IN DEFENSE OF COMMON SENSE
By Hetty Gray
# 259
“A New Year, Hopefully a New Theme”
January 1, 2019
Every year many people around the world look to that hallmark day when one single day heralds in a new year. Here we are again. My wish is that a new theme takes hold in our nation — a theme that carries forward across city boundaries, county lines, state lines and thrusts itself into Washington, D.C.
It’s a theme seldom seen unless a threat is so apparent that nobody can ignore it. Well, there has been just such a threat for nearly two years. If I can see it, I am not alone.
I remember Inauguration Day of 2008. I sat in a rocking chair, holding a baby belonging to friends who had come north to snowmobile here in Michigan’s UP. I prayed that the person taking the oath, though I had not voted for him, would bring with him ideas and programs that would usher in a better life for Americans as a whole. Well, that didn’t work out too well. That administration initiated government-sponsored health care. Anytime you want a business to run well, keep the government out of it.
Let’s just take the Postal Service as a prime example. When I grew up (yes, that was a few decades ago), mail was postmarked in the post office and sent out for delivery. Well, those days are gone. Mail from our small town in Indiana is bagged up and sent to Indianapolis for sorting. Then local mail comes back and is sorted and either placed in a box or given to the carrier. Just how much fuel and labor is involved to do this is anyone’s guess; but the practice is not specific to our small town. It is everywhere.
Efficiency is not the byword of government. Instead, layer upon layer of bureaucracy slows and even stalls what could be a speedy job. Private businesses constantly seek ways to save money. Can we say that about the government? Hardly.
It’s a shame, really. Our Founding Fathers envisioned a government of people who would leave their jobs to serve and then return to them leaving things in better shape than they found them.
Do you see much of that today? Yeah, right…. A sticking point with me is the total lack of cooperation with our president. The people elected Donald J. Trump for a reason — they wanted someone out of the Washington circles who could see the forest for the trees… someone who could read a balance sheet… someone who could see a bad contract and say, “No.” Well, the people got their man, but he was hampered from the “get go.”
Not only did he face a hostile opposition who has tried from day one to get rid of him, but he also found himself with Republicans who failed to have his back. Ego is one thing — stupidity is another.
With the Congress entirely in their hands, they let more than one golden opportunity to slip through their fingers. There is no defensible excuse to oppose the leader of your party when important decisions are in your grasp. To that end, we as Americans lost the Border Wall and who knows what else.
Occasionally, someone stood up to defend the president and agree with him; but, to a large extent, they were absent when needed.
Then you combine a “D” for Democrat and the word anger and you get DANGER. I have taught history and government. With that background, I recognize what most of us know as back and forth between the two major political parties; but the situation we see now is far more critical.
It is as if these people are living in a nether world where the focus is solely on opposition and not finding common ground. I fear that common ground, like common sense, is no longer common. It is rare and endangered.
If you have ever sat down and written a letter to your Congressman or Senator, now is the time. I’ve seen better behavior among disagreeable high school students. Not only is the behavior of the Democratic leadership aggravating, but it’s also juvenile. How sad when adults entrusted by constituents with leadership morph into what we witness today.
Sadly, there is no cure for the stupidity that currently runs rampant among elected officials. You recognize them. As if it’s normal to do so, they spew hatred in every breath. Yet they incessantly accuse the president of precisely what they do. It is more than sad; it is perilous.
Today is the first day of what could be a banner year for America. If the men and women in Washington, D. C. put their country ahead of reelection bids, ahead of party identification, ahead of ego, we may have a chance.
Short of that, we are in for a rough ride. To quote an old movie, “You better fasten your seat belts.”
There is no national security without border security. You can bet that every person who opposes the wall sleeps behind locked doors, may have personal security (likely armed), and counts on the police and fire department for protection. This goes double for those in the mainstream media who never give this president a fair shake. They have bodyguards, too.
As hard as I try to stay positive, it is becoming harder with each passing day. I’d like to feel safe, too. I’m sure that goes for most of you.
So, where is the protection for the American people? Without a wall, it does not exist. The wall is one symptom of the awful hatred aimed at our president. Hatred is a monster that eats away at good people. It beckons others to join in on mischief. Elected officials must condemn and abandon it.
And the theme I cited when I began this column? I cannot take credit for the wording. You’ve heard it at rallies nationwide.
America first. Not personal gain, not misplaced loyalty, not party ID, not venomous opposition. America first.
Pray for your beloved country. Pray for America. She needs it.