We didn’t invent the present,
We’re only reliving the past;
Nothing we do today is
A vote that’s never been cast.

Life is all about growing,
Not looking back with remorse;
We’ll apologize once for our sins,
We will not rehash them once more.

We didn’t choose the future, and had
Nothing to do with the past; why
Second guess the sins of our fathers;
They did what they thought was right.

We are not tools for your ambitions,
Your cynical ploys of change;
Nor pawns in your ruinous scheme,
Using others to achieve your aims.

If asked for advice I would offer,
Cast off your blinders and see;
The greatness that America offers,
Opportunities boundless and free.

Your cause is to divide the people,
To separate mother from son;
To orchestrate chaos and envy,
To set us one against one.

You’ve named the victim the oppressor,
The thieves are all Robin Hood;
Good and bad have now switched places,
In a world so misunderstood.

America comes from a long line of heroes,
Who bled for the country they loved;
They stood for their flag and their anthem
And knelt before the Father they served.

Fleeing the lands of their birth,
Seeking liberty, shelter, and food;
Our mothers gave birth on the prairie,
Our fathers’ backs blistered and burned.

Subsisting from hand to mouth,
They toiled and baked day and night;
Every penny they earned from a bargain,
Bought school clothes, books, and light.

They came to this country with nothing,
They died having given their best;
The children they birthed in pain,
Grew up strong and happy and blessed.

The rights they cited shook the world,
Individual freedom and liberty for all;
Though some remained shackled and bound,
Every American today, free at last.

Freedom of speech is guaranteed,
Man must not fear for his voice;
But freedom of speech isn’t free,
When it disagrees with your offense of choice.

Nothing was taken for granted,
Not even the freedoms they loved;
Our ancestors never complained,
But gave thanks to God above.

They may not be right in your eyes,
But you didn’t live with them then;
You don’t know the hopes that drove them,
To seek freedom from tyrannical men.

The right to bear arms is a check,
On a Government grown too large;
A Government too large is a threat,
To the Freedom and Liberty of all.

Our ancestors built this country,
Acre by acre without government aid;
They worked their fingers to the bone,
To give you the right to complain.

If asked for advice I would offer,
No American wants you to fail;
Stop being a tool for an agenda,
That considers you weak and unable.

You call out protection of others,
As oppression of a selected few;
But fail to recognize those who
Pull your strings and laugh at you.

If asked for advice I would offer,
Your misplaced sense of oppression
Is worthy of honest conversation,
But look around our largest cities
At the violence, death, and frustration.

The place of protest is not in games, or
Showing disrespect for our national ensign,
But in the city halls of those who govern,
And ignore the senseless murder of young men.

They haven’t your interests at heart,
They don’t care if you ever succeed;
You’re a pawn in their socialist plot,
To keep you in misery, want, and need.

If asked for advice I would offer,
Americans cheer your success;
Together we feed off the efforts,
Of all those who give their best.

To achieve your new order ends,
Division, anger, and hate are
The hallmarks of your agenda,
An evil, unhappy, enslaved fate.

If asked for advice I would offer,
Our ancestors gave up their joys,
To bring us in from the rain,
Now let’s come together as One,
Black and White, their efforts must not be in vain.

I don’t wade into politics on my blog, but I felt compelled to write this in light of so much anti-American rhetoric posted lately. It hurts me to see my beloved country abused so hatefully by its own citizens.

My entire life has been spent connected to the military – I grew up an Air Force Brat and served twenty-seven years in the Navy. There’s never been a day in my life that I wasn’t deeply aware of how great my country is. I’ve served on every continent but one and sailed aboard aircraft carriers in every sea. I’ve lived in dozens of countries. I can honestly say no other country offers the bounties and opportunities America offers. I’ve seen wholesale slaughter, blood in the streets, and homeless children wailing for their parents. I’ve seen epileptics convulsing in the street, and mentally-challenged children begging coins on the corner. I’ve seen little girls in white gowns with tiaras on their beautiful heads sitting in canoes in the middle of a filthy, shit-filled, disease-ridden river begging coins from passers-by on the bridge above them. With America, I’ve never seen a country whose  peoples smile with whiter, straighter teeth. You may think that’s funny, but we and a few other countries are the exception. The health of peoples’ teeth is a damn good indicator of the health of the country they live in.

America is not perfect, but it is the land of opportunity. We are all free. A small segment of the population insists otherwise.