If you would like a
friendly hip check to shake yourself into a Memorial Day gait then I would like
to be the one throwing it. The words of Tom Manion did it for me this
morning as I try to imagine Memorial Day through the soul of the father of a
fallen Marine. I will tell you right now as a lowly middle class sales
trader, father of three children ages 6 through 9, I can barely type straight
right now. The thought of being in Tom Manion’s body to receive news
like that has me welling up, trembling and hyperventilating.
You would have had that
conversation with yourself long ago and made peace with the concept of your
child going to war for this country and assigned some probability that they
could die for it. Not necessarily die for the High Tech Ass Kickin' USA
that Thomas Jefferson dreamed about and the one that you hold near and dear to
your heart, but for the one that tends to embarrass us along the global
landscape today, forcing us to close our eyes and grab our forehead in disgust.
We’re better than that yet we live in a place where a banker or
government official can evaporate billions of an innocent parties funds with
the swipe of an unethical transaction and still collect a paycheck at his
mansion in the ‘burbs but there's a chubby pitcher from Texas with stretch
marks at his pectorals on the stand of a high court because of the
inconsistencies in his testimony. Roger
Clemens should answer every single question “don’t we have bigger fish to fry, Your Honor? Where the hell is Jon Corzine?” THAT would be bread and circus.
So I spend a lot if time in this space complaining and
tearing down the system in an attempt to expose some of the fraud, unfairness
and depraved behavior that contributes to a slow decline in the morality and
credit rating of a great nation. After
all we have accomplished then why do we wake up every day trying to succeed or
achieve something, and maybe raise a family to represent our next generation against
the backdrop of bad behavior and a fire hose of decrepit news flow. My daughters love Hannah Montana movies but
the internet is flooded of pictures of the teenager pumping gas with no bra on Hollywood Blvd. and
far worse. Billy Ray might be fine with
that. I am not fine with that but it’s
the message that is being sent. If we
keep raising the debt ceiling, one day our currency will collapse and we, or
our children, will be living through a brutal currency devaluation. Yet we are first treated to a charade, and
then we borrow more money. Do as we say
not as we do at work, at every level.
For
me, it’s just tough love. Discussing the
absurdity is really because I want Americans to hold themselves to the higher
standard we all deserve. The standard our nation’s military has largely
upheld and died for. Our ancestors went through all the trouble and epic
loss of life to get themselves from a group of people looking to be left alone
to worship their God to arguably the world’s most powerful economy and
democracy in a few short centuries. We’ve demonstrated an uncanny ability
as a nation to bounce back from adversity and like John Mellencamp sings - NowMore Than Ever it is important to do it again.
Life is inherently unfair
and I can deal with that but let’s not allow Manion, Rozanski, Snyder,
Douville, Looney, and thousands of others that died for this country before
them to have done so in vein. Let’s
start by holding ourselves to a higher standard, and then those around us will
too. Let’s take a page out of Duane Allman’s
book and take love where we find it and offer it to everyone who will take it,
to seek knowledge from those wiser and try to teach those who wish to learn. I'm
sitting here wishing we could all just be back on the gold standard and the
honor system and I truly believe that if we did everything would be ok.
That’s not going to happen
so we are going to have to do the best with what we have and rely on the hope
that most of human nature is good. I still
believe that livin’ in the USA,
we are afforded a much richer life than living most other places on the globe
and that we have those who have died serving their country to thank for
it. My guts may come up trying to finish
but I’m going to complete a Memorial Day Murph’ this weekend to
say thanks and I think y’all should to.
Now more than ever the U.S.A.
has to pull itself up from its bootstraps and rigorous training is necessary
for sound mind and body so get out there and get after it.
If you believe
Won't you please raise your hands
Let's hear your voices
Let us know where you stand
Don't shout from the shadows
Cause it won't mean a damn
Now more than ever…
