PART TWO OF A SERIES: WHERE DO WE START?
Those of us who grew up going to the cemeteries on Memorial Day with flowers to honor those who gave their lives for our country, know in our hearts the burdens of the past and the challenges of the future that we must meet, for our forefathers' sake, for our sake, and for the sake of generations of Americans, (hopefully), to come. The audacious behaviors of our nation's leaders over the past generation have, in a mere fraction of the history of this country, turned our nation down a new path that can only lead to the destruction of all of the fundamental values upon which this great country were founded, and ultimately could cause the fall of America as a nation.
That's a fact. You know it, and I know it. The demanding tasks before us often seem formidable, if not impossible, to overcome. Nevertheless, as Americans we can, and must, rise to the occasion.
To our benefit, the seeds of discontent have already been planted and they are taking root. The millions of citizens who protested in the American Tea Party rallies planted the seeds. The almost 4 million people who turned out in California in an off-year, off-month election to turn down five tax proposals by 65% certainly added the fertilizer. And, a whole lot of good water was added to the mix when 74% of those voters said, "No raises for elected officials in any year when we have a state budget deficit."
What we need to do now is to take the time to educate Americans as to how things really were in the late 40's, 50's and most of the 60's. We need, most of all, to talk American values, morals and ethics founded on religious beliefs that were directly responsible for propelling this nation into the position of being the leader of freedom and justice throughout the world. Those were the days when we could park our cars in the driveway at night without wondering whether or not they would be there in the morning. Those were the days when seven cops could keep peace in a city of 7,000. Those were the days when mom did bake apple pie from scratch and the only foreign cars in the country were Rolls Royces, Jaguars or MGBs, and there were damned few of them.
Those were the days when the only thing you knew about illegal drugs was what your teacher or parents taught you. Those were the days when you ran for elected office because you believed in the country and you wanted to represent your views and the views of your neighbors in government. Those were the days when Adam Clayton Powell Jr. got yelled off the continent and run out of Congress because of his corruption, and that was done without any equivocation or hesitation because Americans knew he had to go.
Those were the days when you didn't spend more than you had. Those were the days when there was honest dialogue before a bill was passed in the Legislature or the Congress. Those were the days when you could speak a whole paragraph without using the "f" word.
Most important... Those were the days when every American, black, white, Indian... yes, we had our differences and some of them were really big differences... were all proud to be Americans and we didn't apologize to any one because of it.
We made our own steel, milled our own lumber, wove our own fabrics, made our own clothes, and manufactured our own cars right here in America. Not a soul would even consider shipping his customer service department to another country to save on payroll because that was un-American. Yes, patriotism ruled the day.
We need to have a sit-down, eyeball-to-eyeball discussion with our kids and grand-kids and point out the way things were, and the way things are, because they need to have a good understanding of the foundation and the fabric that made America great in the past, before we can even begin to talk about what needs to be done to salvage our future.
That's MY AMERICAN OPINION, respectfully submitted.
Next week: WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE NOW TO SALVAGE OUR FUTURE
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