192 – “Sharing”

IN DEFENSE OF COMMON SENSE
By Hetty Gray

#192

July 26, 2014

“Sharing”

Given the events over the past two weeks, I am not surprised that a column has not come forward forthwith. Every once in a while, current events — both national and international — come down with a thump to the point that words can fail a columnist. And so it has been with me….

Some human conditions are truly horrible, and most — sadly — are of other humans’ making. The only concept surviving this maelstrom is sharing armaments with neighboring countries.

For more than two hundred years, Americans have shared the message that freedom and unleashing men and women to launch their ideas into products and services are the highest and most valuable of all examples to put forth for all peoples.

Lest we forget, the taking of Crimea is the first instance since World War II that one European country has forcibly taken a portion of another. And what do we do? Nothing. Do we answer the pleas of the Ukrainian government for small arms to use against the Russian-supported rebels? No. Do we take a public position and institute further sanctions against Russia for this macabre sponsorship? No.

It is the same scenario seen in 2009 when young Syrians begged for the US to help them. We stood by and did nothing. Never in our history have we taken such a passive stance. And why?

Perhaps it is because those within the highest levels of government are deluded by the rancorous socialist (yes socialist!) ideal that violence never accomplishes anything. Well, if that were true, then we would all be speaking German and no Jew would be breathing in either Europe or America. Yes, folks, Hitler would have single-handedly taken Europe, and likely, America. Those V-2 rockets and similar weapons were meant for us. Thankfully, Adolf did not get that far.

Why? The European nations, with America’s help, defeated him and his precious Third Reich.

And so we come to today. Christianity preceded Islam in Iraq. Yet we see the Muslims threatening the few remaining Christians. Convert, flee or die. My, isn’t that a nice tenet for a “religion?”

And where is our government on this? AWOL: “Absent With Out Love.” This nation was based on the strong belief in God and the freedom to worship. Yet we see God routinely banished from the public schools and the public squares. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to read the Old Testament and see what happened to a nation that turned its back on God. As I remember, those nations ceased to exist.

I fear that the United States is on a similar path. Have we sunk so far that we heed the voices of an infinitesimal number of atheists? It’s may be more than the tail wagging the dog. I may well be the death knell for a civilization.

We have shared the message of peace and freedom, but it has been a hard won message. Phrases like “walk softly but carry a big stick” and “peace through strength” come to mind.

If we are anything these days, it’s not strong. We show no strength in the face of real crises. We proclaim no strong message to the Palestinians who lob rockets into cities across Israel. We send them billions — yes billions with a capital “b” — of dollars every year. Oh, joy! We fund the people who bomb Israel at every available opportunity.

Thanks to Joan Rivers, a proud American who has been to Israel. She stood up to a reporter at an airport the other day and told it like it is. Before she finally gathered up her bags and went into the terminal, she made some cogent, informed comments, uncommon these days, especially from people in the entertainment arena.

Joan Rivers, clearly irritated by press coverage of the Hamas-Israeli situation, said the major networks should be ashamed of themselves for not telling the American people the truth. Clearly, her following comments merit repetition.
When first approached to comment, (paraphrased) she said, “If New Jersey fired rockets into New York City and tunneled underground to get into the city, we would flatten it.”

Replying to a question about collateral damage and innocent people dying, Ms. Rivers said, “Then tell them (The Hamas Palestinians) not to put their ***-dammed missiles and rockets in schools and private homes!”

Clearly hoping for a liberal answer, the reporter kept up questions. In response, Ms. Rivers recoiled at the press and shouted, “What’s the matter with you people (the press)? They (Palestinians) started it! THEY started it! I’ve been there (Israel). I know.”

Disgusted, she turned and walked away. Kudos to you, Joan Rivers. You see what is happening and you are not afraid to “tell it like it is!”

So, is this what America has become? A by-stander to unspeakable carnage on an international scale? Pulling US Embassy personnel from Libya? At least somebody is getting our people out this time. Explain that to the families of Ambassador Chris Stevens and his comrades killed at Benghazi.

Slowly but surely, we are becoming an international joke. Donald Rumsfeld said it best, “Weakness is provocative.” What’s next? I would not hazard a guess. Perhaps hazard is a word that best describes what awaits us.

We have tens of thousands of Central American women and children pouring over our borders. We are no longer a nation, because the definition of a nation is land defined by a border. Our borders are not only ill defined, they are also invisible.

Remember that “line in the sand” about Syria and chemical weapons? I imagine that the Syrian people do. They could not count on us then, and the Palestinians think that the Israeli people cannot count on us now.

America’s love of freedom spread to peoples far and wide over centuries now fades for her own people here at home. Our freedom teeters with government intrusion into the most basic portions of our daily lives. Our freedom teeters when bureaucrats hold sway over what health care we receive and rend the relationship between doctor and patient. Our freedom teeters when the executive arbitrarily changes a written law and chooses to only enforce other laws of which it approves. Federal law rules at the border, yet this administration brings suit against states that try to enforce immigration law and stations personnel 40-50 miles inside the border. And when did you hear that Mexican troops recently fired on US Border agents?

If, as I believe, masses of Americans see what is happening today, how can they remain silent? I hope and, yes, pray they do not. Do your part and email and call anyone and everyone you can. They are your representatives. Do they represent you and your views? Ask yourself that and then look at the children around you every day. It is their future — that is, if we GIVE them a future.

My grandparents often made a statement that describes today’s events. “The world is going to hell in a hand basket.” It is, isn’t it? There is only one resource left to us, and it is not man, but our Creator.

It’s high time that we shared something else. It’s time we shared the love for America that has fueled her progress from her founding. America is a nation of which to be proud, not a nation for which to apologize.

Its time we shared the firm effort to demand and exact change at the highest levels of our government. It’s time we changed BACK to the America we knew before it was “fundamentally changed.” Fundamentally, America was strong, firm, and a world power. This “changed” America is anything but….

“God help us.” Nobody else seems to care.

Think about it.

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