Honestly I have tried hard to ignore the media on both sides and kept my opinions to myself.  Those that know me know that this is not something I do very easily.

For the record I am conservative in my thinking but try hard to keep an open mind and give all an opportunity to voice their opinions.  Many of my friends have differing views than mine when it comes to politics, but very few who disagree that much of what our Country was founded on is disintegrating before our very eyes.  In the end, whether of liberal beliefs or conservative - we are ALL AMERICANS.

This did not just start yesterday, there has been an eroding of America for many years now.  Those of you who are 30 or older need only look back to your years as a child, when we all said the Pledge of Allegiance in the classroom.  Many of our children have never pledged allegiance to our Flag:

"I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

Many of our children are not learning values in the classroom or at home - the days of going to the principle's office for a smack on the rear are gone and 'just wait till your father gets home' means nothing.  For me, either of those options merely needed to be mentioned to keep me on the straight and narrow growing up.  There is almost a twisted sense that each person is owed something from those who have been successful in life instead of getting up off the couch and finding a job.  What's that you say?  There are no jobs out there?  Unemployment is at 9 percent?  HOGWASH!

The problem with Americans is that we feel that the jobs that are available are beneath us.  We are quick to complain about the immigrants who are moving into our country - guess what folks - they are here because there is WORK.  Work, that is right, I said it!  They are doing the manual labor or menial jobs that many of us would not even consider as a viable option.  They are here because of the promise for a better life!  One free from persecution where the sky is the limit.  I hate to say it, but these same immigrants place more value of being in America than many of those who were born in America.

Whoa is me!  Whoa is me!  Folks we have not seen bad.  Bad is the Great Depression.  Bad is persecution of women and children living under Taliban law years ago in Afghanistan.  Bad is being of Jewish decent in Germany during Hilter's brutal reign.  Bad is being one of the victims of 9/11.  Bad is the Widow and Children of one of our Fallen Heroes.  Need I say more?

We have many issues in our Country in this day and age.  No one person can be blamed for the financial crisis that hit us.  We probably will never know how many or even who was to blame as the powerful in our country seem to protect their own - from corporate America to our elected leaders.  You only need to look at the billions of YOUR tax dollars that have been given to numerous corporations that were deemed 'Too Big To Fail' to realize this.  There have not been, nor will there be any accountability - let alone any repayment (well, unless you consider repayment by you, me and our children as repayment).

Only today I received an email from a lady who wanted to let me know that I should refrain from supporting a group of mothers who cared about their children in the Armed Forces.  She was polite in her dissent, but wanted to state her dissatisfaction with me publicly supporting them as this was viewed as a group that was partisan.  Partisan?  REALLY?  Mothers fearing for their children's safe return is now partisan?  COME ON!

This last week saw closed door meetings with political leaders and the attack on a news organization by our very own administration.  All the while, our Generals charged with carrying out combat operations in Afghanistan are desperately awaiting a decision from our government.  I got it that there are those of you who disagree with our presence in Afghanistan but this is a battle we must fight there and that we must win.  If we do not, we will only see more tragedy on our own soil.

If you really want to participate in the direction of this great country, I strongly suggest you do so by exercising the rights that our founding fathers gave us (and no I am not talking about the right to bear arms):

- The right of free speech

- The right to vote

These two PEACEFUL means granted to all Americans by our Founding Fathers are so very powerful.  They have been there since day one but sadly many choose not to exercise either right.  Rather, the remain silent in terms of speech and vote.  Only after the fact to they choose to cry foul - knowing all along that they were simply too busy or afraid to speak out or stand in line at the polls to cast their ballot.  Those who fill the halls of our local, state and federal capital buildings are there because those who believed they could make a difference went to the polling stations and voted them in.

It is time for everyday Americans to wake up, to give notice of their displeasure or support of the direction that our elected leaders are taking this Great Country.  Being an elected leader means that you are prone to having people who both support you and oppose you - it comes with the job!  At no time should they be calling for the banishment of free speech or free press. 

I will leave you with the words of The Star Spangled Banner which was composed by Francis Scott Key in 1814:

Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hail'd at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thro' the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watch'd, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof thro' the night that our flag was still there.
O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?