Test Your First Amendment

When I was a small child, my grandmother would tell me the reasons that America went to war in WW2. She would tell me about the sacrifices made by those left at home, and she was very proud to have worked in a rail yard (whatever that is) while all her brothers and her future husband were off fighting the war. My grandfather would tell me stories about the war, like how they would be happy to get a hot meal once a week, and how they tired of picking meal worms and weavols from their biscuits, so they just ate them. My father told me stories from the Vietnam war, how "Charlie" would do horrible things to American soldiers, and how they would return the favor if given the opportunity.

Now my generation complains because we don't have up-armored humvees. We whine because our body armor doesn't fit right. We piss and moan because we only got two hot meals a day in Iraq. People raise hell about the supposed torture of terrorists at Gitmo while ignoring Al Jazeera's public airing of the beheading of civilians and "Sniper Videos" in which American Soldier's dead bodies are televised for all the world to see.

Every day some well-meaning civilian tells me that they appreciate what I do. "Support our Troops" bumper stickers are everywhere. I think of those who came before me and feel shame. I should never complain.

I spoke of this with my grandmother a few months before she died, and she encouraged me to make a difference. She also reminded me that her generation had worked very hard to pass a better life to my generation.

Will our posterity say the same of us?

What direction are we taking as a nation? What are our plans? Where do we wish to be in fifty years? We can't even agree that illegal immigrants don't belong here. We feel guilty about "profiling" Muslims, after they killed over 3,000 unarmed Americans. Or are we letting the fringe elements more voice than they should have?

I challenge you all to offend someone today. Not for the sake of offense, but for the sake of what is right. Point out the flaws in someone's logic today. Argue out loud about illegal immigration. Draw your peers into a political discussion. Defend your religion. Point out the obvious flaws in common political solutions. Stir it up.

Or can we still do that?