Monday, June 27, 2011

Oh Say Can You See...

I went to West Point last night.

The United States Military Academy Band holds concerts there throughout the year but during the summer months, they hold them weekly on a promontory overlooking the Hudson River; truly one of the most scenic views in New York State. High, leafy, mountains border the river which some have likened to the terrain along the Rhine in Germany. The area is suitably named the Hudson Highlands. This is where Benedict Arnold betrayed his fledgling country when, while serving as commandant of West Point, he agreed to surreptitiously weaken the defenses of the fort and to lower the chain blocking the river giving the British access to the upper Hudson.

We have been attending these concerts for decades. Entering the grounds of the United States' premier military academy always evinced a rush of pride and patriotism not least because of the massive gothic structures therein and its commanding position above the river, but also because of the knowledge that this was the seat of the armed might of what is currently the mightiest nation on earth.

Pride in the fundamental decency of the founding fathers, pride in the system of meritocracy, pride in the equality of opportunity, pride in the might of our armed forces and the restraint with which they are used, pride in our innovation and technical supremacy.

But last night, among all the beauty and magical setting, despite the fairyland atmosphere of the base, I didn't feel this surge of excitement.

How can I feel proud when the president of my country is more engaged in promoting the savagery of militant islam than in alleviating the plight of homeowners about to lose their property?

How can I feel proud when the governor of my state is more engaged in promoting a depraved way of life than in creating jobs for the unemployed?

How can I feel proud when the mayor of a nearby major city puts his political capital on the line in favor of the homosexual agenda when the city's businesses are reeling from his social engineering experiments?

How can I feel proud when our local administrations use public money to fund pet projects that the voters clearly rejected while squeezing the life out of the homeowning taxpayers?

This is still the freest country on earth but our leaders are pointing us in the direction of slavery. If we do not react to the wave of publicly directed depravity, we will have become slaves to our most perverted desires and immoral behavior

2 comments:

FBB said...

Feel pride knowing that this nation is stronger and bigger than one man, any one official and ay specific period in time. The officers will change, goodness and decency will out.

Dipsy said...

i have heard it told that many great nations become more depraved and immoral as they become more prosperous. When immorality becomes a platform for living something that is honored and moved to the realm of normal than that nation can no longer be great. I am worried about our great country because we are seeing immorality being legislated! And it seems that our elected officials no longer want to listen to the will of the people and feel they were elected to make their own (bad/immoral) choices. I am hoping for some change.