I watched the movie Lincoln tonight. The movie is about Lincoln's struggle to get the 13th Amendment passed. This was a time of great struggle for our country. The Civil War had torn the country apart and he was given the seemingly insurmountable task of bringing the country back together, much less setting an entire people free. There were men in Washington who truly were trying to do the right thing. Despite what we see today, it wasn't always full of deceit and treachery.
Today, we understand how important it was to abolish slavery. But then as now, it was a struggle to get anything accomplished. Most Democrats were against it. Most Republicans were for it. They yelled at and insulted each other but without the benefit of cameras everywhere and Twitter feeds. At the beginning of the movie Secretary of State Seward says to Lincoln about the House, "It is the same nest of talentless hicks and hacks". I think he was right then and it certainly applies now.
I am proud to be an American. I am proud of what our country has accomplished but I am not proud of what our country has become. Our leaders think we are here to serve them and not the other way around. They tell us what we want to hear to get elected and then carry out their own agendas and only accomplish a few of the things they promised to placate their constituency. We as a people no longer think for ourselves. To many people have developed the mind set that they are "owed" something. To many Americans don't want to work for anything. We want it now and we want it subsidized. That has become the American Way.
We are no longer a country of hard working, independent thinking people. We have become a country that expects to be taken care of. We don't know where our food comes from, nor do we care. All we care about it getting the latest and greatest phone or tablet. Freedom of speech? Who cares about that so long as I can tweet what I had for lunch. Which, by the way, was bought with food stamps.
Our liberties are being chipped away little by little. The people that we have elected to be in power are not there to serve us. They are there to put their collective boot on the throats of Americans and so many of us applaud them when they do not realizing that if we weren't the intended target today, we will be tomorrow. The current administration is doing everything possible to make us miserable. So why do we put up with it? Because we have been conditioned to think that we can no longer take care of ourselves. You don't know how to manage your own healthcare. Let us do that for you. You don't know how to teach your children. Let us do that for you. You don't have to work. There are plenty of people out there to that for you.
Don't get me wrong. I have nothing against people getting assistance that need it but I have seen way to many people work the system instead of getting off their duff and learning how to actually take care of themselves. Our government is broken and in serious need of repair. We cannot expect those that are in Washington to fix anything. They are part of the problem. We have to be the ones to fix it. Our politicians are not what make this country great, we are.
If we get through this latest manufactured crisis in Washington, don't think it is the last. If our economy doesn't fail now, one day it will. The Patriots of this country, the people who truly care about what we become, must be ready to pick up the pieces. We can be a great country again but not without work, community, and determination.
Forgive me for rambling and no, I'm not crazy. I'm angry. I'm concerned. And most of all, I want a better world for my family. I'm willing to work for it. Are you?
