Let's Breathe Life Back Into America

The future is created through the combination of our collective remembrance and our vision of prosperity.  We are a nation founded on greatness.  Previous generations of Americans fought tooth and nail to ensure our national stability and strength.  We, the children of this great nation, the mothers and fathers, the brothers and sisters, embodied by the hallowed red, white and blue, must today, reconstitute the national wherewithal that William Tyler Page carved into the marble pillars of American greatness in 1917. 

A creed is a system, a doctrine, an oath, an article of faith, as well as a summarization of one’s overarching ideological beliefs.  Individuals who stand by “the American Creed” base their identity on its core values; more importantly, our creed codifies individuals within our country as members of a nation of people who identify themselves—despite trivial differences and minutiae—as Americans; something greater than the individual self.  If you live in the United States of America, and you identify yourself as an American, it will be impossible to avoid shivers and goose bumps while reading “the American Creed;” those uncontrollable sensations that remind you of your morality and mortality.  Breathe it in my American Brothers and Sisters; let your hearts beat to the drum of inspiration nationalism:

“I believe in the United States of America, as a government of the people, by the people, for the people;

whose just powers are derived from the consent of the governed; a democracy in a republic;

a sovereign Nation of many sovereign States; a perfect union, one and inseparable;

established upon those principles of freedom, equality, justice, and humanity

for which American patriots sacrificed their lives and fortunes.

I therefore believe it is my duty to my country to love it, to support its Constitution,

to obey its laws, to respect its flag, and to defend it against all enemies.”

In merely one hundred words – a feat in itself – Page powerfully summarized both the American political tradition and the responsibilities of every citizen to his or her government.  The American Creed uses passages and phrases from America’s Declaration of Independence, the Preamble to the Constitution, Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, and Daniel Webster’s reply to Robert Y. Hayne in the Senate in 1830.  When Page was asked about what he had written, he said that “It is the summary of the fundamental principles of the American political faith as set forth in its greatest documents, its worthiest traditions, and its greatest leaders.”

Try this one on again too; it goes hand-in-hand with “the American Creed” (it’s more powerful if read aloud): 

“I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands,

one Nation, under God, indivisible, with Liberty, and Justice, for all.”

Do you pledge?  I do.

The red blood thrust from the heart allows the body to grow strong, but over time it loses its constitution, its force which allows life; a change is made from red to blue.  We too, for a time, became blue.  The blood that enters the heart is blue, that much is true, but to keep the body fed, the blood—without fail—again becomes red. 

Within the Creed’s ideology lies salvation: it allows us to once again become a nation of Americans, without the party ties that are slowly tearing us apart.  “The American Creed” is the heartbeat that nourishes our national body with the power to grow; stronger than we have ever been.  It is “the American Creed” that will strengthen the pulse of our nation; it is the heart muscle of our national body.  All that we need to do is look to it for direction, for the future purpose of America.

What has happened to us, in contrast with previous patriotic generations; why don’t Americans believe in the future of America today?  Why are we standing idly by while the once experimental form of government known as Democracy is, in front of our eyes, being slowly subjugated by the catastrophic politics of yesteryear?

By calling on you to introspectively examine yourself, I’ve also challenged myself.  I challenge what we have allowed ourselves to accept in modernity: mediocrity.  I challenge you to chisel “the American Creed” into your personal constitution, and challenge those around you to do so as well.  We need the Creed, we need to believe in the strength of ourselves and others, we need to believe in the future of America, we need to believe in what we are: Americans united as Americans.    

If I’ve challenged your beliefs, then I’ve done what I can.  Now it is up to you.  If you love our great country, and you were rocked by reading “The American Creed” and “The Pledge of Allegiance,” join me.  Your purpose is there, your perspective, you live in it.   

Together, we can breathe life back into America.


Talon's Out

"Obamaberry Blue": Progressive Failure

I’ve never bet on a horse race; too risky a venture for my increasingly malnourished bank accounts.  In fact, I’ve never been able to trust myself enough to gamble; with money that is.  I do however stake my reputation – one of the few things I truly own – more often than I like to admit.  The beauty of socially constructed, metaphysical phenomena synonymous personal effects like my ‘reputation,’ is that they’re ideas that are assigned worth – a commonly held opinion of one’s character – rather than tangible treasures easily attained or squandered.  I can lose face for a time, when I mistakenly stake my notoriety against stacked odds, but it is only for a time.

Renown is renewable.  It doesn’t typically take much for an everyday guy like me to redeem his recognition; that fact, is due mostly to the societal responsibilities inherent my particular station in life – or lack-there-of.  There aren’t many consequences for my actions, when the ‘big picture’ is the lens.  The ‘big picture’ is a puzzle, which by fickle virtue will remain forever unfinished.  There is no static snapshot on the box top to refer to when befuddled.

Here’s a big picture to puzzle: saddled atop the political “Iron Horse” of America’s thoroughbred racing heritage is a man who recently became its below-the-waist-bowing jockey.  He wagered more than his reputation to get the job; he had the audacity to ante America’s reputation.  Insulting at the very least: America’s thus far superior status is the cumulative result of over two-hundred back-breaking years of growth, progress and hundreds upon thousands of men and women who willingly sacrificed themselves for an idea – a Republican Ideology that was meant to stick – a flavor that was meant to last, not to be reconstructed by an “Iron Horse” that believes “American Government 2.0: the Socialist version” is an upgrade. 

As someone who typically enjoys the pursuit more than the result – anticipation more sacred than attainment – I appreciate studying the ways in which events develop.  There are a set of pieces to even the most trivial of daily puzzles.  The emotional satisfaction following the beginning, middle and completion of any puzzle is very much like – in my mind – the ritual of chewing a piece gum: when you buy a package of gum you know what flavor you’re in for (anticipation;) when you begin to chew, you are rewarded with the burst of flavor, confirming your expectations (beginning;) like most things in life though, the tremendous flavor starts at its zenith, declining into routine, unexciting normality (middle;) the only logical option is to begin anew – a fresh stick the only remedy for the boring, bland wad mashed between your molars (completion).  It could be said that the act of chewing gum is a “progressive failure” – an idea rooted in oxymoronic hypocrisy that is beginning to make more and more sense as we collectively watch events unfold. 

We chew gum daily, without thinking about it, even though we know the endgame is inevitably lacking.  That seemingly worthless act is very similar to how we vote for presidents every four years, even though we know that the majority of what the president-elect has promised is, not for lack of a better term, bullshit.  However, the possible “refresh” allowed by our political system every four years is also one of its best selling points. 

Today’s Republican victory in the Massachusetts Senate race was like placing another piece in the puzzle that Republicans, Conservatives, Moderates, and Independents (increasingly more Liberals and Democrats,) have been trying to put together since November ’08 – more appropriately – it was the piece that completed the border for the puzzle of 2012. 

In retrospect, connecting all the dots from last years events has not proved too daunting a task; like a “connect the dots” on a placemats at Denny’s.  The once undecipherable message hidden amongst the matrix of dots is all too clear now.  When all 365 dots are connected, they appear to spell out the same thing that Obama’s once elated masses have been saying under their breath with elevating concern and disbelief: “WTF.” 

I’ll tell you WTF – America has spoken, Americans have spoken, the people are back and the authentic way of American politics won’t be far behind.  The “victor” will be Republicans or Democrats in 2010, and the same in 2012, but one thing is for certain, the true winner will be America and every single American; for that is what we truly are.  If this preemptive Republican shrug is to be taken as a sign of things to come, there will not even be one shred of Socialist programs left by 2012.  Hopefully this will all seem like some kind of sick joke.

The anticipation and initial flavor rush of “Obamaberry Blue” was so tantalizing it enchanted a nation.  The nation’s jaw is becoming too sore to ignore.  The packaging was misleading; America is allergic to the socialist ingredients that were hidden by eloquent rhetoric.  This national blunder needs to be documented and studied so that even the most magnificent of wordsmiths won’t again be able to package and push a poisonous product on the American political consumer.  Luckily, gum can be spit-out. 

If we don’t spit this gum out by 2012, America risks socialist blood poisoning. 

Starting today, I’m boycotting blue gum.

Talon's Out