A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
Yes, I fear that rare gem, Columbia, is gone. Sunk beneath the waves of soft communism she has drowned in her own ignorance and apathy. As I speak with more and more conservatives -- and a few liberals -- it is becoming clear that a growing number of Americans now believe that America is irretrievably lost. The American optimist has finally been mugged by reality and, for the first time, can see clearly what we realists have been shouting from the rooftops for many years.
Already, freedom is in its death throes in America. The constitution, the very foundation of America, has been shredded, and kicked to the curb as the thundering sound of leftist jackboots reverberate off the marble halls of what used to be the seat of a government of, by, and for the people.
America has gone from "free state" to "police state" almost overnight.
Thomas Paine said: "No country can be called free which is governed by an absolute power; and it matters not whether it be an absolute royal power or an absolute legislative power, as the consequences will be the same to the people."
Even as I write these few words I am cognizant that the government will snatch it right out of the ether and store it in a secret cavernous complex where it will remain for centuries -- just in case they decide to prosecute me for exercising what used to be speech protected under the First Amendment to the constitution, But that was before we entered the Post Constitution Era in America. Now freedom is whatever the person in power over me says it is -- and nothing more.
I am become as chattel.
A great chasm has opened between those of us who treasure freedom and liberty and what used to be OUR government. It is a gorge to wide to be bridged and to deep to be filled. It is a permanent reminder that we are "persona non grata."
In the early days of the deconstruction of America some of us held out hope that Americans would rise up and protect the constitution. Sadly, we overestimated the patriotism of modern Americans. It hasn't happened -- and try as I might, I can find no sincere indication that it ever will happen.
Here on the Internet, the last outpost of free speech, conservative writers are sensing the gathering of leftist forces intent on wiping them/us out, stopping our voices, wresting control of our words from us through intimidation, old fashioned scare tactics, and misusing the law against us. None of this would be possible IF the Constitution was still the law of the land. But it isn't.
Ignorance and apathy have done America in.
There was genuine surprise when Americans learned that various departments of government have been using their power against Americans who dared have a different political philosophy than that of the political left. That ignorance was shocking to those of us who have been writing of just those violations of our constitutional rights by the government for years and years and years. Like a white sail on an ocean of black it could not have been more obvious. And yet there was surprise.
The apathy of those who admit to knowledge of a government gone rogue but whine as how they have no power to change anything so they just don't get involved was -- and is -- a cop-out that has -- or will -- cost us our freedom and force us into serfdom and slavery to the state.
Ayn Rand once said that “freedom, in a political context, means freedom from government coercion.” Even Helen Keller could see that THAT freedom is non-existent in America today.
America was to have been a "moral" country. Our government was to be built on Individual rights. Individual rights are now gone and in their place we have socialist "collective" rights. Our national morality is even lower than that of Biblical Sodom and Gomorrah. This tends to happen when a people replace God with the state.
It has been said that "Free Stuff" did America in. There is much to be said in favor of that viewpoint.
Rabbi Steven Pruzansky of Congregation Bnai Yeshurun in Teaneck, N.J., some time ago, wrote an analysis of the 2012 presidential election. In it he said: “It is a different world, and a different America. Obama is part of that different America, knows it, and knows how to tap into it. That is why he won. Romney lost because the conservative virtues – the traditional American virtues – of liberty, hard work, free enterprise, private initiative and aspirations to moral greatness – no longer inspire or animate a majority of the electorate. The notion of the ‘Reagan Democrat’ is one cliché that should be permanently retired. Ronald Reagan himself could not win an election in today’s America. The simplest reason why Romney lost was because it is impossible to compete against free stuff." SOURCE: http://www.wnd.com/2013/01/the-end-of-america-why-romney-lost/
Ayn Rand also said: "Traditionally and historically, the American people can be pushed so far, and then they stop it." I would counter with Rabbi Pruzansky's words from above: “It is a different world, and a different America."
One is tempted to raise a glass in a farewell salute to a people so arrogant in their ignorance that they committed national suicide while still in their infancy -- not even 250 years old.
As I enter the winter of my life, I had hoped to have the satisfaction of leaving my country a better place for my progeny. In that -- I have failed -- utterly. As an old southerner from the Carolinas, it is a part of my ingrown "Noblesse Oblige" to work hard, contribute to the betterment of society, maintain my honor ( and that of my family), and be generous in all things. And yes, I know how high-faluting that must sound in this day and age, but in my day, no matter one's socio-economic standing in a southern community, one understood -- clearly -- that one had the OBLIGATION to attempt to live up to the Noblesse Oblige creed. And, in my opinion, we were a better community, county, state, and nation for it.
Alas, it has come to naught. The "Shining City's" shining hour is spent. The "Grand Experiment" has failed.
"O, Columbia, the gem of the ocean,
The home of the brave and the free,
The shrine if each patriot's devotion,
A world offers homage to thee.
Thy mandates make heroes assemble
When Liberty's form stands in view;
Thy banners make tyranny tremble
When borne by the Red, White and Blue!
When borne by the Red, White and Blue!"
Here's to the legend of America! We truly mourn your passing.
© J. D. Longstreet
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1 comment:
We ain't played *Cowboys and Obamites* yet...
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