Posts Tagged ‘History’
Forgetting the evil
“I ask nothing of the Jews except that they should disappear.” – Hans Frank, Nazi governor of Poland Last week I apologized to a Jewish friend for again forgetting the evil, the third year in a row I promised myself I would not forget. I am exactly what evil wants, what evil needs to succeed; […]
It’s our choice
“The real problem is in the hearts and minds of men. It is easier to denature plutonium than to denature the evil spirit of man.” Albert Einstein Larry Echohawk, the assistant secretary for Indian Affairs at the U.S. Department of Interior, recently commented on the mistreatment of the “first Americans” by the United States government. […]
“Earn this. Earn it.” – Veteran’s Day
Who are the men and women we honor each year on Veterans Day? An anonymous person offered the following description – “A veteran is someone who at one point in life wrote a blank check made payable to the United States of America for an amount of ‘up to and including my life.’” What makes […]
Who are ‘real’ Americans
“Our great modern Republic. May those who seek the blessings of its institutions and the protection of its flag remember the obligations they impose.” President Ulysses S. Grant said it well. It is a blessing to be an American, protected under its flag. But who are the “real” Americans? I recently had occasion to ask […]
The best man I ever new – Father’s Day 2009
When the call came that August day, I was working at Safeway, stocking grocery shelves to earn money for college. My dad was dead; a heart attack. The family anchor was gone. Dad was 60, I was 19, and too young to lose my dad. I was at the age when you know the least, […]
Is the United States an empire in demise?
George Bernard Shaw said, “We learn from history that we learn nothing from history.” What did our Founding Fathers want for this United States of America? Did they want complacency? Did they hope for mediocrity? Did they dream of dependency? Or, did they demand freedom and opportunity; freedom and opportunity at any price. What have […]
We ask them to kill – VETERAN’S DAY
We ask our military to do the unspeakable, the unthinkable. We ask them to kill fellow human beings. We ask of them what we are unable to ask of ourselves. Moreover, we do not want to see or know what they do. We are appalled when we see a television image of a marine killing […]
Taps for the fallen brave – MEMORIAL DAY
Today we remember those who died in our nation’s service. Today we proudly display the American flag, a small flag in the living room window or a huge flag on a flagpole, the size is irrelevant. The flag is flown at half-staff until noon to honor the fallen brave, and then flown at full staff […]
“A brother’s a brother”
I recently made each of my three brothers a gift, an irregularly shaped piece of three-quarter inch thick walnut about seven inches square, with a two-inch by six-inch brass plaque. In front of the plaque sits a metal scale model 1996 John Deere riding lawn mower and four small sticks tied in a bundle. I […]
The war we don’t celebrate
Shouldn’t we celebrate the anniversary of a war? Don’t the lost lives deserve recognition? Most wars do deserve celebration; but not all wars. Wars that never seem to end, that have ongoing deaths, are difficult to celebrate. Wars like those in many third world countries seem endless; seem to be a way of life, continuing […]
The price of ‘freeing the oppressed’
How do you propose an acceptable number of dead American military personnel? How do you justify losing even one American life. Are there acceptable deaths? My inability to answer these questions is probably why I did not have the character to serve my country while many of my family members did. Maybe I could never […]