Patriots Arise...

Let's Make America Patriotic Again

If we are going to make America great again (MAGA), we must make America patriotic again (MAPA). What better time to start than at the beginning of our 250th year as the United States of America?

What a magnificent country America has become. It is still the land of liberty that our founding fathers constructed. We are as free as can be, even with the constraints of law that are required to maintain as much stability and tranquility as possible.

The liberties we enjoy allow all to find happiness along any path in life we chose.

Oh yes, sometimes when we make wrong choices and we fail. But we can always start over, learn from our mistakes, and chose another road to success and fulfillment. We live in a land of opportunity that rewards effort, innovation, honesty, fairness and charity.

No matter what race, no matter what political stance, no matter our choice of moral standards, no matter what strength we have, no matter our religion, no matter our financial condition, no matter whether we were born here or choose to be here legally, we are all Americans.

We look out for each other and resist the lawlessness of those that would rather steal from us than work with us. We offer ourselves and our loved ones to defend our homeland, our cities and our neighborhoods.

When Americans stand together, America stands strong against all peril.

Yes, America is not perfect, but it beats every other alternative.

We should arise each day and thank our creator that He placed us here.

I remember well a day in high school when a special assembly was called and a United States Senator was at our school to speak to us.

It was Sen. Jennings Randolph, D-W.Va., and it was a day in the mid-1960s. He spoke for about 30 minutes on the greatness of this country. How patriotism had produced a thriving country that had become a world leader in its first 200 years.

He made us feel proud to be Americans and he encouraged us to public service, to community involvement and to live productive lives that would benefit our great country.

How different that approach was to the rhetoric we hear today from our politically paralyzed politicians. They are nothing but nabobs of negativity.

That needs to change over the next 12 months. We need to return to the respect that once was required even when we disagreed. We are all entitled to our opinions.

America is great because we all have the right to be wrong. But we all also have the right to reject what is wrong.

Sometimes the political discourse we get in the great halls of our government sounds more like the childish name-calling of a fifth-grade playground.

America really needs to be united again.

"A house divided against itself cannot stand," Abraham Lincoln said in an 1858 speech in his campaign for the U.S. Senate, which he lost.

Middle ground in politics today is the rarest of commodities. Neither side is right all the time and neither side is wrong all the time. Yet, we stand with a high degree of reluctance to come to the middle.

Over the next 12 months, let’s savor the greatness of our country. Let’s cheer our patriots and drown out the din of despair from those who would like to tear down our great country.

Fly our flag with pride.

“My country ‘tis of thee, sweet land of liberty. Of the I sing…”

Thanks for reading. Your comments would make this post much better.

Or you could buy me a coffee here. I’ll enjoy it with my apple pie.