Today is a strange day in the US anymore. Just 9 years ago, the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were attacked by terrorists that had hijacked airliners and crashed them into those places as an act of terror. There was one other planned attack that day, target unknown, that was foiled by the first Americans to take the fight back. Sadly, those heroes, and they are heroes in the true sense of the word, lost their lives when that plane crashed in a Pennsylvania field.
I am an old, now retired, Soldier. (Well, maybe not so old, but still retired.) And this day really makes me remember. "What does it make you think about?", you may ask. I think about the friends and comrades, people I worked with over the years, all that have lost their lives fighting for what we all believed in. But, mostly, its about my friends that I have lost (NSDQ) and how they would react to seeing what they fought, and died, for, in my opinion, tearing itself down.
We, as a country, have fallen so far from what we were in the days and months immediately following 9/11. We were again "One Nation, Under God." Our determination was rock solid. Those that did those cowardly acts would be found and brought to justice. Either in a court of law, or, preferably, the barrel of a gun. America was ready to act.
Now, 9 years later, yes, it has been 9, we are still in Afghanistan trying to make up ground from previous focuses on Iraq. It may well be to late. America's attention span is woefully short, and extremely fickle. The cost that finishing this campaign favorably, both monetarily and with people, is fast becoming more than the country wants. Which is really shaming. There hasn't been any of the hardships that WWII brought to the general public. No rationing, no draft, nothing that impacts them. The only ones that are impacted are those that serve, their families and friends.
America no longer wants to be involved in "those places" and feels that "they should take care of themselves". And believe me, I want that for those 2 countries as well, but it takes time. America, with her now, now, now, culture just can't wrap her mind around that. I blame the media for most of that attitude. How often, when you watch the news, (You do watch the news, right?) do you see stories about the good that is actually being done in Afghanistan and Iraq? The schools we build so their children can be educated and better their own lives? The hospitals that we build, or the people's lives we save when we send our medical personnel out to remote areas that haven't seen a doctor in years? Or even more recently, the floods in Pakistan, in an area that is know to harbor people that want to do us harm, did you hear anything about the aid the military units sent there?
What you hear about is the bad things that happen. Mostly when military personnel are killed. I have some info for you on that, its a war, people die, and it sucks. But that is the way it is, life isn't fair.
And, yes, even though I am retired now, I am still impacted. I have many friends still in uniform, and I still am working with Soldiers. And, the biggest reason, my oldest daughter is in the Navy. (I am so proud of her for that. No I didn't push her to serve, she made that decision on her own. Just wish it wasn't the Navy. Damn squids.) So, she may end up in harms way at some point. I pray to God that won't come to be, but I understand it is a possibility. And so does she.
Another way we have fallen since then, this business about a mosque near Ground Zero. There is no reason to oppose it, other than personal ignorance or feelings. The religion of Islam, while not my own, does not create terrorists. That fault falls to those that twist the religion to their own ends. They take those that are ignorant of the wider world, because of a lack of education opportunities, and fill their heads with crap. You hear something often enough, even if you know it is completely false, you begin to believe it. And in case anyone is out there thinking, "None of the terrorists are Christian. They are all Muslim." Currently, you would be correct. Let me remind you, in case you conveniently overlooked this little fact, that Christianity has had its share of "terrorist" acts. Have you ever heard about the Crusades, or perhaps the Inquisition? If not, educate yourself, get a book and read up on it. Yes, a book, don't Google it!
And that is just the general population of America. Our elected officials are even worse. A president (Yes,I deliberately left it uncapitalized.) that fires a General, admittedly, one I don't like, for saying the truth about what is going on in Afghanistan on national TV, because it wasn't the party line, is abuse of power. You need realists around the leader of the nation to give unbiased information. Or when he announced that America is no longer a Christian nation. (Last time I checked we were.) All because he is trying to apologize to people that shouldn't matter and make nice with them. Those that want to do us harm won't stop no matter how much we apologize, or try to make them feel better about us. They do it for 2 reasons. They are jealous of what we have, or they use hate for America to gain personal power. Nothing we do will ever change that. Nothing Obama does will change it either. (FYI, I have a feeling there will be LOTS of posts about Obama. And I will recognize the good, as well as the bad.)
You may be thinking that I am just going to bash on Obama, not true. I have things against Congress (I just lump both Houses together, its easier that way.) as well. After all, they have gotten just as bad. They will do anything to get re-elected and retain the power that they do have. Since going against Obama gets one labeled as a racist, most of the time. And being a racist is political suicide, Congress members are afraid to voice their dissent. That is unless they are in a group. Then it gets labeled partisanship. Remember all of the debates about health care. Good. I knew you would. The Republicans were blamed for holding up the progress. But they weren't included in the drafting of the bill. (I would be a little miffed if you expected me to vote for a bill that I had no say as to what it contained.) And to vote against it was considered show you didn't care about your constituents. I know I would damn well want to have a say so in anything that affected people I was elected to represent, its what I would be getting paid for. But what happened, the Republicans voted for the bill because they wouldn't get re-elected otherwise.
America, you need to wake up, get informed and get involved. Otherwise, you are going to see even more of your rights be voted away by those you elect to represent you. But, of course, its for your own protection, right?
I will leave you today with a quote from one of our Founding Fathers, Benjamin Franklin. "Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." Amen Ben.
WAKE UP AMERICA!
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