This is something that I wrote a couple months back when I was at work... just thought that I'd share it w/ you! In my everyday life, having grown up in the generation that I have, I’ve seen things that my parents and grandparents hoped that I would have never had to see. Things they hoped that I would never have to live through because of the sacrifices their generation and generations before made for the sake of their country and their families freedom.
In speaking with one of the guests that frequent my place of business, I realized when people say, “you kids have it so much easier today than we ever did growing up” that they’re wrong and there are so many things that we can say to prove that. We are currently fighting a war that we should have never been involved in the first place. We are always looking over our shoulder for terrorists that are just laying in wait to strike us down when we are at our weakest. We are constantly watching the stock markets in fear of another “Black Friday”. We are always wondering when we wake up in the morning whether we are going to have a job to go to tomorrow or fearing that we will be sent home early and we’ll have to figure out a way to tell our family that we were just laid off. We are struggling, with the rising cost of gas and other things that are so essential to everyday life to make it day-to-day and with that more and more people are living paycheck-to-paycheck than ever have before.
There is an obvious issue with national security in this country since 9/11; however, the government is trying to take things too far. It seems that any phone calls that may seem “suspicious” to the government may now be monitored and the reason for this is to protect the interest of national security in this country. I hardly think that monitoring phone calls of normal, everyday citizens such as you and I pose any a threat to the future of this country. What would help is if the FBI and the CIA would start sharing information that they receive instead of being so territorial and possibly putting the country at risk. Sometimes I wonder if the members of the Bureau and the Agency forget the oath they took to protect their country and the citizens that inhabit her.
In the past few years, but more prevalent in the news this year, we have people speaking out on key issues and calling people out on issues that need to be brought to the attention of the American public. Instead of us being guaranteed this right under the First Amendment we are finding ourselves punished by the government, but they’re doing it in a way that seems subtle at first. Suddenly, normal Americans, some of whom may have just coincidentally released a New-York Times Bestseller or are a journalist for a major news organization are now finding themselves on the “No Fly” list as suspected terrorists simply because they do not agree with the way the country is being run and are speaking out either on their own free will or because it’s their job to do so. Are we all of the sudden turning in to Communist China where speech, television and even how many children a family can have is being regulated by the government?
The end of 2008 and the beginning of 2009 are going to be all about change, regardless of how you look at it. For the first time in history, we have an African-American male and a man who, if elected will be the oldest man ever to take the oath of office as President of the United States in contention for the most prized seat in public politics. Both men, Barack Obama and John McCain have differing platforms that they are running on and both have found a way to back up what they’re looking to get done. Obama and McCain also have strong forces behind their campaigns from Bill and Hilary Clinton and Al Gore on the Democratic side of the aisle to George W. and George H.W. Bush on the Republican side. Regardless of who the President-Elect turns out to be, we need someone who would leave the partisan politics of today behind and start reaching out to the other party and work together to get things accomplished.
Having, for the past 8 years, been lead by a President that seemingly only cared for the country after the despicable acts of September 11, 2001 we, as Americans, have been constantly left to believe that we are still the strongest nation in the world. We have been left to believe that nothing more would happen to the United States of America, a country that once was revered for the power and strength of its military. However, with the world news that is constantly breaking regarding the newest current threat level just issued by the Department of Homeland Security or the current actions being taken against our fighting men and women overseas it is constant proof that this country is living in a world of fear that never should have been. Let’s face it, ladies and gentleman, we’re not who we think we are anymore. We are not what the faces of Washington want us to believe. We are now a nation struggling to live for tomorrow.
