the Soviet Union without a single shot fired - all of these overwhelming positive things.
George Washington himself was a man who felt that America's only focus was westward progression, and that we should keep ourselves removed from the global dynamic - let what happens outside, stay outside, etc. As great as the man was, this was one of the fundamental flaws in his reasoning. Fortunately the other Founding Fathers recognized that as we grew as a country, became more powerful, a.) we would
have to play a significant role in the world market, b.) we would indeed not be immune from further conflict, c.) natural resources would have to be an equity from which we would need to develop strong relationships and diplomatic processes to avoid polarizing the planet betwee those who have and those who do not, d.) when the west was conquered and there was nothing left but ocean, where do we go from there? There is obviously more to the list, but you get the point...
It's the equivalent of placing a 900 pound lion in a small room with a bunch of hens and expecting neither lion nor hen will notice.
And of course - what has become all too familiar - two events (Pearl Harbor and 9/11) helped remind us that we cannot quietly keep to ourselves in this world, that eventually (not
if, but
when, disaster will strike at the hands of sworn enemies, even if we didn't have the capacity to foresee them as such before it was too late.
So our mission is plain and simple - it is both domestic and abroad, like it or not. The
only alternative to
not playing our part on the world stage is by discontinuing the nation of America as we know it. And I cannot turn this over to my children, or their children anymore than I would expect anyone else to.
Joe, I think you have failed to notice that I am not preaching pro-Bush, pro-Right wing rhetoric here - this is the down to the nitty-gritty guts, bones and flesh that makes America what it is: Red or Blue, black or white, male or female, light skinned, dark skinned, green skinned, short and fat, tall and slender, blonde or brunette, Democrat or Republican. It is time we as a nation come together for once, throw away our party affiliations and concentrate on the reality of our existence on this planet in 2008 and beyond...
