America Once Beautiful

I wrote this for a friend of mine, Jahn, after noticing that he was fed up with flag waving and celebating of our national holidays; his jaw clenched in anger as he remembered how far we have fallen from that great experiment in human independence. I’ve linked to his article in the title Bar.

“I'm in danger of going postal on the next person who starts spouting off about this being "the land of the free". We haven't been free in a lot of years.”

I appolgize for an entire country which has lost its way. I appologize for elected congressmen, senators, presidents and supreme court justices who haven’t the backbone or courage to make difficult descissions and instead have provided everyone with mediocrity rather than putting forth the effort required.

I appolgize for the “greatest generation” who, now that they have reached the winter of their lives have lost their independent spirit; chosing instead to become dependent and weak, relying on AARP and expecting government hand outs rather than taking responsibility for their own lives.

I appologize for my own generation for failing to properly learn the lessons taught by every generation that went before, warning us to be fierce individuals unwilling to settle for mediocrity, falling for the old line, “It’s not that bad” or “It’s for the greater good that you must relinquish your individual liberties”.

I appolgize for the generation that follows mine, those young people who have been left adrift with only their “feel good” attitudes because teaching them the truth was too much work and some might have gotten their feelings hurt when they found that not everyone can finish first. Last on the list, my appologies to Mary Bates for butchering one of my favorite American hymns.

O Beautiful, that land we loved
And how it used to be
Our freedoms and our liberties
Are but a memory

America, America
A country without God
Consumed with lust and and spineless men
Our dreams lost in the fog

O beautiful perfection gained
Our lot in life provided
As now we walk, our heads hung low
Content with laws imposed

America, America
Is this our destiny?
May God forgive us, now we pray
Our nation’s gone astray.

Oh beautiful, that single ray
That shines above all else
Where one man’s passion must be heard
Amid all the unrest

America, America
There is no time, wake up ‘fore it’s too late
Find wisdom and your faith in God
We still can choose our fate.