Jockeying For Position

[HARDCORE]

The world has advanced far beyond a state of awe and fear alone. Even in the darkest corners of human habitation, the dread of righteous retribution has been replaced by a mistaken belief that the United States will not use the full extent of its might to defend that which we hold as sacred. ?And in this mistaken world ideology, often comes an inherent danger!?

Carrying a big stick is naught but show, if the fear does not remain within the despotic mind that, given provocation - "IT WILL BE USED!" For had that same big stick been in the possession of evil, and a like deterrent not been in the hands of the righteous, how long would it be before that club was used upon us?

Back in 1945, to put an abrupt end to a war that could have gone on for years, President Harry S. Truman opted to drop the big one - TWICE! The loss of life was staggering, but it must be remembered that even the conventional bombings of one particular German City in that war (a bombing in which the very air itself was ignited), caused a loss of human life that was also nearly as horrendous!

I have always found it amazing that international politicians start wars, but civilians and the military alike, are always the elements of society that pay the highest price! ?The days when a national leader stood at the forefront of his troops, and personally led the charge, are long gone!? Now they (politicos) seem content to surface after the fray (all spit, rhetoric and polish), to deliver the victory speeches, pose for the cameras, and gather in the laurels, regardless of their nation of origin, or who actually earned them!

As for the veteran him or herself, those that survive that is, he (or she) merely fades into the backdrop, attempts to eke out a living, and expects naught but to be treated with the dignity that they paid for in blood, sweat, or tears, or a combination thereof!?

?Is it so much to ask that the veteran be afforded a little dignity, consideration, care and concern?? In some minds, apparently it is!?

I have long listened to the laments on veteran and patriotic sites such as this one, my own bitching included. The biggest problem that I foresee, is not the need, the responsibility, the justice or the duty of the government and it?s vassal agencies, to supply a modicum of justifiable pay back, but rather (in all too many cases) the systems arrogance and abject refusal to do so! The veteran, to many of these entrenched cretins, are yesterday?s news, and this attitude presents a monumental travesty!

Has government turned into a giant feeding machine that selfishly devours all in its path in order to satiate it's own lust and endless appetites (In a few cases - YES INDEED!)? Lives, liberties, futures, health, well being and even human dignity and respect, often fall victim to the firmly entrenched me-ists in our midst? Well, I say - too hell with this arrogantly odious mindset, even if it was tolerated in the past!?

"Where and when did we surrender the right to self-determination? When did we begin to elect kings and not peers to act upon our needs, wishes and collective orders? When have we ever blindly accept liars and users, and then fallen upon their golden swords in the names of absolute power, ambition and total control?

We are not an oligarchy, a dictatorship, or a despotic empire. And we only lose our right to free speech when we ourselves surrender it, with heads bowed I might add!? And justice too, remains ours until we shut our eyes and lie prostate before those who would rip it from our very souls!

"This is our country, we are the government, the people are the power, and the honorable, law-abiding citizens alone are the dictators of their own fate!"

If we do not agree with the path that our great nation is being led down, then it is our right and our responsibility to lawfully cast aside those who would (and have) done the same to us when the whim arose!

We have the power of the vote, the right to Civil Disobedience, the right to recall and impeach, and most of all, we have a mandate to let our voices be heard, in indignation if needs must! In this respect, and even though some might prefer to see it altered, nothing has changed since the days of Patrick Henry, Samuel Adams and Thomas Paine!

Did not Abraham Lincoln once say: (1861)

?This Country, With Its Institutions, Belongs To The People Who Inhabit !t!?

?VOTE WISELY IN 2004?

VERITAS :cd: