Posted by
Cuda on Saturday, June 06, 2009 1:16:49 AM
This evening, I spent over three hours watching the spectacular film Saving Private Ryan. It's a bit of a tradition for me to watch it near the anniversary of D-Day. Tomorrow marks the 65th anniversary of when British, Canadian and American forces stormed the beaches of Sword, Juno, Gold, Omaha and Utah beaches. I still am in awe of all the soldiers who have ever taken the courageous step of putting on the uniform. Whether that serviceman or woman shed blood for their country on the sands of Normandy, or on the streets of Arkansas, recruiting for the Army, whether that person served on a destroyer or in the supply rooms, whether that person held a rifle or just pushed a pencil, I still hold an admiration and respect far beyond the words I can muster on this screen.
My eyes welled with tears at the end of the film when all the rows of Crosses and Star of David markers lined the hallowed grounds of western France. My eyes well with even more tears when I realize the America these men and women fought for, still fight for, is losing a grip on its own purpose. We have become what we so despised. Have we forsaken freedom for the fast paced conveniences of government on demand? Have we traded the scared papers of the Constitution or Declaration of Independence for a simple food stamp? Have we given blind trust to those who would lead us to whichever fate they choose with no question or qualm? Since the very first musket ball rolled out of the barrel in 1775 to the latest round spinning out of an M-4 carbine in Afghanistan or Iraq, we have stood up against tyranny to defend our sovereignty. Has it all been for naught? My mind can barely grasp how we have, through trial and tribulation built this country from nothing in almost 233 years, yet we are managing to dismantle all we hold sacred in a matter of months.
We bow to our foreign enemies while demonizing those great men who have created thousands of jobs in our country. They seek to ban firearms, shredding the Second Amendment while laughing heartily at the First. They seek to silence those in opposition as so often the corrupt do. They hold our hands as if we are invalids, explaining that if we trust in the almighty government, we shall fear no evil.
There is an old saying "one can spend a lifetime building a reputation, and all it takes is a moment to destroy it." As we implode with frightening speed, we must ask ourselves, "what have we done?" If we don't owe ourselves the question, we certainly owe it to those who have shed blood for us.