The Rudderless Ship
Over the last year I have spent quite a bit of my free time studying the founding fathers and the more I do the more I am convinced they would be very disappointed at what our country has become. Not since President Reagan have we had a capable leader with any kind of real vision or direction for our country. Needless to say I have become quite apathetic with our entire political process.
I mean seriously, which candidate strikes you as an actual leader with vision for the future that doesn't involve socialism? John McCain, Hillary Clinton, Barak Obama. Please, it’s just more of the same style over substance. None of these people are capable of really leading our country into the future.
Unfortunately this means America is destined to spend another four years drifting along aimlessly like a rudderless ship on the sea of mediocrity. We’ll have our leader but regardless who wins, America and the rest of the world for that matter are destined to drift along for a while longer. Hopefully a new captain, will finally emerge and right the ship and lead us back toward that shining city on the hill.
From my studies, it appears that we only have a few great leaders each century (Reagan, FDR, JFK, Roosevelt) and now that it’s been nearly two decades since President Reagan left office we’re due to have a truly dynamic leader emerge sooner rather than later.
For those of you who know me, you know that this bothers me a great deal to say anything negative about America. I consider myself an ardent patriot, served in the U.S. Army for five years, and fought in Desert Storm. I am extremely proud to be a veteran and understand, like Thomas Jefferson “that the tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots.”
At one time I thought that George Bush going to emerge as that leader the way he lead us after 911. Unfortunately he has been relegated to fighting a politically correct war and has been constantly under the microscope of mostly liberal media. Most of the people in charge of the media are leftists who protested Viet Nam and seized upon the opportunity to turn Iraq into the same predicament.
What would these liberals, who hold FDR in such high regard, say about the tactics we fought World War II with? War is hell and unfortunately must be fought with an all or nothing mentality. I’m glad that we have the technology to drop a bomb down a chimney, I’ve seen it first hand, but we must stop worrying about what the media and the rest of the world think of us and fight with all of our might.
The world hated Reagan too only to find out that he was right all along. I remember his Tear Down This Wall speech and was fortunate enough to be stationed with a border patrol unit in Germany when that wall came tumbling down. What an amazing period in history to live and experience first hand. I remember East Germans coming up, so excited, thanking us for giving them their freedom. They wanted every thing American and were offering to buy the Levis we were wearing and the Nikes off our feet.
I guess every generation waxes nostalgic about the good old days and perhaps that’s all I’m doing too. I wouldn’t want to live any place else because regardless of our faults, we’re still the greatest country on the planet. I’m just looking forward to the next great American leader to emerge and lead us into the future.
TK
