OH, HOW I LONG FOR THE OLD DAYS...

I've been thinking lately, when was it exactly that so many in this country seemed to lose their sense of pride in being called an "American." Now, don’t get me wrong there are still a great many people in this country who are, and will always be, proud Americans. Witness the Tea Party folks. But what is it about those who do not, exactly, that has caused, and continues to cause, them to alter their thinking away from the idea that to be called "American" is the highest form of flattery that one could be given? When did it become, for so many, to be less of a term of flattery and become instead something that more closely resembles an insult, slur, epithet or something used as a way of slandering someone personally? And how did this shift come about in the first place? Was there some seminal event that began the whole process rolling, or was it something more spontaneous that we began of our own volition and that has continued to grow, spreading like some malignant cancer. So many that I see, practically everyday, simply to have no sense whatsoever of patriotism or love of their country, none, with so many only having the very harshest of things to say about their own it. Why is that? And speaking of those Tea Party folks, there is now a move afoot to attempt to discredit those who participate. There has even been website set up, http://crashtheteaparty.org. Obviously set up by individuals who hate their country as well the people who don’t. Why? Personally, I am extremely proud of my country, and proud of having spent 24 years of my life in the service of its military. And I am very proud to call myself an American and consider myself fortunate to be in the position to do. I am also proud of the fact that I know that were it not for my country, or worse, had there never been an America in the first place, the World would be much worse off than how we find it today. But somehow, because of example set by the people presently in charge, as well as their predecessors, be they Liberals, Progressives, Socialists, State-ists or whatever they choose to be called or we choose to call them, we have, it would seem, as a country lost our way. Far too many of our citizens have allowed themselves to be convinced that the whole idea of America being a great and wondrous and giving nation, and the notion of American exceptionalism, is all just a fantasy on the part of those of us who see it that way. They simply cannot fathom the whole concept because it makes no sense to them. But when did it all start to fall apart for them? Is it the fact that starting on day one in our government schools, "teachers", who have now morphed into what are essentially nothing more than indoctrinators, drum into the very malleable brains of our youth, that government is now to be considered as being the end all and be all. And that in order to live any kind of a "productive" or "acceptable" life that we should all now strive to be part of the “American” collective, possessing a screwy "it takes a village" mentality.
Being called “American” used to be short for saying someone possessed an uncommon amount of ingenuity, creativity, bravery, patriotism and so many more positive character traits. However, according to Barry and his corrupt band of “Progressive” Democrats, to be American today essentially means nothing if not the complete opposite of those very positive virtues. Instead of being a positive, according to Barry, being an American today is very much of a negative, with it now becoming synonymous with being greedy, selfish, imperialist, being a bully, arrogant or even, as Democrats have called our troops, murderers. Now if it were just him and his corrupt political party that felt this way, I'd just chalk it all up to the simple reason that these people are nothing more than very devout practitioners of a rather sick and twisted political philosophy. A philosophy and a mentality based on nothing more than a very deep-seated hatred of America. Unfortunately, the political hacks of today that feel this way are only the most recent example of Democrat hatred of America. Because over time this political party has managed to convince quite a few Americans to come along with them. Now, do those who decide to do so, do so because they actually are in agreement with this sentiment or, are they the product of the rather questionable priorities they are exposed to while attending our educational system. Is it just a natural occurring event, or a direct result from being brainwashed by the those in charge of our government owned and operated public school system? The government has identified the primary objective of the public school system as being to convert those who are mandated to attend, to the “progressive” way of thinking by hook or by crook. Students make up a captive audience because of mandatory attendance, with the goals being to create a state of mind that allows the increasing of the ease with which they can succeed in leading future American adults astray. Because the reprogramming that is begun in our Public Schools is then taken a higher level upon entering any of out institution of “higher” learning. As well, a substantial amount of those who follow the example of our leaders in the tearing down of America, come from minority groups. These people are easy targets because the vast majority of them possess absolutely no sense of patriotism whatsoever. They only seem to posses a sense of what they can get for the least amount of energy being expended. These people have no core principles and no sense of pride in being American, hence they consider themselves as being hyphenated Americans and insist upon being identified as such. When it comes to the majority of all other Americans, however, I think there remains, although in some cases it may not always be terribly deep, a sense of pride in being American. Hence, I bring up the Tea Party again. Whenever you see images of Tea Party gatherings it is more often that not a sea of white faces. Where are the minorities? You can’t tell that they are not welcome. So the only other explanation possible is that they are not interested in returning America to the people or even in attempting to at least down our slide to the left because it is the direction in which they wish to go. I would prefer to think that were it not for the exposure to the influences coming at people from those who seen as authoritative figures both in the classroom and out, and if left to the own devices, there would remain an overwhelming amount of giddiness regarding all things American. I remember as a youth starting out each day in school very proudly completing the morning ritual of saying the Pledge of Allegiance, and in the really early days of even reciting the Lord's Prayer which later become the "moment of silence." How things have changed, and not nearly for the better. Sadly, for the most part, we've come way too far to ever get back to those days. With the aid of men like our current president, our government has become something that more closely resembles one that you might experience in your everyday, run of the mill, banana republic.
These days I find myself praying nearly everyday for the survival of my country. I pray that we can turn back at least some of these borderline criminal successes advancing Barry’s "Hope and Change" which are specifically intended to do nothing but destroy America. Actions that are taken and positions are held for no other reason than for the self-aggrandizement of the perpetrators intent on our country's destruction. These self-serving hypocrites care so little about the country and so much more about their overinflated sense of importance. They are driven by their egos and nothing more. They are corrupt to their very core and possess no redeeming qualities whatsoever. They are severely flawed individuals in every sense of the word, and yet are able to find their way into positions of power through the utilizing of their typical tactics of deception, deviousness, divisiveness and dishonesty. They are guilty of using rather questionable methods, which allow them to worm into positions where they can then work to affect the outcome in such a way as to be beneficial only to them and not the country as a whole. They seek out methods that can be used to impact, to the greatest extent possible, or to take full control of, opportunities that will allow them to manipulate scenarios that are seen as being useful in advancing their agenda. All methods of political chicanery are to be used as necessary so that specific outcomes are attained. They are ethically and morally challenged individuals who possess none of the qualities one normally thinks of when describing a man, or woman, of character. Character today means nothing to these people, it's a relic of the past, it's something to be shunned like the plague for more important things such as the accomplishing of ones goals by whatever means are necessary. The lack of trust and civility in America today is something that can be traced directly back to those who we are supposed to be able to trust. Our leaders are the ones who are supposed to have our backs, but instead what we are experiencing today is nothing more than the natural by product of where it is that men like our president have now brought us. No other outcome could have been possible, nor I might add, should have been expected. More often than not those who we count on to watch our backs only end up putting a rather long and very sharp knife into it. I feel very sad for the children of today, because they will never know the America of my youth. Or, maybe I'm just remembering things as they only appeared to be, but it does seem that things were so very different then. Maybe I was simply a victim of the blissful ignorance of youth, but it did seem much better then.