It is not our goal, it is our legacy

For many of us, 2020 seemed like a nightmare that you just couldn’t wake up from and we were all hanging our hopes on 2021 bringing a much better year. After basically trading our normal, everyday life in for a mask, $1200 and the promise that it will all be over soon, we arrived at 2021 expecting something more. What we have gotten so far is a plethora of designer masks ( thanks to Christmas stockings), $600 and a vaccine that those that want it can’t seem to find and many more are more afraid to take. Oh, and did I mention some of most disturbing, Anti-American behavior in the modern history of our great nation. In the past year, we have burned buildings and terrorized business owners of all colors and put our law enforcement in jeopardy in the name of racial justice. We cry that you cannot judge a racial group by the most criminal element and I totally agree. But justice and fairness must be painted with the same brush so likewise law enforcement cannot be judged as a whole by their few bad actors. Yet we did just that and we patted ourselves on the back for our progressive point of view, yet we scream when those same law enforcement officers are over run by another small group of bad actors when the Capitol Building was stormed last week. No thinking person believes that racial profiling is right and good. Just the same, no thinking person believes that political profiling is right or good. Conservatives are not all insane cultists and not all liberals are baby killing socialists. There are good and bad in both parties. Storming a Federal Building was egregious to the American people and our beloved values. Burning out buildings of honest folks trying to make a living is egregious to the American people and our beloved values. Both are equally abhorrent acts and so, so far beneath our standards of conduct that no thinking person can defend either act. Most people live somewhere in the middle of the red, white and blue dividing line. But somehow in this time of pandemic we have learned to not just fear our neighbor, we have learned to hate our neighbor.. What a sad, sad legacy to leave out children.

It is time for this country to come together again. We are not divided by North or South, Red or Blue, Conservative or Liberal. We are divided by our desire to be correct. To be justified in our personal biases. Both sides have cried foul during election time, the cry just came four years apart. There are many folks that will never believe that Clinton was not robbed of the 2016 election and there are many who will always believe that Trump was the true winner of the 2020 election. So, different sides of the same coin but still the same coin. We, the people, have let politicians who don’t even know our name drive a stake in the heart of democracy. The polarization is good for them because if we are focused on retribution from each other we will turn a blind eye to what they are doing with our money, our future and our freedoms.

For nearly one year we have done as we were told and stayed home like a grounded teenager. It will get better they said. But they were all wrong. We have sacrificed our family( many dying sad and alone). We have sacrificed our economy( many businesses will never recover from the lengthy shutdown) and we have sacrificed our sanity ( murders, suicides, alcoholism, drug addiction and abuse number all rising). What have we gotten in return? Covid numbers are still on the rise even in places that have been on shutdown mode for months. Most disturbing is that our citizens have turned on each other. It is time to stop the insanity. We are not each others enemies. The same people that we are berating over social media and hating in our hearts are the neighbors and family that before rushed in when need arose. We have traversed tragedy for many years together and together is when we are strongest and at our best. Folks it is time to lay down the sword of discontent and remember who you were raised to be. Would your grandparents be proud of you now? If not, then please think before you act and act like you are an American;an American that is surrounded by neighbors of all races, colors, religions, political affiliations and, sometimes, with different ideas about what is right and wrong. Believe me, most people don’t want a society on either fringe, We like middle ground, where the ground is firm and the drop not so steep.

Repairing this nation starts with one person at a time making an effort. It is time to start now before we cross lines that we cannot uncross and we change our wonderful country into something that we will not even recognize.

“One Nation Under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all”. It is not our goal, it is our legacy that was bought with the blood of those who wanted a better way of life for those that they loved and it is one that we should never, never squander.