CAN WE BE ALL THINGS TO ALL PEOPLE?

Let’s start with this premise: You have to have your own house in order before you can take on the challenges of the world. That is a premise that I was reared with. Yes, virtually all religious organizations have tenets to the obligation of mankind to look after and take care of fellow mankind. You start with family, expand to neighbor, then community… increasingly outward… but, family is number one.

The American family is not whole. We have homeless in the streets. We have the poor, the under and uneducated, the sick, the hungry and yet, we turn our backs on them and try to resolve the issues of the world. This goes against the grain of everything I know and have been taught.

We have no right to go and impart democracy on other nations. They have the right to their own forms of government and for us to presume that we have an obligation to convert them to a democratic form of government is pure and unadulterated bull. But, it seems to our government that our national mission life is to convert everyone else in the world to our way of thinking, as if we are the pure and innocent. In the same broad brush, we take on the issues of their poor, their hungry, their weak and their sick. Our motives, unfortunately, are not pure; we believe that, if we get their populace on our side, we can overthrow their governments and turn them into democracies.

Actually, that is totally imperialistic.

It occurs to me that, if our motives were pure, we would take care of our own first.

However you frame this issue, the plain simple fact is that we either do not have the resources to take care of our own people or we don’t want to. Given the fact that this nation has limited resources, given the fact that much of this nation’s technology and industrial capability has been outsourced, we have a severely limited capacity to meet the needs of the world. Certainly, it appears to me, we need to look after the needs of our own first. After that, yes, we have an obligation to use our resources to reduce hunger and poverty throughout the world.

China has an earthquake. Myanmur has a cyclone. Indonesia has a tidal wave. We do not hesitate to make it a national priority to send aid to those countries and their people; yet, we have not yet fully addressed the needs of the victims of Katrina. There are dozens of tornadoes ravishing our country and all we can say is, “Oh, those unfortunate people; their house blew away.” What’s next? Nothing.

We send millions, billions of dollars in aid to the poor of third-world nations, (much of which gets skimmed off by corrupt politicians), and we allow our Native Americans to suffer depravation, sickness, and poverty and we won’t even give that problem lip service.

Our national debt is growing at an enormous rate and we’re helping everyone else except our citizens, our people. The fundamental role of a government is to provide for the well-being and social needs of its people. We get a failing grade. How can we justify the destruction of our national economy when we do not meet the societal needs of our own?

This message does not come from a liberal clamoring for giveaways and entitlements. I am a conservative who is advocating that we need to teach and provide the leadership, economic opportunity and direction for the disadvantaged in this country to turn their lives around in order to become contributing and productive members of our American society.

We lay the lives of our American military on the line to protect our democracy and our ideals in life. On the other hand, we don’t hesitate to export our ideals in life to other countries while ignoring the people who comprise this great country. How hypocritical can we be?

That’s MY AMERICAN OPINION, respectfully submitted.

REAL MEMORIES OF A REAL MEMORIAL DAY: Why Have They All Faded Away?

In my memory, Memorial Day was always a nice, warm and sunny day, filled with the sweet effervescence of spring. Everyone in town managed to meander down to Main Street and to secure a poppy for their button hole, to stop and chat with the butcher at the corner market and to pick up a special bouquet of flowers for the cemetery. If you noticed, every single person was walking a little taller and sharing pride, admiration and love for those who had come this way, served their country, and passed into eternity.

The American flag flew at half-staff, put there at dawn’s early light by a special ceremonial squad of the local American Legion Post or the VFW. People stopped at the entrance to the cemetery to share stories about their loved ones, bring each other current on family events, and to pay their respects to God, to Country, and to honored fallen. Patriotism was truly in the air.

We cared about our neighbors, our towns, our schools, and our social mores. In the faces of adversity, we stuck together like glue, and we prevailed. When the chips were down, really down, it didn’t matter what the color of our skin was, what our religious beliefs were, who made what kind of money, or what our individual animosities and prejudices might be; all of that was put aside and we were one giant family, standing united with purpose of liberty and justice for all. Above anything else, we were Americans and we were all damned proud of it.

If you killed someone, you could count on going to the electric chair, firing squad, or hangman’s gallows. If you broke the law, you went to jail. If you didn’t join the branch of the military you preferred, you were likely to become drafted into the army. If you burned the flag, you were a most horrible creature and if you did drugs, not only did you do the time… they also caught and prosecuted the dealer. Everyone graduated from high school; very few did not and, if they didn’t for some reason, they usually ended up in night school until they earned their diploma. Those who graduated certainly knew how to do simple math in their heads and most of them spoke a second language and knew the name of the Vice President of the United States.

Although there were no “pills,” teenage pregnancy was the exception and not the rule. Cancer, albeit most certainly lethal, was almost unheard of. When a national emergency occurred, Congress and the President diligently and proactively dealt with it.

How do things stand in 2008? Suffice it to say that ticking off the comparisons would undoubtedly be an exercise of futility simply because, in 50 short years, all of the good things about America that have been enumerated above have disappeared and most of today’s Americans cannot even conceptualize them. The question, of course, begs itself: “Is change bad?”

In going through the above list, one might well argue a point or two but, in the final analysis I think we have to consider where we now are, what we have become. To be sure, I question whether or not Americans stand proud and tall today, confident in their democracy, confident in their leadership, confident in their future. Several recent studies would suggest that the opposite is firmly true. I fear that we Americans have, in fact, lost our compasses.

We seem to be adrift in an endless sea of international terrorism and political correctness, more afraid of being wrong than of making the decision and more willing to point the finger of blame in another direction than to take responsibility for our own actions. It’s almost as if, when someone mentions the word “Americanism,” we feel obliged to stare at the ground. We accept the premise that our flag should be burned and we halfway think to ourselves that we were to blame for 9-11.

You know, those propositions are not entirely inaccurate. If we are no longer willing to stand up and defend our forefathers whose blood was spilled to protect our right to raise that flag, then maybe it should be burned. And, if we do not have the guts and the courage to fight terrorism in every corner of the land, then we probably did invite the tragedies of 9-11. Furthermore, if we do not have the courage to win the battle, we should not be in it.

Wars are ugly. I hate and despise war. But, I will also tell you that I have a very large pistol and I know very well how to shoot it. If you pop your head in my door in the middle of the night with the intention of doing me harm, I will point the gun to your heart and I will squeeze the trigger and I will not stop shooting until your limp body hits the floor. There will be no, “Let’s go sit in the drawing room and chat about this,” before that decision is made. There will be no intermittent calls to law enforcement to ask, “Is it okay if I pull the trigger again?” There will be no guessing over whether I should use the big gun or the little one; it’ll be the big gun. And, I don’t miss.

In that respect, and in retrospect, Goldwater was right. If we were going to mire ourselves down in Viet Nam, we needed to be ready to use every weapon available to us in order to win; otherwise, we needed to get out, right then and there. As it was, we chose neither path. Instead, we chose to stay another 15 years and we sacrificed many, many more American lives and we walked away as losers in the eyes of the world and losers in our own hearts.

That, I think, was the defining moment where we lost our way.

When it comes to Iraq, on the first go around, total and absolute victory was within our grasp. We had Hussein red-handed with weapons of mass destruction and we had him red-handed invading Kuwait. We had every right to finish off the job, to remove Hussein and to establish an American or NATO or United Nations protectorate. If we had done that, we would not be in Iraq today and I don’t think 9-11 would have happened, either.

On the second invasion, our intelligence was telling us that Hussein had replenished his stockpiles and his regime was killing off his enemies by the thousands. So, what did we do? We warned him, we warned him, we warned him…. For over a year, we warned him. Then, we invaded and there were no weapons of mass destruction. I believe that they are there, buried in the Iraqi or Syrian sands. We certainly must look like schmucks to the rest of the world. And, we are still there, sending our troops into daily battle with restrictions on how to fight while revealing ourselves as being unwilling to fight to win the war.

On that basis, I must agree that we don’t belong in Iraq.

And on that basis, I would suggest to you that we should dismantle our armed forces and rid ourselves of the horrible weapons we possess, simply because we are not willing to use them to win a war and they might fall into the wrong hands. Yes, we should lower the American flag and we should burn it. If we are not willing to kick ass in war, then we need to learn how to suck it up really well because we cannot, and never will, win.

I also think we owe the Hitler Germans a big apology, because the years have now proven that the holocaust never occurred.

So long, Memorial Day; we don’t need you around anymore. You are underfoot, in the way, and politically incorrect.

That’s MY AMERICAN OPINION, respectfully submitted.

SOVEREIGNTY vs HUMANITY: Don't Tread On Me

In my associations with Native American tribes, I've come to have a great respect for the word, "sovereignty." Native American Tribes, of course, have a unique relationship of "sovereignty" within the sovereignty of the United States of America. In essence, each tribe enjoys sovereignty in much the same way as a state does.

Nations enjoy sovereignty. No international organization exists that has any right whatsoever to interfere with the sovereignty of any nation, nor does any one nation have any right to interfere with the sovereignty of another. When that does happen, through an act of war or a violation of treaty or international law, it is clear that the nation whose rights have been abridged has some international right to retaliate.

In short, the United States has no trouble in getting its back up when another nation suggests to us how we should run our internal affairs. And, I suppose, that's justifiably so. Yet, it seems that we have no hesitation in telling another nation how to deal with IT'S internal affairs. Generally speaking, that's wrong.

In other words, I would have a tough time invading Hitler's Germany to correct the execution of Jews had Germany not violated international law and sovereignty by invading and going to war against other countries. That's where I stand on national sovereignty.

Now then, we Americans are predominantly Christians and Jews and we take seriously our obligations to our fellow humanity. That means, we will share our food when they are hungry and we will extend comfort, medical aid and other outreaches of care to those who face hunger or natural disaster.

So, now we are faced with a perplexity. There is a nation that is devastated by hunger, death, medical injuries and disease due to a cyclone. Hundreds of thousands of human beings are suffering and we have the means to provide aid; yet, their sovereign national government refuses to allow us to do so. So, the rights of sovereignty and the rights of humanity clash.

What is the answer? Do we violate their sovereignty to enforce aid? Do we recognize their sovereignty at the expense of human suffering and death? The plain simple fact is that, should we elect to do the right thing and drop food and medical supplies by air, we open the door for some other excuse in the future to interfere and abrogate the sovereign rights of another nation; that would be an offense that we Americans would not ourselves tolerate.

It is sad that the rights of a sovereign national government should trump the rights of humanity, and I for one cannot stomach the prospect. So, in my mind, we need to take proactive action to provide basic humanitarian aid... nothing more unless we get permission.

But, at the same time, I have to wonder why this country consciously allows its own citizens and its own poor to suffer every day for lack of food, medical supplies and care, lack of shelter, lack of human care; is it not hypocritical for us to demand that another sovereign nation allow us to help them take care of their humanity when we do not take care of our own?

That's MY AMERICAN OPINION, respectfully submitted.

ENERGY PRICES ARE MERELY THE SYMPTOM: What Has Congress Done For (Or To) Americans Lately?

1. Out-of-Hand Energy Prices: Oh, they are so coy, explaining away the reasons for the high energy prices as being environmentalism, rising demand, lack of refinery capacity, and too few dead dinosaurs. “But,” they glibly offer, “we can do away with the gas tax for the summer and that’ll save everyone $2.00 a tank of gas.” You know, most Americans were paying $25.00 for a tank of gas in 2006, and now they’re paying $50.00 for the same tank. What in hell is the difference between $48.00 for a tank of gas and $50.00 for a tank of gas? Did my earnings double in the same time? Why don’t you take your damned $2.00 savings for a tank of gas and stick it? Nice and tight. Just, stick it!

Get a smaller car? I’m sorry, my car is as small as I can go. I don’t know how to drive a motor scooter. Drive less? I don’t know about you, but I started driving less when the cost for a tank of gas went from $15.00 a tank to $25.00 a tank. What about the fixed income people, those on retirement and social security? What about farmers and truck drivers? What advice do you nice Congress people have for them?

Here’s a refreshing idea….. Let’s have a “windfall profits tax.” Who in the snot hell do you think pays all of the taxes in this country? That’ll just drive the price of gas higher!

This problem is not a new problem. It’s been going on seemingly forever! Just consider the billions of dollars the oil barons are making. How much money is this country spending looking for a viable, new alternative energy source to permanently replace fossil fuels? Is it even a simple one billion? So, what is Congress really doing about it? Nothing. Not a damned thing.

2. Rising Cost of Prescription Medicines: As a rule, those using the greatest amount of prescription medications to deal with chronic issues are the retired and elderly. These are the people least prepared to deal with medications that are skyrocketing in cost. The profits for drug manufacturing companies in America are also soaring. It is far less expensive for Americans to obtain their required medications in Mexico or Canada; yet, rather than dealing with the real problem, our friends in Congress have chosen to prevent us from buying our medications in Mexico or Canada. In other words, Congress is telling you and me that they don’t give a flying foo foo bird about our personal finances. They’re not doing a damned thing about it.

3. Shameful Treatment of America’s Poor: I don’t need to elaborate on this. You know fully well that Congress is not doing a damned thing about it.

4. Crime: Rape, drug use, murder… You know the list. The plain fact is that more and more crimes are being committed with the use of firearms and, of those firearms used in the commission of crimes, the vast majority are not registered and were obtained illegally. So, the proposed answer is to ban firearms in the whole country? That only means that you are disarming the honest and law abiding citizens while the crime committers will continue to use illegal firearms. Aside from that issue, the majority of America’s law enforcement departments are vastly under funded, meaning that training is often insufficient and manpower is stretched to its limits. What is Congress doing about this problem? Nothing. Not a frickin’ thing.

5. Illegal Aliens: Here is another issue that has been around for a very long time. It’s been a front-page concern for most of Bush’s administration, through a Republican dominated Congress and on into a Democrat dominated Congress. None of the issues mentioned on this page are party issues. They’re Congressional issues. And, obviously, this is another issue that Congress hasn’t really done a damned thing about, although we did allow some border patrol agents and sheriff’s deputies to go to jail for doing their jobs on the border.

6. Oink Oink: This list is endless….. The list of money that has been totally misued, abused and wasted by Congress over the years. They keep talking about it, but what have they done about it? Again, the answer is nothing. Maybe the answer to this problem is that Congressional delegates are all out of the country on taxpayer paid fact-finding junkets when the vote comes up to curtail pork.

The list of things that Congress has not addressed, or attempted to resolve, or dealt with in a steadfast and proactive manner is also endless. And, having addressed a paltry six of the issues that need to be addressed, those that are all symptoms of the problem, I think we see the common thread.

Congress isn’t doing a damned thing.

You know what we have to do about it, and so do I. November, thankfully, is just around the corner.

That’s MY AMERICAN OPINION, respectfully submitted.