Some years ago when I was still working full-time as a cop, I was involved in an investigation of a burglary where a man's son broke into the man's shop, stole a safe, took it out into the hills and destroyed it to break in. Once the safe was busted open, the young man took a bundle of cash--the object of his crime and burned the remaining contents.
What the petulant child did not know was that the father had gathered several thousand dollars in sequentially-numbered two-dollar bills, intended as gifts for the young man and his siblings. They were packaged in preparation of being presented to each when the occasion was right. The young man thoughtlessly took that money and burned it.
Still worse, among those items burned was a birth certificate. The young man's step-mother, his father's new wife, had placed that certificate in the safe to preserve it. It was the birth certificate of her son, who died soon after being born. She held it dear because it bore his little footprint and hand print--a tangible reminder of that precious little life now lost to her.
To top it all off, when the primary officer on the case confronted this young man, he confessed to the crime (to his credit). He even agreed to accompany us to the location where the safe was broken up and the items burned and subsequently to where the safe had been thrown off a bridge into the river.
As we were being shown the locations, the officer asked if the suspect would be willing to stand in the pictures and point to the various points of interest for future reference. Interestingly, as the young man and his associates stood and pointed at the pile of ashes, etc., they smiled for the pictures. I don't think they gave it any thought. I think it was habitual--you get your picture taken, you smile--but there on the photos were the pictures of this young man and his friends who had destroyed those things held dear by his parents and treasures intended as a gift for him that represented devotion, toil and effort of his father and he was smiling!
The case never made it to a jury, as a plea agreement was quickly arranged. The plea was made in part, no doubt, due to the damning photos of this young man thoughtlessly grinning at this thoughtless act. Again, the smile did not indicate intent, but was certainly indicative of the thoughtlessness and total lack of concern reflected in this crime. The money that was taken was rapidly squandered on meth which was immediately used by the young man and his friends. In other words, it's gone and gone forever. It's worse than gone. It was spent to further the damage already heaped on his father and step-mother--to further destroy himself as well as the relationship and trust that was destroyed by the act.
Now I am witnessing a repeat of this event being played out on the national stage. Our nation was founded on principles that, if adhered to, would guarantee our individual and national liberty and prosperity in perpetuity. Our precious liberties were carefully crafted, paid for literally in priceless blood, sweat and tears of martyrs and patriots over generations. Despite errors and problems along the way, our liberties were handed from generation to generation with considerable care.
Now, like that petulant young man, we are thoughtlessly and to some degree ignorantly discarding and destroying those gifts and treasures that have been so carefully preserved for us by our fathers. We have become increasingly and willingly ignorant of the processes and principles that led to the formation of this unique Republic. We have become increasingly and willingly obsessed with the demands of the moment, regardless of the loss of future treasures for ourselves and others that continued liberty might provide.
Finally, our disrespect and thoughtlessness adds the insult to the injury. I can't help but wonder what the Founders would feel at witnessing this present jettisoning of our liberties in a quest for ease and illusory guarantees from benevolent politicians whose hunger and greed for power rivals that of the most horribly addicted meth fiend. And our acquiescence and our own selfishness that permits us to countenance spending the wealth of our children and grandchildren is the ultimate insult to those who literally laid their lives, fortunes and sacred honor upon the altar of freedom for us!!!
How arrogant is the supposition that all generations should sacrifice to satisfy our greed, our appetites, our transitory demands! This is despicable and so-called leaders who approach decisions on the basis of "What will make me popular?" rather than a careful consideration of consistency with constitutional principle should at the very least be deeply ashamed. At worst, they should be considered traitors to this nation and the principles upon which it was founded and under which it has prospered. They are worthy of the disdain and contempt not only of citizens of this nation, but of all those throughout the world who have looked to the United States as a bastion of liberty and justice for ALL.
The descent into amoral secularism is at once a symptom and accelerant of the present crisis.
We must, as a nation and as citizens [NOT subjects], commit anew to learn and abide by the principles of our founders and fathers. We must understand that the generation that demands the treasures and wealth and sacrifice of all other generations--out of a spirit of selfish ingratitude and thoughtlessness--deserves contempt of all generations and to be denied that treasure, toil and sacrifice. It is tantamount to enslaving both past and future generations--to riotously live off of their labor--in squandering the combined wealth of them all. Moreover, there is an ironic justice in the fact that by thus enslaving those other generations, we submit willingly to the yoke, ourselves!
And we have submitted and are still submitting to this bondage on the thinnest of justifications. Often it is done in the name of party loyalty or in an effort to "get along," to compromise or to observe the rules of proper decorum.
The founders argued heatedly for a wide variety of positions and disparate personal and regional prejudices. Their passionate debating, combined with the inspiration of Heaven, produced the most unique and perfect form of government ever initiated among men in the history of the world. The founding documents comprehends the reality that multiple factions, passionately arguing for primacy through best efforts at persuasion in the arena of ideas would produce the best balance and preserve the liberty of the individual. They warned against powerful political parties that would subordinate multiple factions, demanding they compromise beliefs and principles to combine and achieve primacy and power.
I submit that we are not supposed to "get along" and that we are supposed to vigorously debate and argue over politics and that we desperately need to engage one another as neighbors and fellow citizens, not as party hacks. I do NOT advocate "bipartisanship" or "getting along" to "get along. " I advocate vigorous and passionate debate because the obvious universal result is increased introspection and increased care over the precious gifts handed down to us by our forebears. As Thomas Jefferson encouraged, we should "question with boldness," and we are duty bound as citizens to follow George Washington's counsel to "hold to the truth!"
Our nation, our liberty, our freedom and the future of our children are at stake! We're not watching a sporting event and rooting for the team we identify with to win, regardless of the cost! We need not be subjects to our parties any more than we should be to government--any more than our children should be to our greed!! But we MUST engage in the process. We MUST argue for our most deeply held beliefs. We MUST work to persuade and convince and we MUST scrutinize and evaluate those beliefs in the arena of ideas to find and pursue the best course for ourselves, our country and our children's future. This is our duty.
Our fathers dedicated their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor. Can we really ...really be willing to sacrifice anything less?
What the petulant child did not know was that the father had gathered several thousand dollars in sequentially-numbered two-dollar bills, intended as gifts for the young man and his siblings. They were packaged in preparation of being presented to each when the occasion was right. The young man thoughtlessly took that money and burned it.
Still worse, among those items burned was a birth certificate. The young man's step-mother, his father's new wife, had placed that certificate in the safe to preserve it. It was the birth certificate of her son, who died soon after being born. She held it dear because it bore his little footprint and hand print--a tangible reminder of that precious little life now lost to her.
To top it all off, when the primary officer on the case confronted this young man, he confessed to the crime (to his credit). He even agreed to accompany us to the location where the safe was broken up and the items burned and subsequently to where the safe had been thrown off a bridge into the river.
As we were being shown the locations, the officer asked if the suspect would be willing to stand in the pictures and point to the various points of interest for future reference. Interestingly, as the young man and his associates stood and pointed at the pile of ashes, etc., they smiled for the pictures. I don't think they gave it any thought. I think it was habitual--you get your picture taken, you smile--but there on the photos were the pictures of this young man and his friends who had destroyed those things held dear by his parents and treasures intended as a gift for him that represented devotion, toil and effort of his father and he was smiling!
The case never made it to a jury, as a plea agreement was quickly arranged. The plea was made in part, no doubt, due to the damning photos of this young man thoughtlessly grinning at this thoughtless act. Again, the smile did not indicate intent, but was certainly indicative of the thoughtlessness and total lack of concern reflected in this crime. The money that was taken was rapidly squandered on meth which was immediately used by the young man and his friends. In other words, it's gone and gone forever. It's worse than gone. It was spent to further the damage already heaped on his father and step-mother--to further destroy himself as well as the relationship and trust that was destroyed by the act.
Now I am witnessing a repeat of this event being played out on the national stage. Our nation was founded on principles that, if adhered to, would guarantee our individual and national liberty and prosperity in perpetuity. Our precious liberties were carefully crafted, paid for literally in priceless blood, sweat and tears of martyrs and patriots over generations. Despite errors and problems along the way, our liberties were handed from generation to generation with considerable care.
Now, like that petulant young man, we are thoughtlessly and to some degree ignorantly discarding and destroying those gifts and treasures that have been so carefully preserved for us by our fathers. We have become increasingly and willingly ignorant of the processes and principles that led to the formation of this unique Republic. We have become increasingly and willingly obsessed with the demands of the moment, regardless of the loss of future treasures for ourselves and others that continued liberty might provide.
Finally, our disrespect and thoughtlessness adds the insult to the injury. I can't help but wonder what the Founders would feel at witnessing this present jettisoning of our liberties in a quest for ease and illusory guarantees from benevolent politicians whose hunger and greed for power rivals that of the most horribly addicted meth fiend. And our acquiescence and our own selfishness that permits us to countenance spending the wealth of our children and grandchildren is the ultimate insult to those who literally laid their lives, fortunes and sacred honor upon the altar of freedom for us!!!
How arrogant is the supposition that all generations should sacrifice to satisfy our greed, our appetites, our transitory demands! This is despicable and so-called leaders who approach decisions on the basis of "What will make me popular?" rather than a careful consideration of consistency with constitutional principle should at the very least be deeply ashamed. At worst, they should be considered traitors to this nation and the principles upon which it was founded and under which it has prospered. They are worthy of the disdain and contempt not only of citizens of this nation, but of all those throughout the world who have looked to the United States as a bastion of liberty and justice for ALL.
The descent into amoral secularism is at once a symptom and accelerant of the present crisis.
We must, as a nation and as citizens [NOT subjects], commit anew to learn and abide by the principles of our founders and fathers. We must understand that the generation that demands the treasures and wealth and sacrifice of all other generations--out of a spirit of selfish ingratitude and thoughtlessness--deserves contempt of all generations and to be denied that treasure, toil and sacrifice. It is tantamount to enslaving both past and future generations--to riotously live off of their labor--in squandering the combined wealth of them all. Moreover, there is an ironic justice in the fact that by thus enslaving those other generations, we submit willingly to the yoke, ourselves!
And we have submitted and are still submitting to this bondage on the thinnest of justifications. Often it is done in the name of party loyalty or in an effort to "get along," to compromise or to observe the rules of proper decorum.
The founders argued heatedly for a wide variety of positions and disparate personal and regional prejudices. Their passionate debating, combined with the inspiration of Heaven, produced the most unique and perfect form of government ever initiated among men in the history of the world. The founding documents comprehends the reality that multiple factions, passionately arguing for primacy through best efforts at persuasion in the arena of ideas would produce the best balance and preserve the liberty of the individual. They warned against powerful political parties that would subordinate multiple factions, demanding they compromise beliefs and principles to combine and achieve primacy and power.
I submit that we are not supposed to "get along" and that we are supposed to vigorously debate and argue over politics and that we desperately need to engage one another as neighbors and fellow citizens, not as party hacks. I do NOT advocate "bipartisanship" or "getting along" to "get along. " I advocate vigorous and passionate debate because the obvious universal result is increased introspection and increased care over the precious gifts handed down to us by our forebears. As Thomas Jefferson encouraged, we should "question with boldness," and we are duty bound as citizens to follow George Washington's counsel to "hold to the truth!"
Our nation, our liberty, our freedom and the future of our children are at stake! We're not watching a sporting event and rooting for the team we identify with to win, regardless of the cost! We need not be subjects to our parties any more than we should be to government--any more than our children should be to our greed!! But we MUST engage in the process. We MUST argue for our most deeply held beliefs. We MUST work to persuade and convince and we MUST scrutinize and evaluate those beliefs in the arena of ideas to find and pursue the best course for ourselves, our country and our children's future. This is our duty.
Our fathers dedicated their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor. Can we really ...really be willing to sacrifice anything less?
Well written Bryan. I couldn't agree more! It begs the question: If it's like this now, with generations who "know better" with the history of our forefather's devotion to the principles of our way of life 'close-at-hand? What are we heading into with the next generations of leaders who do NOT have those principles 'close-at-hand'?
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