As I sit here and watch this campaign continue to unfold, I find myself wondering about something that as a youth I would have never imagined that I would ever be in the position of contemplating. I look back at what a disaster the presidency of Obama has been not only for this country, but for the world as well. And then I look at the polls and see the Barry “Almighty’ continues to maintain a lead, however slim, over Romney, and I wonder, how can this be? I mean by all rights Romney should be out in front by double digits, and if Barry was white, I’m confident that he would be. But Barry isn’t white, he’s black. And therein lies the dilemma.
So as I run over in my mind all of the possible reasons why Romney is only close but not comfortably out in front, it comes to me. It’s the only possible solution to my little quandary that I can come up with. Far too many of us living in this greatest nation on God’s green Earth have either forgotten, choose to ignore, or have had it been bred out of us, what it truly means to be an American. For example, not all that long ago the death of one of our diplomats off working in a foreign country in the service of our country would have spurred outrage and the demand for some sort of retaliation to teach the perpetrators of such despicable act a lesson they would never forget.
But such is not the case today. It’s perceived as being no big deal. In this we’ll just let Libya catch the murderers, while we maintain a hands-off posture. Oh there have been plenty of condolences flying around, but no desire to extort any level of vengeance for the taking of innocent American lives. No desire to use this tragedy as a “teachable moment”, to make all aware that to take the life of an American citizen is to not only place your own life in danger, but also the lives of your countrymen as well. The American people used to be much more proud of who they are, much more protective of those they sent off to foreign lands, because when placed against the other peoples of the world, Americans saw themselves as being different, even unique. And rightfully so!
But today too many of us have gotten soft, we’ve come to view ourselves as being less American and more as simply people of the ‘world.’ Today we are merely a population of people who happen inhabit a place called America. Sadly, too few of us possess any level of pride in our country and less any sense of true patriotism which is considered to be quite rare these days. We’ve seem to have lost that spark, that emotion that once brought a tear to the eye whenever we heard the playing of our nation’s anthem or when reciting the pledge of allegiance. And somehow we need to get that back before it’s lost forever. And you can be sure that our president is going to do everything in his power to prevent that from happening. Because that might unite us and he doesn’t want us united because that makes us stronger and therefore more difficult for him to defeat.
We need to, no we must, rekindle that flame of patriotism, we need to be able, and willing, to recognize just how fortunate we all are to be living in this country. We also need to be willing to open our eyes wide to those who are so busy in their working to destroy our country and we need to do whatever it takes to stop them. And in what will prove to be the most difficult, we are going to have to possess the necessary courage to place our personal lives on the back burner to that of working to get our country, and therefore ourselves, back onto the right path. And, just as important, we need to elevate our country back to it’s rightful place, as the proper guardian of freedom on this big blue marble called Earth. And yes, in so doing, we need to be willing to instill a little fear in those who think of themselves as our adversaries.
There’s and old adage that says it’s always better to be feared than loved. Because with fear comes a healthy amount of respect. I once worked for a man who had a plaque on the wall behind his desk. The words on that plaque went like this, “When you’ve got them by the balls, their hearts and minds will follow.” Yes you’re right, he was a bit of an asshole. But at the same time you always knew where you stood with him. You knew where the lines were that you could never cross. Under this presidency there are no longer any lines, or what lines that are there have become so blurry that they are now at the point of being essentially invisible.
So as this election draws closer I would only ask that we all listen a little more carefully to what’s being said and to judge it against what, we know in our heart, it means to be an American. We need to look back at those who risked everything they had to make this country great and emulate them every chance we get instead of those who like our president are so determined in their efforts to destroy this, the last best hope of Earth. I have to think that we have it in us to do it, because we must. We need to dedicate ourselves to reacquire those traits than make us so uniquely American, the self-reliance, pride in accomplishment and our individualism.
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