As a young boy I was infused with a love of country by my parents and older brothers, all of whom had at one point or another served this nation in the military, as I eventually did myself. I was taught that the United States offered the best hope for the world, that the struggle would be hard, but our enemies would all eventually be vanquished because the United States stood for something good.
As the years have passed my love of country never faded, but my trust in our government and elected officials has indeed dimmed.
Witnessing what has been taking place over the last fifty years, but in particular the past almost ten years, has convinced me that our once great country stands on the precipice, either stepping forward and off the edge into oblivion, or taking a step back to a safer and a more sensible time.
There are those who will argue that going backwards is the wrong thing to do. I would argue otherwise. Were things so bad in America in the ‘50s and’60s? Certainly opportunities have opened up for women to pursue any career where once most were relegated to running the household.A noble endeavor by the way, and nothing for a woman to be ashamed of if that’s her choice to do.
And for minorities in America, the struggles of the past are still fresh in their collective memories, but the racism of the past has indeed been in the past for some time now. Contrary to what the self-serving politicians will tell you, the vast majority of Americans long ago discarded any racial prejudices and bigotry. People nowadays judge someone based on their behavior and character, not the color of their skin or ethnicity.
For the last fifty or sixty years now our youth have been under an intense indoctrination program in our public schools and universities. American history is no longer taught, but instead a revisionist history of this country is force fed down our children’s throats by “educators” whose own anti-American biases are obvious to any person educated in an American school before schools became nothing more than ‘leftist indoctrination centers’.
Teachers and school administrators now focus on the mistakes America has made throughout our nation’s history – and there have certainly been many – and little mention is made anymore of the great achievements made by Americans of historical note. In fact, individual achievements are ignored and any faults one might have had become the point of any lesson.
I once wrote a column where I lamented the fact that “boys don’t play soldier anymore,” how America’s military heroes were no longer recognized. Appreciation for their courage and bravery on the field of battle in defense of America has been replaced with lessons about the struggles of transgender individuals. Nowadays standing up and demanding the right to use whatever bathroom one wants has become ‘heroic’ and the new battle cry for the social engineers.
I remember a time when if you looked out on any high school parking lot you saw pick-up trucks with a rifle rack hanging in the back window, and a shotgun or .22 rifle clearly visible. After all, ‘Firearms Safety and Marksmanship’ were actually subjects taught in school!No one feared that a student was going to go out to their truck and bring their rifle in and start killing their classmates.
And why is that? One answer is that schools maintained discipline.There were no “Student Courts” where those being educated became the sole arbiter in disciplinary matters involving other students. The inmates didn’t begin to start running the asylum until school administrators abdicated control of schools to the mobs.
Police officers once were another noble profession who were respected members of the community. As in all professions certainly there have been and will be bad ones. But most do a thankless job under difficult circumstances. Nowadays one sees police officers being attacked and killed with regularity, instead of respected and looked up to.
There was a great upheaval taking place when I was in high school. The Vietnam War played heavily on the minds of those of us who were nearing draft age. But the thought of running off to Canada to avoid the draft – as some did - never crossed my mind. It was still a time of patriotism and serving one’s country in a time of need. Many of us still believed in the words of President John F. Kennedy when he challenged us to “ask not what your country can do for you, but rather what you can do for your country.”
My how times have changed.Today the challenge seems to be “how much can I get for free from the government?”; “Can I be bought with an ‘ObamaPhone’?”; “What government entitlements will they hand out to me next?”
Indeed, as a nation we have been led down the primrose path by politicians who will offer us anything that they think will buy our vote. Whether it’s really good for us or in the interests of our country, or not.And why do they offer us these little ‘trinkets’? For only one reason, to preserve their place in political office.
Some of the loudest politicians screaming for President Trump’s impeachment are those who had nothing when they came into office, but after twenty or so years on a congressional salary they now live in multi-million dollar mansions.
Are they screaming so loudly because they feel threatened by what a potential ‘housecleaning’ of our government might reveal? If I were a betting man that’s where I’d be putting my money. I think the time is long past for this country to institute term limits and return our government to the hands of the people. A true ‘citizen legislature,’ not a career for the corrupt.
Considering what appears to be a government that is awash in corruption, the America that I love and grew up in no longer exists. Unless we do something about it America will only be found in the documents our founders created that rest inside climate-controlled mounts within the National Archives.