It's been two years since my last post on this blog. Why? Every day something happens or I hear some bit of news that makes me think, "Well, I'll write something tomorrow. Surely this can't get any crazier." Then, next day, sure enough, it does. So, I, like I'm sure a lot of people, just sit in dumbfounded silence, and watch as this precious country goes from bad to worse to even worse. I am sad to report that I've gotten caught up in the awful things that have been happening, all over the globe, and I have run the gamut of emotions from disbelief to anger to attempted calm to being completely fed up. I have been so tempted to jump in with both feet and join the chorus of anger and resentment that is growing louder by the day, compassion be damned, but something in me just won't let me take that final step into rage. Maybe I should. Maybe it would be better if I joined in with the increasing number of Americans who are beating those plows into swords. Yes, it is becoming more apparent by the day that we are on the brink of both a world war and a civil war, and I would be foolish not to prepare for that. Suffice it to say that I am not foolish, and we'll leave it at that.
After the preparation, though, comes the watching and waiting and wondering what I can do in the meantime. I remembered this blog, and began thinking about topics and what I wanted to say. Did I want to report on current events from my perspective, as if anyone would actually care about that? Did I want to give an account of information I've found and try to put pieces of the puzzle together in a way that makes sense to me and maybe help someone else see it? Again, as if I have any right or unique insight that anyone would care to read. No. I'm not quite that far gone - yet. Yes, I share too much on Facebook and by email, but lately, I've even begun to reconsider my participation there. As I was attempting to get to sleep last night, once again this little conversation started up in my head, and I found my answer.
There is a small group of folks I am honored to be currently working with who are putting together an American pep rally. It started out as a simple, locally oriented tea party of sorts, and has since mushroomed into a huge event complete with well-known speakers and opportunities for attendees to donate to support conservative candidates. We're calling it a Pro America Rally with the theme: "This is MY country. I built it." Ted Cruz, candidate for U.S. Senate, Peggy Venable, Texas Director of Americans for Prosperity, Tim Macy, Vice Chairman of Gun Owners of America, and David Webb, Sirius XM talk show host from New York, are all joining us to make this a huge, flag-waving, America-cheering event. We started out looking for a park or some other small outdoor venue, and have now booked the Commemorative Air Force main hanger for Saturday, September 29, from 11-1:00. It's huge! And really exciting. I think the reason it has grown into such an Event is because people need it now. We need to be reminded exactly what America is, what it stands for, and how passionately we love our country. Then, I saw this, and something shifted inside of me, and my focus sharpened: http://www.billcook.net/puttin-up-the-flag.html
So, that's the theme of this blog. America - This is MY country and I love it.
Today is Constitution Day. She is 225 years old on this day, and a few people across the country are remembering, re-reading and sharing their thoughts on the vitality of the Constitution and what it means to all Americans. I wonder if President Obama has any feeling for it. I honestly wouldn't think so given his history.
I feel sorry for people who are displaced, people who are living in a place for which they have no sense of home. President Obama is one such person. This is not a criticism; just a fact. He grew up in Indonesia, learned their customs and their culture, which is vastly different from our's. Then, he lived in Hawaii, and while it is a vibrant part of America, it is probably one of the more foreign in its history and culture from the rest of the country. It is almost like a tiny country unto itself; again not a criticism, just fact. President Obama has no sense of picnics on the 4th of July, no connection to the national anthem and waving the American flag. In the terrific movie, "It's a Wonderful Life," there's a line that says: "We prayed and wept on D-Day, and on VJ Day, we prayed and wept again." It's that sense of community, of commonality in unity, that President Obama missed while growing up in Indonesia. So, he can't be faulted for not expressing a depth of grief over memorial tributes or beam with pride on national celebration days. He doesn't feel them because they are as foreign to him as an Iowa county fair is to this Texas girl. I have no sense of home there. I may travel there, enjoy the culture, but it's not home.
My thoughts today are about my home, this wonderful country where neighbor can disagree with neighbor without fear of the military hauling us off in the middle of the night. Where neighbor can help neighbor simply because it feels good to do so and it's the right thing to do. Where we have a right, a privilege, to vote and select the people we feel best represents our ideals and beliefs, and then to make sure they do what we want them to do. For too long now, the American people seem to have forgotten this last part, but we're remembering it now, and that's what's important. The past is gone. All we can do now is do our research, share our hopes and dreams for our country, and vote our conscience, and that's when our vigilance must come into play and if our politicians don't do what we want, we must replace them with someone who will.
I wonder sometimes what the Founding Fathers would think of what we've done with their vision. You know they'd be very impressed with our technological advances, the sheer size of the country would amaze them, and the speed with which we can travel from one seaside to the opposite seaside would no doubt astonish them. They would be proud of our proliferation of local governments and our participation in it, although I'm not sure they'd like the idea of lobbyists and votes for sale. Still, on the whole, I think they'd be very impressed with us and what we've made of their grand idea.
They would also be appalled at the corruption and dishonesty in government. The men and women who first built this great nation were, from all reports, honorable people of integrity, at least for the most part and where the formation of our government was concerned. What would they say to Congress if they could stand before it and speak? What would they say to our allies, our enemies? What would they say to our president and vice president? Personally, I know what I'd like for them to say, but I'm not sure our ideas would match.
I'd like them to tell members of Congress to stop voting for their individual desires and greed, and start voting for the good of their constituents, as they are supposed to do. I'd like them to tell the men and women in Congress that their positions were never meant to be a career, but a temporary honor during which they could further the American dream both here and abroad. I'd like them to remind Congress that the military is our greatest asset and it must be kept strong and well supported at all times to keep our enemies firmly outside the gate. I'd like them to tell Congress to stop meddling in issues that properly should be handled on a state and local level, and to stop trying to legislate every single aspect of our daily lives from freedom of speech to healthcare to school lunches to displays of religious significance. I'd like the Founding Fathers to remind Congress of our right to bear arms and our right to express ourselves freely if it harms no one else. In other words, I'd like them to tell the members of Congress to back off and chill, and get their greedy mitts out of our private lives.
I'd like for the Founding Fathers to tell our allies that we are still with them, supporting them and encouraging them, and to tell our enemies to go to hell without our aid or our military support.
I'd like them to tell our president and vice president that they are serving the people of this great country, to pay attention to the affairs of state and not the state of their personal affairs, and to recognize the privilege and honor they have had bestowed upon them by those who elected them through a democratic system of this great republic. I'd like to have them say to the president and vice president that this is not their career anymore than it should be the career for those in Congress, and they should thank God everyday for this supreme compliment given them by the American people. It is a compliment, too, because it told these two people that the majority of the American people trusted them to protect the country and serve the people without regard to their own agenda or selfish desires. There hasn't been anyone in office for a very long time who truly understood this, and I would like it if the Founding Fathers would have an opportunity to tell them so.
So, on this Constitution Day, I am reflective and almost hopeful that the country still has a chance to live up to the incredibly high standards placed on us by the Founding Fathers, those visionaries who signed that document on this date. We have a chance to vote in a few weeks and we must not grow complacent about this great freedom. We must not think that someone else will vote so we don't need to bother. Be bothered. Vote. If you don't, you have no right to complain if things don't go as you'd like. Vote, even if you know you will cancel out the vote of someone close to you. Vote knowing it's the American thing to do. Vote - like the guy in the video putting up the flag, because you can.
This is an amazing country filled with amazing people. Maybe it's time we all realized that, stop this stupid, destructive infighting and work to make the Founding Fathers proud.
Come to the Pro America Rally because this is YOUR country, too, and we ALL built it together.
