This is one of those days where I feel like my two boys will never understand how much life has changed in the years since they were born. They will say, "Dad's doing drugs again! This could never have been the way things were!"
America used to be a country where dreams were made, where free speech, religion and traditions were not only accepted, but cherished.
Recently, schools, courts and our current mass media have been relentless in tearing down so many important things that someday there will be no record of them. History books will conveniently alter why this country was founded; significant people and monuments will be removed and movies will be made rewriting who the good guys were and what they believed. My children's children will grow up believing that "this is just the way things are." Ignorant to the fact that there was a time when this nation was great and people were proud to be known as Americans.
I've chronicled President Obama's attempts to slam American exceptionalism. In his mind, American exceptionalism is something that needs to be apologized for because it makes other countries feel inferior. The weaker we appear on foreign policy, human rights and economic strength, the happier he is.
Exceptionalism, as told in my household, is the foundation on which we have fought wars, for which we died and for which we are proud to display the flag. It's not about bragging about our accomplishments -- its about believing we have a God-given right to be free people. Free to do our best without the interference of government.
It's a contrast that in recent months has never been greater. It's a sign that we are living in a new America.
Take the recent decision by the Supreme Court to rewrite law and allow Obama Care subsidies to continue. Or to define marriage as something other than a union of one man and one woman. Some may say the I'm just a sore loser -- which I am (I hate to lose). But I firmly believe that activist judges are taking power away from Congress to write laws and removing state legislatures from having the authority to do what its voters want.
Its too easy for someone not happy with current affairs to challenge it in the court of law, where it is defeated then appealed again and again until it reaches the Supreme Court. Once there, nine judges -- under the influence of cultural change and political pressure -- will make a decision that 99.9% of America hasn't voted on. It's a concentration of power that our founding fathers could not have wanted.
Thank you President Obama, Harvard law professor.
Another change can be found in recent treatment of blacks and illegal immigrants. President Obama has made it clear he supports racial unrest by promoting false narratives about police brutality in St. Louis, New York City and Baltimore. Instead of exhibiting a strong leadership role as America's first black president, he consistently picks at the scab of racial inequality to further his belief that white America has an unfair advantage. WHITE PRIVILEGE! And this coming from a president who is supposed to represent all of us.
Racial issues are so out-of-control that the removal of the Confederate flag from South Carolina has morphed into something censoring old television shows and Academy award winning movies. Historic Civil War monuments are spray painted and vandalized. Public employees are removing confederate flags from cemeteries in Georgia. Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson are being removed from an awards dinner because they owned slaves.
We are truly living in a new America: When something offends someone, it's beyond being politically correct. It justifies the need for change. Activists maybe can't change history, but you can bet they don't have to honor it.
Free speech is classified as "hate" speech if it doesn't conform to the left's view of gay marriage or "black lives matter". It's gotten so bad that someone, who is offended at a flea market by the sale of Civil War memorabilia, calls the police to complain.
Thank you President Obama, community activist.
His unconstitutional executive orders to allow illegal immigrants into this country have contributed to higher crime rates and a higher risk of a terrorist attack. Rest assured when a black man (usually someone who has broken the law) is shot dead, you will be forced to watch weeks of non-stop coverage from the drive by media. But let an illegal alien kill an innocent woman? Good luck finding a story from ABC, CBS or NBC.
I read today that the Obama administration has stripped the requirement for naturalized citizens to defend this country. In the past, candidates for citizenship normally declare that they will "bear arms on behalf of the United States" and "perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States" when required by the law. Today, that requirement is no longer necessary.
Why would Obama allow this? Never before have laws been rewritten, ignored or blatantly broken without consequence or challenge. How can people ignore such a blatant abuse of power? Our freedoms are being threatened every single day and nothing is being done about it.
Another sign of the new America is how our military is under attack -- not from enemies in Iran, Afghanistan and Iraq, but from within our borders. Home-grown Muslim terrorists are killing unarmed service men and it's being called a result of work place violence or the result of unmedicated depression. Anything but the truth which involves calling terrorists radical Muslims. And for no reason -- other than legacy building -- did President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry negotiate a horrible agreement with Iran that bypasses Congressional approval and brings the world that much closer to World War III.
Thank you President Obama, negotiator-in-chief.
Our culture has become so rotten that I'm embarrassed to turn on the television. It's not because I'm easily offended or in denial of my age. I ashamed to see all of these reality shows, to hear cable news programs ripping each other, and to find ESPN advocating gay athletes and transgender Olympians for their "courage.".
The attacks on religion have been successful in removing all consequences of bad behavior. I am reminded daily that life has little value (Planned Parenthood selling fetal baby parts for money), rules are to be ignored until you get caught (have you watched people drive lately?), and language has deteriorated to the point that anything goes (if rap and popular music are any indication our youth put more value on respect than on earning it).
Our level of tolerance for people with different views has dropped to zero, as the left has chosen to prosecute anyone who disagrees with them. Instead of disagreeing and moving on, businesses are sued and people are beaten in public.
And have the people we send to Washington D.C.ever been worse? Until our elected officials listen to their constituents and are forced to take the same health benefits that are forced on us (think Obamacare) I refuse to contribute a single penny to anyone's campaign. Sex scandals, money deals and political maneuvering that horrify us while watching "House of Cards" are simply telling the truth that none of us want to believe.
Yeah, the new America sucks.
I admit, the older I get the harder it is to change. But why does change have to be bad? Must I forsake so many of the things that I like? For the most part, new technology makes my life better, but how does removal of the Ten Commandments or acceptance of a perverse lifestyle make my life better?
And how does spending more money -- no! wasting more money -- than what we have make my future better? Someone said something so true about government spending that I wish I could find the quote and repeat it here. It goes something like this -- "If you spend your money on yourself, you are very careful what you buy and how much it costs. But, if you spend someone else's money on someone else, you don't care what you buy and you don't care how much it costs." The last part explains why our country is $18 trillion in debt.
So, while standing here -- ankle deep in the sewage of failed government ideas and a politically correct culture -- I propose the following attitudinal change. I know it won't make you feel better, but it allows us to go down fighting, and in my book that's much better than just taking it in the chops.
Let's get this election right. We need a conservative candidate, not someone from the establishment right or left. I know there are currently 16 GOP candidates wanting to be president, but if we want to take this country back, we need to look no further than Carly Fiorino, Scott Walker or Ted Cruz. And while we are at it, let's show the RINO contingency out the door. I am tired of faux legislation that allows Republicans to say "we tried, but couldn't get the votes." Their election promises to stop Obama were good enough to help them to a landslide last November, but the proof is in the pudding: taking no action on Obama Care, accepting his DOJ nominee and getting out of the way of the recent Iran deal aren't fooling anyone anymore.
Stop being afraid of saying what you think. I'm not suggesting that you lie or slander those you dislike. But it's long past the time for people to stand up to the politically correct crowd and stand for something. The next time some Democrat shouts "Black Lives Matter!" ask them why they support Planned Parenthood where 90,000 black babies are aborted every year. The next time you hear someone claim Conservatives don't care about the poor, ask them why -- after eight years of Obama -- minorities and the poor have never been in worse shape. And why the middle class is shrinking. The silent majority must find their voice.
Let the radical left eat itself into submission. I know not everything will be as obvious as Hillary's destruction of her email account, but sooner or later, people are going to realize that the left is only interested in controlling our behavior and taking our money. Let everyone know -- left right, black, white, female and male. We're all in the same sinking boat, so it's time to bail out the water or sink -- and I'm not ready to sink.
There are signs that things could change in the near future. Fox News has wrestled the stranglehold that the liberals in the media had for so long. Today, all of the great liberal forums -- newspapers, television stations and news magazines -- have been slowing fading away. Their days of incredible influence are past and in some cases they are struggling to survive.
That leaves it up to us to tell our children that life is more than going to college and organizing gay pride parades. Today's reality -- a welfare state on the rise, the threat of ISIS, and the uncontrolled illegal immigration -- will force our children to deal with this new America sooner or later. It is our final responsibility as parents to prepare them for it.
Because America will never be the great country it once was.
Let's not be the last one's to know it.
