The Enduring American
Barry MacDonald -- Editorial
On the ninth anniversary of 9/11, on the History Channel on cable TV, I watched the events of the attack unfold up to the collapse of the towers. There was no professional narration, only the spontaneous expressions of people on the street, and the sights and sounds of that day.
For everyone watching it was as if we were present that day: The faces and voices full of terror, the falling bodies of people who decided it was better to jump than to burn, the various sirens, the masses of people fleeing, and then the first collapse, and the other -- the towers roaring down into a surging explosion of concrete, steel, glass, and human remains.
But what stands out days after watching the program are the faces of five firemen, and one in particular, walking towards the burning towers and looking up 100 floors to the daunting task at hand. A single fireman reflected fear, perplexity, and resolve in a moment, and he just walked to the towers with his heavy gear.
After the towers were down and the raw footage concluded, those who made the video spoke about their experiences. The person who filmed the firemen said they were not among those who survived. It was the face of the fireman that stays with me. His bravery made an impression.
His bravery and sense of duty contrasts with just about anything else one might see on television concerning current affairs. The opinion polls ask whether our nation is on the right track or wrong track, and these days Americans are saying by large margins that we are heading in the wrong direction. The president is becoming unpopular, Congress is despised, and news organizations are not trusted.
The American people have lost faith in our entire leadership. The Obama administration claims that the $800 billion stimulus worked while we know it failed. The politicians pretend they didn't bailout Wall Street and the auto companies, they didn't pass Healthcare reform, and pass cap and trade through the House. The Democrats pretend looming regulation and taxation will not slow the economy -- we know otherwise.
Americans are tired of fighting a nation-building war in Afghanistan. Do we chase Al-Qaeda through all the law-less regions of the world with hundreds of thousands of troops? Will we commit substantial forces to Yemen or Somalia next? Where do we draw the line?
In our guts we know the amount of money state and federal governments are spending cannot be continued, even if we benefit financially from a government program ourselves. The financial ruin of the country looms over the horizon while our politicians practice deceit and misdirection -- and more and more of us are recognizing the deceit and misdirection.
I believe that the majority of the American people have more in common with that brave fireman who did his duty on 9/11 than with our current political and cultural elite; maybe we have a sense of duty buried within. I believe that most ordinary Americans are decent, hardworking, honest, and tend towards independence. It is a good thing that we are growing tired of deceitful leadership because if we are to return the nation to prosperity we will have to elect a better class of people through many elections. *
"The Budget should be balanced, the Treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt. People must again learn to work, instead of living on pubic assistance." --Cicero, 55 B.C.
Some of the quotes following each article have been gathered by The Federalist Patriot at: http://FederalistPatriot.US/services.asp.
We would like to thank the following people for their generous support of this journal (from 7/12/2010 to 9/13/2010): Ariel, David J. Bean, Bud & Carol Belz, Aleatha W. Berry, Floyd A. Bishop, Dino Casali, Mark T. Cenac, Dianne C. DeBoest, Guy F. Dinocenza, Don Dyslin, Jerome C. Fritz, Donald G. Galow, Jane F. Gelderman, Hollis, J. Griffin, Joyce Griffin, Thomas E. Heatley, H. Ray Hodges, Mary A. Kelley, Edward B. Kiolbasa, Reubin A. Larson, Herbert London, Angus MacDonald, Stanley C. McDonald, Thomas J. McGreevy, Roberta R. McQuade, Gary J. Pressley, Ronald N. Raimondo, Mark Richter, Patrick L. Risch, Richard P. Schonland, Joseph M. Simonet, Leif Solberg, Norman Stewart, Michael S. Swisher, Alan Rufus Waters, Robert L. Wichterman, Eric B. Wilson, Piers Woodriff, William P. Wortman.
