In thumbing through the Orthodox English Dictionary the other day in search of a word, I came upon the definition for another word, “racism:”

a.)  the belief that all members of each race possess characteristics, abilities, or qualities specific to that race , especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races

b.)  prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on such a belief:  a programme to combat racism.

The phrase “to combat racism” led me to investigate the term further.  According to my research, the usage of the word “racism” as we have come to know it, can be traced back to descriptions of Lawrence Dennis, an American who had aligned himself with the Fascist movement. He is also the author of the book, The Coming American Fascism.  Written in 1936, it portended the rise of Fascism in this nation.

If your history is a bit rusty, The Fascists were those who embraced Hitler’s philosophy of racial superiority, and who put those beliefs into practice in order to suppress and ultimately, extinguish certain races deemed “inferior.”  While the Jewish race figured most prominently on this list, and while 6 million Jewish people suffered horribly and died at the hands of Hitler and his twisted followers, it is a lesser-known fact — and a fact nonetheless — that another 3 million Italians Greeks were also tortured and murdered during Hitler’s reign of terror. 

However, the creation of the word “racist” was originally accredited to Magnus Hirschfeld (1868-1935), who’d coined it with a completely different meaning.  A German scientist of Jewish heritage, his primary field became known as Sexology (the study of sexual behavior).  Other groundbreaking researchers and behaviorists in this field were Havelock Ellis of England and Alfred Kinsey of the United States.  While their studies were broad-based, encompassing mainstream society, Hirschfield’s research focused upon homosexuality and sexual liberation: topics that comprised the meat of his books and five films.

Hirschfield’s polemic states that the definition of a racist is he or she who makes “a strong verbal or written attack on someone or something.”  Created to indicate those who were intolerant toward homosexuals and others seeking sexual liberation, and in a broader sense, those who have come to be known as The Far Right, the word was never intended to specifically label individuals who discriminate against others based upon skin color, cultural background, or religious affiliation.  Hirschfield envisioned a freer society than the one that existed in his time; he wished to see a kind of global communism, or Pan-Humanism, established. Because of his convictions, the term “racist” may have evolved, or perhaps devolved, to indicate an entire society disposed toward sexual repression (i.e., more traditional forms of sexual behavior).

“Racism” as we have come to understand that word, is actually an invention of The Left.  With the word now loaded like a pair of dice, supporters of white racial consciousness cannot use it without painting themselves narrow-minded and repressive.  Anyone who uses the term in a self-descriptive manner — from the perspective of Hirschfield and not those who broadened the term — now finds himself in a political quagmire.  He has, in effect, allowed himself to be maneuvered onto his opponent’s ground and thus, has lost his debate.  Gee.  And here I thought this was a democratic society that gave full support to the freedom of speech!

The Fate of Reading in an Electronic Age

Why do we still quote Shakespeare more than four centuries after the Bard first entertained theatregoers in England?  Why does the work of American poet Robert Frost, declared Poet Laureate during President Jack Kennedy’s administration, still strike chords with so many of us?  Why, when U.S. law stipulates that the title of a written work cannot be copyrighted, did celebrated author Harlan Ellison win a lawsuit barring a television company from naming its production after the title of one of Ellison’s most memorable short stories?

The answer to all of these questions is, “Because our society once honored great literature in all its forms.”  We once understood and respected literature for what it was: a means of learning on so many levels, a means of enjoyment, and a means of empowerment.  The prevalence of the Internet and the emergence of electronic reading devices represent advances in technology as well as the death of something precious.  Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal announced that Barnes & Noble, the mega retailer of books and music, is up for sale.  If Barnes & Noble closes its doors, we will have closed another chapter, and perhaps the final one, on the fine art of selecting our reading material.

While the Journal’s article focused on the business aspects of B&N’s announcement, this article concerns itself with the kiss-off of yet another part of America’s soul.  Sure, you can purchase books online.  The process is quick, neat, and devoid of emotion.  Make your selection, pay for it, and a few days later, your tome arrives in your mailbox in a plain brown wrapper.  Odds are, you’ll enjoy your book in a vacuum.  No one in your household will give a rat’s hind end about your purchase:  not your significant other, who’ll be wrapped up in his or her own pursuits, and certainly not your children, who’ll view your book as they would wallpaper, and a particularly uninteresting pattern at that.  They get their reading material online.  Slam bam, thankee, m’am style, they flit from one topic to another, the way a prostitute services clients, calling this sound byte method “research.”  So, if you buy your books online, yours will be a solitary, efficient, and rather joyless experience.

You will not have the opportunity to ignore your emails, cell phone, and other demands, as you would have had you strolled into a bookstore.  You will not lose track of the time as you immerse yourself in the stacks, scanning spines in the philosophy, science fiction, cooking, autobiography, art, music, sports, new releases, and other sections.  You won’t sink subconsciously onto a settee and begin turning the pages of a book that called to you.  In the relative, almost reverent silence, your hand will not glide appreciatively over a richly illustrated page, and you will not inhale the unmistakable aroma of heavy ink borne of a tome fresh off the press.  You won’t know the joy of having entered the store with the most detailed of road maps, knowing exactly what you’d wanted, and then driven willingly off the road, leaving with unexpected treasures awaiting exploration.

You’ll be robbed of book readings and book signings by authors, and of book club discussions.  You’ll be deprived of the sight of small children sitting in a circle, enrapt by a story read aloud and unfolding before them.  And you’ll miss those musicians playing quiet acoustic sets free of charge.  Perhaps most of all, you will lose the quiet companionship of those gathered with you under the same roof for the same reason: the sheer love of reading.

We can argue that huge chains like Barnes & Noble and Borders Books & Music, which closed a number of its retail locations several years ago, put too many small independent booksellers out of business — and there is some truth to this.  I can’t go back to New York and get into a rousing discussion over a certain title with the two gay ladies who owned the tiny bookshop across from my old office on 41st and Lex, as that bookshop is now gone.  I can’t return to Grand Central Station to find the dizzying array of magazines from all points on the globe in the shop on the second floor, just to the right of the “up” escalator.  Although the shop is still there, one flight above the famous clock at which the world meets, it is run now by foreigners who have scaled it down to a ghost of its former glorious self.

And I can no longer go back to the used bookstore in Brooklyn, run by the Jewish man in the yarmulke and payot, whose knowledge of literature and authors was astounding.  That store is gone, taking with it it’s crammed-to-the-gills shelves, its musty odor, and its gems awaiting readers with a free afternoon.  In that store, I’d once bought a fortune’s worth of short stories by renowned science fiction writers, a treasured out of print compilation that cost me a whole dollar.  There, I’d found Bram Stoker’s Dracula and so many other tales that chilled me to the bone, lifted my heart, and transported me to other countries and alien planets.

It’s true that the mega booksellers helped institute the demise of the small independent bookshops.  But the mega stores were our last oases.  Where are we to go now?  Libraries are great.  But unless you can frequent bastions such as the library at Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn, New York, you’ll miss the depth and breadth of the choices offered by the emporiums.

As bookstores disappear from our landscape, leaving further sinkholes in our culture, I know that I am guilty of contributing to their passing.  A once avid reader who would gobble one, two, and sometimes three books a week, my brain got rewired after I watched the Twin Towers collapse.  In the weeks following 9/11, I could not even finish a magazine article, let alone a full-length book.  I can explain that, in those first few weeks, I was still trying to wrap my mind around what had happened in my city.  But I can’t explain why I’d purchased books afterwards, a good number of them, only to begin them and then put them aside without ever reading them all the way through. 

The sole exception has been Taylor Hicks’ autobiography, Heart Full of Soul, published by Random House in 2007.  I bought it at Barnes & Noble, and the author himself graciously signed the flyleaf for me.  As of this writing, I am about to finish this book for the 8th time, and that is not a typo.  Recounting the journey taken by a self-taught, monumentally talented musician-singer-songwriter who succeeded despite enormous odds, it is real.  It speaks to everyone who’s ever feared he or she lacked the strength to get up and face another day.  It’s funny and sad; it’s thought provoking and genuinely uplifting.  Again and again, I find myself reaching for this book, finding new inspiration in lines my mind has unconsciously committed to memory.

I did purchase another book recently, one written just past the turn of the century … the 20th century, that is.  How Animals Talk by William J. Long (publisher: Bear & Company) is as much about how humans communicate as it is about animal communication.  As luck would have it, I didn’t find it in a bookstore; it called to me in a lovely New Age shop in Red Bank, New Jersey.  I had another book in my grasp, all ready for the cashier to ring up, but something made me pick up Long’s work instead.  I’m glad I did.  The prose is lyrical and yet, completely logical, intertwining lessons the author learned from wild fauna, domestic animals, and Native Americans in tune with nature.  Approximately a hundred years ago, Long postulated that human beings are born with an innate telepathy, just like animals.  Further, he states that humanity’s creation and escalation of “civilization” is responsible for our loss of that gift.

About a third of the way through the book, I intend to finish it.  For some reason, when I read it a chapter at a time, like a woman savoring a box of Belgian chocolates, I sense the presence of Henry David Thoreau, esteemed philosopher, naturalist, and author of Walden and Civil Disobedience.  Maybe Thoreau is looking over my shoulder from the spirit world, reading Long’s beautiful treatise and silently agreeing with him.   If anyone understood the value of a good book, the value inherent in selecting it, and value of choices, I think it would have been Thoreau.  And I think that if Thoreau had lived now, instead of in the 1800’s, the loss of retail bookstores would have given him one more reason to isolate himself from a society that evolved more into a follow-the-leader machine than it did a free-thinking, human experience. 

The Afghan War may be the tip of the iceberg in the radical Islamic plan to conquer the world.  In the past year, we have witnessed not the emergence of homegrown terrorism on our soil, but something far more insidious and bone chilling: we have seen an increase in terrorism and attempted terrorism within our borders.  US Army Major Nidal Hasan gunned down 13 military personnel at Fort Hood. More recently, Faisal Shahzad was arrested as the would-be Times Square Bomber; his crime was to rig a car with explosives and abandon it in the heart of midtown Manhattan where, thankfully, it was spotted before it could detonate and obliterate God knows how many lives.  Both of these terrorists were American citizens. Yet, they chose to bring death and destruction to us because they are devotees of those who have perverted the Muslim faith into a force for violence.

Adding to our concerns is the news that seventeen Afghan troops training as Special Forces in Texas have gone AWOL.  If our government has found them or has a clue as to their whereabouts, it’s keeping the answers under its hat.  One of the AWOL crew is Anwar Abdulla Nasser Aulaqi.  Born on April 22, 1971 in Las Cruces, New Mexico, he was residing in Yemen as a cleric and had ties with Major Nidal Hasan, the murderer of thirteen.

Instead of being tried as the war criminal that he is, Khalid Sheihk Mohammed, the self-professed architect of 9/11 will be judged in a civilian court.  This mockery of justice for one who robbed 3,000 innocent souls of their lives comes courtesy of the politically correct environment rampant in our nation.  God forbid we should offend the terrorists!

All of these facts should be a growing concern to Janet Napolitano, the Secretary of Homeland Security.  She has been stymied by our present administration, which shrinks from pointing fingers at our enemies.  As President Obama began his term of office, he extended an olive branch to the Muslim world.  In the hope of initiating a foundation for peace, he announced that, in the past, America had demonstrated arrogance and misconduct in world affairs, particularly in trying to build a bridge between the East and the West.

This maneuver did not yield satisfying results (golly gee, I wonder why).  What it did, apparently, was embolden our enemies to step up the violence right here at home.  As evidenced by the greetings that English troops received when returning home for the war against Al Qaeda, Europe and the United Kingdom are experiencing the same treatment. Instead of being welcomed home, the British soldiers who had fought in Afghanistan were met with jeers and anti-war slogans.

Our fearless leader (Obama) added insult to injury by thumbing his nose at Israel in an attempt to appease the Arab world.  On a visit to the U.S., Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, received a cool reception.  That reception prompted Jose Maria Aznar, the former Prime Minister of Spain, to caution the Western world concerning the dangers of not supporting Israel.  His heartfelt speech can be found on Wikipedia.com, where a part of it reads, “If Israel goes, we all go.”

During World War II, Japanese citizens living on American soil were isolated in “camps,” right here in America, for reasons of security. To a lesser extent, Italian and German nationals faced the same treatment (and for those who don’t know their history, Japan, Italy, and Germany made up the Axis powers, those who were our enemies).  Should we use these same camp/isolation tactics to curtail the activities of terrorists living on our soil and enjoying all the amenities that come with that?  Or will we sit by and just wait for another 9/11 to occur?  And how do we identify radical Muslim groups in America?

These are serious questions; hell, these are serious times.  There is an old saying; “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”  So what do you think? 

Eternal, Almighty God has provided us with His Word and has told us that His Word became flesh and dwelt among us.  He tells us this and much, much more in a Book every Word of which is His, a book of seeming contradictions that – upon earnest study and comparison of scripture with scripture – melds into a harmonious whole, a book that reveals the Truth about God and our relationship with Him, a book that tells His Story.

Both Alpha and Omega, God knows the end from the beginning, unlike mere mortals.  He created mankind in His image and likeness knowing fully that they would become sinful.  Yet, He did so to reserve a people from among his Creation that would be His own.  And so, He provided Himself as the Perfect One, to make payment for His people.  As we read in the Bible, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23 – King James Version).  God’s eternal promise to His people presupposes an end to this world and universe, an end whose time has been known by God since before Creation yet hidden even from His people until the last days.  Yet, in his great mercy, God always warns His people of any imminent destruction.

In the Book of Genesis, God warned Noah, who had found Grace in His eyes, of the impending destruction of the world because of mankind’s wickedness.  Following God’s directives, Noah labored 120 years building the ark.  Upon its completion, God provided a final warning to the Preacher of Righteousness (namely, Noah), indicating that in seven days He would destroy the world.  And, on the seventeenth day of the second month of that year (May 21, 4990 B.C.), God commenced a worldwide flood that killed all the inhabitants of the earth save those upon the ark.

Later in Genesis, we read the story surrounding the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.  Informed by God of His plans, Abraham pleaded on behalf of his nephew Lot, a resident in that land.  He asked the Lord God to spare the land if there were but fifty righteous people living there.  When God assented, he begged him to relent if there were but 40 righteous people.  Abraham continued reducing the number progressively until he reached ten, and the Lord agreed to spare the land and its people if it were inhabited by just ten righteous people.  Ultimately, however, there were only three:  Lot and his two daughters escaped the fire and brimstone that destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.

In the Book of Jonah, the Lord charges Jonah, perhaps better known in secular circles for his exploits in the belly of a large fish, with warning the inhabitants of Nineveh of their impending doom.  Entering the great city, Jonah proclaimed to all that in forty days Nineveh would be overthrown.  Unlike others who received warnings, however, the King and inhabitants of Nineveh proclaimed a fast, donned sackcloth, and sat in ashes in hopes that God would change His mind.  Contrite, the Ninevites were spared God’s wrath.

As seekers of the Truth know well, God’s Word is the verification of His Story.  In His Story, God reveals intricate details to His children that remain concealed from non-believers.  God’s Word is just that:  not the words of a prophet or scribe but precisely the Words chosen by God.

In 2 Peter 3:8, God states “But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.”  On the seventeenth day of the second month of the 5771^st year of the Hebrew calendar, God will return to earth.  All previously deceased believers will rise first, and all that believe and are alive on that day will rise to be forever with the Lord.

Those remaining will face the Wrath of God during the next one hundred and fifty-three calendar days better known Biblically as Judgment Day.  This is God’s final warning.  Most, including many religious leaders worldwide, will scoff at this warning, and that too is a part of His Story.  Unlike the Ninevites to whom God revealed the gravity of Jonah’s admonition, those left behind to face Judgment are incapable of displaying the broken and contrite heart that is a necessity for those who will spend eternity with God.

On the seventeenth day of the second month in the 5771st year of the Hebrew calendar, all will know the Truth.  When will that occur?  In our Gregorian calendar, that will be…

May 21, 2011

…exactly 7,000 years to the day since the Great Flood.  The warning to Noah of seven days to destruction also serves as an alert of 7,000 years to final destruction. 

Related Stories:

Countdown to Judgment

May 21, 2011: Judgment Day!

Harold Camping: False Prophet or Herald of God?

The term “obesity” describes human body weight considered to be unhealthy  according to certain clinical parameters.  Based upon body mass charts, these parameters are calculated using the heights and genders of non-obese individuals as standards for good health.  When a human being ingests food, the body converts it into glucose (a form of sugar), which is then delivered to the cells as energy.  If the person does not expend all of the energy, his or her body then stores it as fat.   While this explanation is accurate, it is also overly simplistic.  The human body is a remarkable, complex thing; many factors contribute to obesity.  However, our society has seen fit to blame every case of obesity on one’s inability to push oneself away from the table.

Government and the healthcare industry (soon to be one and the same) target those who are overweight, claiming that obesity is the root of clinical disorders ranging from diabetes and heart disease to overtaxed joints.  The so-called experts point to overeating and unhealthy eating as the primary cause of rising medical insurance.  But how true is this, when obesity is also linked to glandular and psychological disorders as well as a lack of exercise?  Why are obese people in the general populace painted as Satan’s spawn?

If we move beyond the general public and into narrower realms, we find that obesity is not only accepted, it is embraced.  Let’s start with the world of sports.  Football players do not suffer from a lack of exercise, yet the combined weight of an average football team can border on tons.  There are no featherweights among American or Japanese Sumo wrestlers.  And, most baseball, hockey, and basketball players possess body masses much higher than the medical community’s standards for “healthy.” 

The next group on the hit list is the czars of the food industry.  Everywhere we turn, we find fat-laden foods on the menu.  While fast food joints harbor the usual suspects of burgers, hoagies, fried chicken, and pizza, eat-in restaurants offer fare such as steaks, pork chops, and ribs.  A few weeks ago, Yahoo’s home page listed the ten unhealthiest foods served in non fast food chains, and guess what?  A salad on Chili’s menu made that list!

If we remove all of these products from the American diet because they are unhealthy, we’ll all be dining on lichee nuts, tofu, and stuffed peas.  What a miserable nation we would be without an ounce of fat!   A day without a little fat is like a day without sunshine.

Looking on the bright side and assuming we are not all going to forage in the forest for nuts and berries, the more obese among us will probably not live long enough to collect Social Security, which is now in serious jeopardy.  This situation will extend the funds for healthier Americans of whom we may say, “They died happy.”

So, instead of demeaning and blaming those who are hefty, I think the government and the healthcare industry should trim the real fat.  The fat cats in Congress have been bribed for decades to do the biding of the fat cats in industry (just take a gander at the ethics problems of Congressman Charlie Rangel).  For generations, both species of bloodsuckers fed off the public’s trust.  The fat cats gave birth to the national healthcare system.  Therefore, it is only fitting that we enact a law ensuring they are the first ones to be impacted by that system.   When and if that happens, those fat cats will become “lean and mean.”  Or rather, meaner. 

More years ago than I care to admit, a firm with which I was affiliated got a great deal on some office space in Cherry Hill.  It was only after I moved in that I came to realize why an otherwise quaint office building in a vibrant business district was largely empty:  it had been the scene of a mass shooting and murder by a deranged ex-employee.

Apparently, six years before I occupied the space, one Edwin James Grace parked his car behind the building and calmly entered through the rear door of the two-story structure.  Ascending the stairs in the building’s center hall, he turned left and walked into the reception area of an employment agency with which he had been associated.  Raising his firearm, he shot the receptionist in the head and proceeded to open fire at will.  When the shooting ceased, twelve people (including the gunman) were dead or critically injured.

The police, summoned by tenants who had escaped via first and second floor windows, surrounded the building bombarding it with teargas.  It was only when law enforcement and emergency medical personnel entered and began transporting victims to the hospital that they realized that the perpetrator was among the dead, the result of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.  Ultimately, nine people would lose their lives as a result of the events of that day.

That tragedy, occurring as it did more than thirty years ago, is just one of a litany of documented workplace shooting rampages that have occurred in the United States.  During the last 100 years, hundreds of deaths and injuries can be attributed to these senseless acts.  These occurrences have become so commonplace and have so often involved United States Postal Service (USPS) workers that the expression “Going Postal” has been coined to describe such behaviors.

Today, yet another mass shooting occurred, not in a postal facility but in a Connecticut warehouse where a driver, asked to resign his position with a beer distributor for an undisclosed violation of company policy, opened fire reportedly killing nine (including himself) and injuring a number of others.  The identities of the perpetrator and his victims have yet to be revealed.

Although in this instance the perpetrator’s motives seem reasonably clear, many cases, like the one in Cherry Hill I described above, are never fully resolved, as the murderers often commit suicide or are killed by police at the crime scenes.  What seems obvious, however, is that this type of violence, whether at a workplace, educational institution, military installation, or other venue, appears to be on the rise.

Violent and lawless acts are becoming commonplace, even in those areas and neighborhoods considered among the safest.  The threats of terrorism, gang violence, and crimes against individuals and society have invaded the American consciousness, robbing many of the sense of security that they once held.  And, the events of today in Manchester, Connecticut will only go to reinforce the growing sense of public alarm. 

In his promise to restore fiscal sanity to the State of New Jersey, Governor Chris Christie announced a proposal that would impact the gambling industry.  He proposed to sell off the State’s racetracks and use the resultant funds to reinvest in Atlantic City, whose casinos are struggling to run in the black, and not the red.  We’re talking about profit figures on balance sheets, not the colors on the roulette wheels.

A major renovation that began well over twenty years ago swept Atlantic City, depositing more and glitzier casinos and hotels and nicer supporting businesses (i.e., restaurants) in the surrounding area.  These structures displaced some of the seedier aspects of the shore town, but not all.  Beyond the lights of the Boardwalk onto which many of the casinos open, Atlantic City is still not a place that the average citizen would want to walk at night.  What our Governor aims to do is model Atlantic City upon Las Vegas, bringing more than gaming to the area and transforming the city into more of a family-friendly resort.

Sounds like a plan, right?  Wrong. Christie’s proposal has divided legislatures along regional lines and cast serious doubts in the minds of some New Jerseyans.

Northern New Jersey legislators view the proposal as a plum handed to Southern New Jersey Senator Joseph M. Sweeney (D-3, Gloucester County).  As the New Jersey Senate President, Sweeney hopes to pass the plan.  However, this proposal has Northern legislators crying for equal time.  They are requesting the same consideration be given to the Meadowlands and Monmouth Park sports/concert complexes.

It sounds like the North versus the South.  I thought the Civil War ended at Appomattox, with both sides wanting to divide the spoils.  But if you’re not a legislator and just an Everyday Joe or Jane, how does Christie’s plan affect you?

For one thing, it’s going to affect your pockets and pocketbooks.  The plan to buy out a failing city and restore it to its glorious past relies heavily upon … you guessed it! … taxpayers’ money.  And that’s not the end of it.  The plan compels Atlantic City to cede most of its land directly to the State.  The State, in turn, would set up a commission to manage everything of a public nature that takes place in the municipality.  This includes everything from policing the streets to collecting the garbage.

If the proposal passes, does this mean that Atlantic City’s local government would be abolished?  Who needs corrupt local politicians when we can pass power onto Trenton, with a State Commission to oversee the community — particularly when Trenton is one of the most corrupt capitals in the United States?  Should the proposal pass, the Mayor of Atlantic City and his cabinet would become unemployed.  This would have them collecting unemployment benefits at a time when the State needs every penny to resolve its fiscal problems.

Another thing to take under consideration is the following question.  Would appointing a State Commission to replace elected local officials set a precedent? And, would the current casino revenues paid to the State be jeopardized once the plan is incorporated and implemented by our — cough, cough — oh so honest State legislators? Will this plan be put on a ballot for the electorate to approve, or will it simply be shoved down our throats?

Clearly, there are many concerns and questions to be resolved before endorsing a plan that represents a real gamble with taxpayers’ money.  How odd that our Governor is all for this plan when, in his words spoken in an address to the horse racing industry, he said, “[We] cannot subsidize a failing industry.” Whether it is horse racing, casino gambling, or OTC betting, working class people struggling to keep the roofs over their heads do not have the surplus money to blow on games of chance.

If the State of New Jersey needs more revenue to become solvent, it should not consider bailing out failed cities.  It should go to the heart of the matter by finding ways for the private sector to start employing the legal citizens of New Jersey, with the accent on “legal.”

How many times has each of us uttered the phrase, “It’s not my job; let someone else do it”?  Upon closer inspection, this is more than an expression.  It is a mindset in which we assume that everything can be fixed, provided someone else takes up the slack.  At the end of World War II, the phrase, “Do It Yourself” was coined, thereby creating a whole new industry.  People who normally paid others to repair things purchased tools and how-to books in order to save the costs once associated with the labor of professionals.

The “Do It Yourself” craze eclipsed small projects and took on larger ones, such as additions to houses.  Some money was saved, but some was also expended because there were certain jobs that could only be managed by well-trained tradesmen such as electricians, plumbers, and carpenters. For the even tougher jobs, lawyers and doctors were called upon and paid for their services.

The point of all of this is that general public will take a stab at the easy jobs, but we take for granted that someone else will tackle the harder jobs, for a price.  And now we arrive at the crux of this article: our volunteer military forces.

How many Americans wake up in the morning and ponder the state and fate of our military?  Isn’t it more a matter of, “I wonder which team won last night” or “I think I need an oil change” or “What’s for breakfast?”.  Although we are well aware that our armed forces are putting themselves in harm’s way in the world’s hot spots, we choose to push them to the back of our minds, because such thoughts may spoil our day.

In the past, America has had a regular Army and Navy comprised of volunteers.  However, during World War II, the number of volunteers was insufficient, thereby compelling our government to institute the draft.  The draft mandated that all able-bodied men between the ages of 18 and 45 register for military service.

Over the years, our volunteer military has grown to encompass professional soldiers, supported by the National Guard and bolstered by weaponry of an increasingly technologically advanced nature.  This combination has produced the best fighting force in the world.

Down through the ages, America has always depended upon the citizen soldier.  During the Revolutionary War, it was the Minutemen who dropped their plows and picked up their guns to defend our emerging nation. In World War I, it was the American Doughboy who went “Over There” and promised not to come back “’til it’s over.”  In World War II and Korea, it was the GI’s who broke the back of the Axis powers and saved the world from tyranny.

Vietnam was a different type of conflict.  In this war, the only men who were not drafted were Conscientious Objectors, some of whom fled the U.S.  Many young men enrolled in college to receive a deferment from the draft.  Those who did not serve received amnesty when the war came to an end.  On that day, it should be noted, the number of male students attending college dropped dramatically.

Aside from our everyday problems, including healthcare, illegal immigration, economic woes, the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the flooding in Tennessee, and the government takeover of the private sector, we confront growing problems in our military.  Multiple tours of duty, the rules of war changing in favor of the enemy, and the court marshalling of Navy Seals for brutalizing the enemy number among these issues.  I wonder what General George Patton would have said about these newfound constraints upon our military?

During World War II, nearly every family in this country had one or more of their loved one in the armed services.  The entire nation supported those armed services.  Prayers and positive thoughts were offered up for them, and our infantry, airmen, and sailors were not taken for granted; rather, they were revered.  The final cost of that war was that 400,000 men were killed in action and 78,000 went missing or were wounded.

When it comes to the tough job of defending our way of life, the American public has taken our military for granted.  By and large, we no longer consider the fact that there by the grace of God and our volunteer military go our sons and daughters — who may have been drafted into service if not for those who enter the military voluntarily. Given the carefree lifestyle we live, it is very easy to take certain things for granted in America. But it was not always so easy. People sacrificed and died protecting our freedoms and our very way of life.

To the rest of the world, America is the Promised Land: a land of the free with opportunities to enjoy a better life.  As citizens, we have to stop taking things for granted and follow in the footsteps of the people who made this country great.

It’s time for every American to accept the responsibility of keeping America free and strong for our troops.  When those troops return home to the land of the brave, from their monumental tasks overseas, we should welcome them and express gratitude for their sacrifices. To paraphrase the immortal words of President John F. Kennedy, our voluntary troops honor the concept of asking not of what your country can do for you, but asking what you can do for your country.  Our troops go far beyond the asking.  They are valiant enough to actually do something to protect our freedoms. 

According to Webster’s dictionary, the word “pander” is defined thusly:

1.)  a:  A go-between in love intrigues;  b: A pimp

2.)  One that caters to or exploits the weakness of others

The definition of the word “pander” is eerily akin to the unofficial definition of “politician.”  Strange isn’t it?

Well, it’s been said that politics makes strange bedfellows.  Indeed it does.  Metaphorically and literally, players hop beds and trade votes to suit the conditions that benefit them.   Take a gander at some of the prominent politicians who have switched from the Republican Party to that of Democrat.  In the real world, these politicos would be called “whores” because like streetwalkers, they will sell that which they should value, to the highest bidder.   A prostitute does not respect her body.  A politician does not respect the trust placed in him by the constituents who voted him into office to represent their needs and concerns.

To further screw the constituents by making them think they’re actually in their corner, many elected leaders align themselves with different categories within their parties. Allegedly, these labels are meant to distinguish one politician from another.  The term “Conservative” is synonymous with old-school cowboys who like to engage in games of “Mine is bigger than yours and it’s more deadly” and “God (translation: I) say(s) you have to and so, you will!”  ”Liberal” usually refers to those, cough-cough, oh so kind-hearted souls willing to dole out taxpayers’ hard-earned money to those who haven’t earned it, including illegal immigrants, via all manner of social service programs that seem to breed like rabbits.  And “Moderate” denotes those who lack the intestinal fortitude to take a genuine stand.  Instead of leaning hard to the Right or the Left, they sit on the proverbial fence, tottering and awaiting a great big inevitable fall, like Humpty Dumpty.

The motto of the United States of America is “United we stand and divided we fall.”   Yet, the whole game of politics is based upon division, as in “divide and conquer” … the taxpayers, that is!  Every time a politician or political party panders to a special interest group, it’s for the sole purpose of feathering his or their own nest.  The more special interests groups that back a politician or a party, the more votes are cast for that particular politician or party.  And votes sway elections.  All a politician has to do is promise to make good what he’s told those special interest groups, and he’s in like Flynn.  He earns an hugely inflated salary, enjoys untold perks, and has all his benefits paid for the nephews and nieces of Uncle Sam:  me, you, and every other decent, honest taxpayer.

It is time for us to realize that we are a nation of Americans.  Whether we have been born here, or whether we immigrated here, we are all bound, as “one nation under God” to empower each other and move our nation forward.  This means that we all work together toward common goals (i.e., lower taxes, better representation in government, more plentiful jobs, manufacturing returned to the U.S.; you get the gist).  This does not mean that we hide behind our cultural/ethnic, sexual, or religious differences to demand certain favors and then appoint blood-sucking politicians all too eager to make those favors realities.  When the Allies liberated Paris, France from the Axis powers during World War II, the French hailed us as Americans, period.  Not as Italian-Americans, Chinese-Americans, Jewish-Americans, Polish-Americans, Gay Americans, Straight Americans, yadda, yadda, yadda.

What God brought forth upon this land was intended to serve as a blueprint for other nations worldwide.  This nation of immigrants was to stand as a beacon of hope, illustrating that regardless of superficial differences, we were meant to co-exist in peace and harmony and enjoy the gifts from God’s bounty.

I’ll bet I know what you’ll be doing this Fourth of July.  You’ll be at a barbecue, either in your back yard or that of a loved one or a friend.  You’ll be noshing on hot dogs and hamburgers, swilling down a cool brew or two.  You’ll tell a few jokes, laugh at others, and slurp some sweet, juicy watermelon. Finally, you’ll settle in as the sun sinks low to enjoy a dramatic fireworks display.  A moment before those bombs go “bursting in air,” I invite you to do something a bit different this Fourth.  I invite you to meditate upon the true meaning of the holiday and its place in all of our lives.

In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on July 4, 1776, representatives from the thirteen original colonies gathered to sign the Declaration of Independence.  Based upon the conviction that all men are created equal and that those men — and women — must have a voice in how they are governed, the infant nation of America was formed.  Our Founding Fathers had taken a stand, and a gigantic leap of faith, in breaking away from England in order to enjoy the freedoms they’d deemed God-given, freedoms for which they, and many others, fought hard.

Since that first Independence Day, this country has seen many wars, too many.  But, we have also seen enormous achievements and great prosperity.  From sea to shining sea, our nation has been blessed by an abundance of resources and the most beautiful and diverse natural “architecture” the world over.  You create what you envision, and so, the concept of Manifest Destiny birthed wagon trains rumbling over our fruited plains, wagon trains laden with brave and hearty pioneers.  Headed into a great unknown, the pioneers were driven solely by their indomitable spirit and the desire to make better lives for themselves and their families. From the forests, the streams and lakes, and the plains, those pioneers carved outposts and farms that bloomed into towns, cities, and eventually, States.  Now fifty in number, each bright star on our flag symbolizes one of our States.  Together, those fifty States forged a large, strong, and proud nation.

History repeats itself, indeed.  We patterned our Constitution, indeed our nation, upon that of France, which had liberated herself from the tyranny of a government that cared not a whit for its people.  However, the emergence of our nation also mimicked that of another country, or rather, an empire.

The Roman Empire was the superpower of its day.   Rich in culture, art, and monetary means and bolstered by a strong army that conquered outlying lands, ancient Rome’s arms stretched deeply into Mesopotamia (the Middle East) and as far as what is now the United Kingdom.  An Emperor presided over this vast and mighty realm, much as our own President heads the U.S. today, and her government boasted a Senate: an official forum in which representatives from Rome’s various city-states determined how their government operated.  The government was Imperial in nature but built upon a Republic whose core principle was, “of the people, by the people, and for the people.”  This form of government set the standard for future governments the world over.  But despite all her glory, the Roman Empire only survived for approximately 300 years.

Scholars and historians attribute the fall of the Roman Empire to the social, economic, and military changes taking place within her.  Other contributing factors were the moral decay of her people as well as governmental officials whose attitude had become self-serving, downright cruel, and even psychotic (i.e. Nero and Caligula).  Does any of this ring a bell with you — as in the Liberty Bell?  Does it sound at all like the America in which we now live?  Our government has been in existence for 234 years.  Where are we headed in the next 66?

This Fourth of July, as you thrill to the fireballs bursting brilliantly in the sky, you may well consider how many more Fourths you, and your children, and your grandchildren, will spend in this manner, with something to celebrate, something uniquely American.  Consider whether or not you wish to revive the spirit of our Founding Fathers and the pioneers who followed them, driven by their independence, vision, and gumption.  Do you wish to take a stand in how our government is run, or are you content with the status quo?   Do you want this nation to continue, and to flourish, despite the tough times we have faced in recent years?  Or will you watch as we crumble into dust like the Roman Empire?