The army was small, rag tag and ill equipped. Uniforms often consisted of no more than the pants and jackets found in the soldiers’ closets at home, suited for farming but not fighting. Weapons fit the same description, hung above fireplaces or leaning beside front doors.
The foes, by comparison, were trained fighters with everything needed to march into battle.
But the foes came up short in the important things necessary for victory, guts and purpose – patriotism.
The rag tag soldiers were determined to be free. They fired the first shot and freedom followed. But not without a price. Death and blood covered the countryside, but Americans, united in their cause, won their freedom.
The guts and determination of those first patriots set what was supposed to be an unwavering course for the United States. And for centuries that was the case.
The course hit some bumps in Vietnam, but seemed to be resurrected September 11, 2001, when Americans came together as if Pearl Harbor had just been bombed again. Leaders took action.
Then came Benghazi September 11, 2012. Four Americans were murdered by terrorists, including a U.S. ambassador.
Americans were outraged. Then-president Barack Obama and then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton did nothing. Politics replaced patriotism in the nation’s capitol. Questions, accusations and investigations became more important than freedom, more important than life itself.
And it’s those politics that are steering the country today, steering it toward a plunge down a deep canyon. And the national media – yes, media – is going along for the ride. In some cases, it’s even steering.
Tuesday night, January 7, I stopped as I walked through the living room. The television showed a dark sky with words about missiles being fired into Iraq from Iran, missiles aimed at U.S. targets.
I was hungry to find out the facts, so I started surfing the channels. More than 30 missiles. No, maybe only 12. No reports of casualties. Iraq wasn’t trying to hit us, or maybe they were.
No real facts were to be heard and then came the interviews with politicians who had opinions. News became nothing but what we’ve come to expect from Fox, CNN, MSNBC and the like – political propaganda. Interviewers, highly trained at their objectives, put words int he mouths of the most astute speakers. Anger was stirred, but not against America’s enemies.
Everyone blamed President Donald Trump who had only days before done a great service by taking out one of America’s most notorious enemies – a murderer of Americans.
Political hate is on its throne in Washington, D.C., destroying this country from within.
Everything is about politics. Nothing is about people.
America’s enemies, the same ones that struck in 2001, are still out there. Waiting. Enjoying our division.
Politicians are elected to lead and protect the people, not waste time arguing like little children on a playground.
It’s time Washington’s politicians returned to patriotism, to the guts and purpose that founded this country.
Under the current House of Representatives leadership, America isn’t ready. And someone is going to fire the first shot.
Glenn Harbison is publisher/editor of The New News Observer. He can be reached at 706-632-2019 or by email at glenn@thenewsobserver.com.