Monday, January 08, 2007

Recent Thoughts

Last week brough news of a national guard unit on the border retreating from an incursion by armed Mexicans. In the old days, when our government wasn't afraid to act like it has a pair, this would have been called an invasion, and we would have responded by sending armed troops agross the border in search of some banditios for a necktie party. Of course, in the old days, it would have been unthinkable to allow illegal immgration to go unchecked, allow services to be granted to illegals---as a matter of right, no less, or to permit undocumented men of middle eastern orgin to skulk around on of our ports.

I haven't yet determined what our government gets out of sitting in the corner sucking its thumb and issuing stupid and dangerous Rules of Engagement to its troops and police. Unlike the bedwetters and pillow-biters of Europe, the populace of this country is still well-armed, and when left to its own defense, it will defend itself. So why, then?

Perhaps because as a nation we have decided to let the inmates run the asylum. We have granted so many rights and entitlements that we cannot expect to do what needs to be done, because we might hurt someone's fweeeings. We might be disrespecting their individuality. We might might expect them to get off the couch and take care of their own messes. We might be expecting them to act like americans, rather than __________-Americans. Maybe someone figured out that as long as the self-imposed shackles stay on, we will continue to be insulted, belittled, and berated as a people, from the self-loathers within, and the evnious without. Maybe these people have set about removing the shackles, by leaving the job to us. By realizing that there are still enough Americans who understand what the word means, who feel the weight of the nation's history, and unrepentant pride in their citizenship to not let continued smacks from the gauntlet go unanswered. Perhaps the only real question is "How Long?"