I know enough to know that it was on a Sunday because my dad had told me they interrupted the Bears game on radio to make the announcement in Chicago.  That was 72 years ago.  Today.

Today, December 7^th, 1941.  It was a day that would live in infamy.  It was a day that shook this country and finally made it wake up to all the terror and all the danger all around.

Sometimes I think I can imagine and almost feel what it was like to be alive in that time.  Alive here at home; alive and in an American uniform overseas; alive and a pilot in the RAF; or maybe in a tank in the north African deserts; alive and landing on a beach on a lonely atoll in the Pacific; alive and just a regular citizen in Nanking, or Manilla, or Stanlingrad, or Naples, or Paris, or Warsaw, or, yes, even in Berlin.

This brings on so many feelings- pride, fear, hopelessness, destitution, anger, frustration, hopefulness, terror, dejection, and, as time would have rolled on a growing feeling that it might soon end and some sort of normalcy return to the world.  To my own little world.

I can imagine a father who has lost contact with his family having no knowledge of whether or not they were still even alive; or of a mother arriving at a concentration camp and having her children pulled from her embrace; or a boy who sees his parents killed by the Nazis or the Fascists or the Japanese; or a young soldier terrified in his first battle; or a grandmother wondering about the four grandsons who are off to a foreign war; or an officer who has to make split decisions on a hot battlefield; or a young girl so fearful of what the enemy soldiers might do to her; or of a father, not so unlike me perhaps, who struggles to the end to protect what remains of his family in the burned out basement of a bombed building in the middle of December in Stalingrad; giving up any of his own food so that he does not have to watch another of his children starve finally to death.

I can sometimes feel these and more and then I look around and realize how very good I have it now and, in comparison, how good I have had it throughout my life.  My struggles pale in comparison- so do so many who claim to have suffered more than they really have if they were to compare it to the world of long ago.  To other times, other places, other people.

I realize and then I further realize how easily and swiftly it might one day change.  I will not force our existence to compare to that of those who truly suffered, to those who paid a much higher price or made a much greater sacrifice (some willingly but many more not so)- that would be absurd.  But I will continue to read and remember, to feel and empathize, to realize how very nearby it all might be, and, most importantly, to make sure that my children are aware of these and other truths.

It is only with our children that we can likely now alter all that exists as threats to us all- whether we see any of it coming or not.

They say FDR saw it coming, KNEW it was coming but I really do not know.

I do know that many men who now rest under water at a place called Pearl Harbor probably never saw it coming but come it did.   And the price they paid can never be repaid unless we honor their memory and work to preserve a country and life that they felt worthy and ready to defend. 

I will not turn my eyes away and I will teach my children to be ever-vigilant and armed with the knowledge and the courage to question and stand up for their beliefs of all that should be.  I will teach them to always honor the brave who have done so, in likely more drastic ways, in the past.  On this day and all others.

Now, as I was reminded by my son, it is time to go and place the flag outdoors for others to see.  And perhaps they, too, might remember with honor and a commitment to stand ever-strong against the tyranny and evil still too readily available in this world we live in.

God bless all of you who fought and even died on our behalf and in our defense.  It is something that cannot be easily repaid and should never be forgotten.  May you always rest in peace.

And may God bless America, this day and all days.

It really never could happen here.  Not to us, not to you- and especially not to me.  Definitely not to me, not here, not now.  I am insulated.  I am free and in that freedom rests my safety.

How free must one feel to rest safely?

How safe must one feel to rest free?

I saw a documentary on cable about Cuba in the 1950’s.  Near the end it stated the following:

“As they celebrate Castor’s triumphant charge they have no way of knowing that he, like Batista, will one day turn his back on Democracy and become the very thing he fought to depose- dictator of Cuba.”

Now I know that nothing like Batista-Castro is occurring or has occurred in this country but I found it interesting that, once again, the revolutionary becomes the dictator and the only thing that perhaps changes is the group of people in favor, perhaps also the group of people oppressed as well.  But, in the end, it seems that the oppressed under Castro has become a larger group than that under Batista.  Both proved themselves despicable dictators.  And they both wore military garb did they not?

This is not new to those who know history and it was certainly known to those who founded this country, the United States of America.  They read their history; they knew the devil in man’s nature and acted accordingly when configuring their Declaration, their Constitution.  I do not say ours because I fear too many in this country today do not feel as if it is theirs.  They want a new document, a new way, a new revolution, perhaps with a leader who will not shed the sheep’s clothing and reveal the wolf, the devil, within.

Or perhaps he will.

No, our founders knew there must be a rock-solid foundation that would be able to hold the house against all that would assail it.  And that is why they created what they did. An absolute work of pure genius meant to withstand all that which good or bad intentioned men may contrive as a product of their thoughts and wills.

This is no longer taught to our children and neither realized nor appreciated by far too many adults today.  The bedrock has been compromised and, so with it, all that rests upon it.

You may scoff, you may laugh, you may continue to ignore and trivialize but, then again, you may continue as well to be ignorant of history.  They say that ignorance is bliss.  Really?

You should read and you should learn- not what your teacher or your favorite news program tells you but as much as you can and from as many sources as possible.  But you won’t will you?

They assure you that you need not do so and to that you listen.  This is as those in power, throughout all of history, would have it be.  Ignorance from self may be bliss but ignorance of others well, that is just raw power.  Some might say absolute power.  And from absolute power comes…

Wise up America, it may not be too late.  Rise up America and realize that what you still have as fundamental and natural freedom is not due to those now in power but to the structure that was put in place so long ago.  It is still a very good foundation and upon it may still be had a strong and worthy home that will outlast all of us for a long, long time.

Wise up; rise up.  Are you too lazy?  Are you too scared?  Are you too ambivalent?  Are you too ignorant or perhaps too blind to see?  What is your excuse?

Oh, I see; you like what you have because it wasn’t hard to come by and there are just too many other important things on which to spend your time.  No skin in the game eh?

Just a handout for your loyalty, a dollar for your soul; a promise for tomorrow if today you join my poll.

Or maybe you just think Castro is a dying breed and that wearing that Che Guevara tee is way cool.  Do you know HIS history?

Maybe you should spend just  a little time studying history and listening to the echoes of all those long-ago voices who simply said “yeah-yeah-yeah, but it really can’t happen here.”

And then maybe you might want to travel down to Miami wearing that Che tee in some of the Cuban neighborhoods.  They can teach you some history and they’d be glad to relieve you of that nice, way-cool tee-shirt.

Wise up America- 2014 is coming.

I was going to get two entries in yesterday to make up for none on Friday.  Plus it was the first day of day of December so it would have been a good start for the month.  But, again, I didn’t get it done. 

Personal responsibility.  Taking just a bit more of that on would probably be a good thing.  From all of us and for all of us.

Across America today folks are waking up to a new day.  Monday.  Second day of December.  Thanksgiving 2013 is now done and gone and Christmas is now approaching.  I have a lot to do.

Across America people are rising.  They are facing the first Monday in December wondering what they need to get done for the coming holidays.  What decorations need to be put out; what gifts need to be purchased; who to send cards to (if folks even do that anymore); how they will pay for it all.  How will they pay for it?  How will we pay for it?

It seems that in many ways the bills come due regardless of our readiness to pay.  But pay we must.

Seems in many ways that we often incur debts that later seem rather foolish, or at least, not really worth taking on in the first place.  Why do we do that?  Why do we allow it to happen?

People are rising this morning, this day.  People are realizing the debts that are now coming due. 

The brave men and women who decided finally to throw off the bindings placed by another did so at great risk, risk to their very existences.  It was a pay as you go plan.  I suppose in some way they knew that, later on, there would be bills, debts that would fall due.  As it had been said, freedom is not free.

But it shouldn’t cost us in the way and in the amount that it does, now, today.  It has taken me such a long time in my own life to realize these debts that continue to go unresolved.   Debts that were foolish to incur in the first place.

We continue to ignore the fact that, like in any profession or with any sport we all need to pay our dues.  Some would say we do that already with our daily existence, with the myriad taxes that we pay, with the service that we or someone in our family have given over to our country.  Those who have made the ultimate sacrifice of a life are perhaps some of the only ones who can justly say they have given over to the last full measure.

There are far too many of us who have not given over enough, if anything.  There are far too many of us who feel that we are owed or entitled to certain rights, certain freedoms, certain handouts…by the very fact that we exist and didn’t ask for that existence; by the very fact that we were born into a very kind and giving country (can you name a better one?); by the assertion that somewhere along the way we or those before us were wronged; by the simple fact that it is the first Monday in December, 2013, and all is well if we are not directly or negatively impacted by all that is going on.  All is well that is not just now unwell for me.

At least some are waking up.  Folks are rising on this day and hopefully realizing that there are bills that are due- in many ways overdue.

I don’t much like this entry but I hope you get what I am trying to get at.  It is important and it is growing more so every single day. 

Expect more, give more.  And take what you have, what we have, in this great country seriously for whether you believe it or not, I believe that it is not impossible to lose it.  Forever.

Wake up America.  Arise America.  The year grows shorter with each passing day.

Long travel day yesterday and although I wanted to make an entry here I did not get it done. I just didn’t try hard enough. Maybe two today to make up for it.

Time passed both slowly and quickly this past week. A dose of cold reality mixed with some holiday warmth and cheer. We go on; life goes on.

Did you head out to shop yesterday? Did you get into any scuffles and make the evening news? Did you get that bargain you were looking for or were you just out for cheap stuff, maybe for free stuff?

Lots of folks out there looking for free stuff so beware, the competition is rough.

Do you look for free stuff? Do you take it even though something inside says that maybe you shouldn’t? What kind of free stuff do you take?

What kind of free stuff causes people to begin to agree to give up their independence? How much free stuff causes that journey to be complete?

We came home. We came home to a place that we pay for, a place that we built after decades of working and saving and planning and, why yes, a good bit of hope and some luck. But not blind luck. We looked around a long time for the best deals we could secure and then we struck them. We hired people and paid our bills. I think we helped during a time when things in this country were in a very depressed state- maybe not much better now but those times were quite bad. I think that our taxes now- let me be more precise, our property taxes- help out the community in more than a single or simple way.

If I give a dollar I should know pretty much where every penny of that dollar goes and if it goes where I want it to go. If I willingly give that dollar to a charity, to a friend or family member, to a man on the street, then I should know where it goes and if it goes where I want it to go. With taxes that is only partly possible, sometimes not even that much.

If I take a dollar then I should know where it came from and how much it cost to get that dollar to me- who had their cut along the way? I should also know what I am giving up in return for that dollar and if that is acceptable to me. Probably wind up not caring but I should.

If the giver of that dollar knows where it is going and if the receiver of that dollar knows where it is coming from then I would bet less would be wasted or lost along the way. Do you think your charity dollars are spent efficiently? Do you think so as well for the taxes you pay?

Taxes- saving that for another time.

Used to be that a man wouldn’t take anything for nothing so maybe if I take a dollar then I should give that much back by helping a neighbor or doing charity work for my community or another that is need. If I can hammer a nail, cut some wood, dig a hole, trim a tree, wash a floor, vacuum a rug, cook a meal, paint a wall, fix an engine, teach a kid, give a haircut, fix a furnace, clean some windows, shovel some snow, plant a garden, repair a broken chair, patch a coat, wash some clothes, go to the store, fix a hole in a roof, babysit a child, read a story, play a game, offer a positive word or spread some good cheer…all in response for that dollar I have received, not from those I help but from those who have chosen to help me, then I should indeed do so. It is not in exchange, it is in response.

Some call it “shining it on”. Didn’t this country used to be more like that?

But it seems to me that those who get stuff for free, who take that dollar, do not want to do much more than to make sure that the giver is still around tomorrow and the days after that.

But what if the giver is in fact a taker? And what if that taker takes so much from the original giver that there then comes a day when there is no more left to give?

And, then, no more left to take- what then?

It’s cold in the mountains this year, for this time. It’s cold but the sun shines today and it seems to warm us all in some small way.

It is the day of giving thanks.

There are many different license plates in the parking lot of our hotel-motel but mostly from Georgia, Florida, and North Carolina. And, of course, one from the late, great state of Illinois. That one would be ours. Of course.

We see family and I think that we give thanks. It is often hard to remember to do so, sometimes hard to remember all that we still do have in our lives for which giving thanks would seem the proper thing to do. Family and friends, health as we have it, lingering freedom as we may still manage to find it, belief in all that we choose to believe in (at least as they would still allow us to express it), and any and all little things that remain with us or in us on this day.

I am rather tired of getting depressed about what has happened to this great land over the last gathering of years. Inch by inch or maybe more we have moved from where we should have stayed and downwind further still from all that we may have become.

I don’t need you looking after me. I have myself and others for that.

I don’t need you telling me what is right and what is not- I have a moral compass of my own.

I don’t need you teaching my kids about the evils of our past and the created fears for their futures; unless, of course, someone such as you steps in to make it not be so. Oh thank you enlightened one.

I don’t want you peeking in my bedroom window or monitoring every watt of electricity or drop of water that I consume.

I don’t need you at my curb deciding what I can or cannot send to the trash heap.

I can’t stand you in my public square as you proudly remove our simple nativity scene and smile with satisfaction of having advanced society farther still from any lasting trace of God.

I despise your defending every religion except the one upon which served as the bedrock of our independence and creation.

I challenge you to publicly defend the alchemy you pass off as science in support of all of your positions regarding the use and maintenance and future of this earth, the very one that we have been blessed to be born upon.

I defy you to defend killing a baby who has survived the first attempt.

I don’t need you taking from my pocket to pass along to those of your choosing all of the hard-earned nickels of my existence- less the pennies you manage to also secure for yourself in the act of doing so.

I believe that men and women should marry. I believe that this is also the best possible environment for any growing child. I am tired of you telling me otherwise and calling me names in that process.

I am tired of you deciding where my tax dollars are to go- and then demanding more when what we have already not-freely given is not enough to cover all that you choose to squander.

I want to keep my money and send my children to the best school possible and not the one you decide they should attend and not the one that you and your cohorts have staffed and stuffed with those who will further preach your cause and indoctrinate all within their unyielding grasp.

I don’t need you representing me and my country outside of our borders with deference and servility- bow to no man; bow to the Lord, your only savior.

I am thankful but not for you and not for those things that you continue to do against our wishes and against our well-being. And you need to stop and you need to stop it very soon because we are growing very weary and more than a little frustrated.

I am thankful not for these things that I am fast learning to despise but ever thankful for the rights and capabilities, still left to me this Thanksgiving Day, to begin to rise up and express all that I believe.

Those of you still willing and able should consider doing the same. And soon.

Happy Thanksgiving and all the Lord’s blessings to you and your families this day.

Lester was great. Probably still is.

He is such a typically friendly and seemingly eager creature of America. Quick to say hello, willing to hang around, perhaps to see if you might need anything or just might need some company.

Maybe should have suggested he visit our mountain man’s mother. They likely would have hit it off.

Wonder what he’s doing today. It’s cold and rainy where he is and while he isn’t homeless he does spend a lot of his spare time outdoors. He’s probably okay doing so if the weather isn’t too, too bad. Today it is. Just thirty degrees, grey and rainy. But for us not bad- it’s only ten degrees back home, wherever that might be.

Still, we are inside and dry and warm while Lester is out there somewhere roaming around as I hear he usually does. He probably has places where he can take cover from the rain and the cold. At least I certainly hope so.

Poor Lester. A product of America these days I’d bet. Likely thrown to the streets after they no longer needed him doing whatever it was that he used to do; left to fend for himself in a world fast filling with others all too much like him.

Where do they go, what do they eat? How do they regain what they once had before? Who will take them in, give them shelter, feed them, provide a roof and some rest from the cold, from the rain?

He seems just a bit all too much like America and the growing number of the rest of us these days.

No hope, no shelter from the storm today or the one that is building up for tomorrow or the next day. The job today being just to stay alive, somehow; to manage a handout of food- Lester turns his nose up at money- or just a kind word or friendly touch to let him know it will be okay, that, somehow, he will make it.

But for now, today, poor Lester and others like him just shiver and shake, trying to ward off the cold. I wish that we might take him with us but it is clear he does live with someone, is looked after by someone, at some times at least. He may be all that they have and together maybe they are better than either alone and off with another. Together they both likely shiver and shake.

We met a mountain man. And then we met his mother. And later that same day we met Lester. The mountain man and his mother have a roof, have a home and fend all for themselves, with no help from anyone.

Poor Lester is not half so lucky. He shivers and shakes.

And his poor leg suffers as well. I notice the leg as he leaves and limps away leaving him with just three good legs. Hopefully they’ll give him a hot dog down the road apiece as I hear they usually do. He’ll go by there but he will not beg. No, not Lester. At least not yet.

Okay, I get it. The people in power, the ones ruling from the upper roost that used to be known as the People’s House, are all about total control- over me, over you, over every last one of us. If you disagree then you are either blind, ignorant or just a fool. Maybe all three. Sorry, had to say it.

I do get it. They continue to pass laws and, worse yet, non-laws that completely define how we are all to act, what we are to do, and more and more just about every little facet of our shrinking existence. Our free and unencumbered existence that is. I suppose that, in the end, we will still be allowed to exist to the extent that we are of some usefulness to the State.

Paranoid? Over-reacting? Maybe not. Study your history but do it in the safety of a darkened corner of your basement lest they find out you are going around what they feed you on TV, or, often, worse, at school. Study the history if you dare. And then come back and see if you think I am still so wrong.

So I do get it, and I see it, and I feel that there is little I can do to affect it, to alter its course.

And it seems that they are at least true to their word. They said, those people in power, that this class of rulers, the ones I’m sure that they plan on being the last class, would be all about total transparency and they are indeed being true to their word. I know. I can see right through them and their actions. And if you knew your history and removed your bias you might as well.

So I guess it’s unfair to get mad at them, to fault them for doing all that they had said they would do- if, that is, you had really listened when they said it. They said it. It’s still all there in the public record. And the fact that they just sometimes manage to say something that seems a bit different today? Well, that is your fault didn’t you know? They are fair, they are honest. And, true to their word, they are as transparent as hell.

So I do get it, and I guess I can’t really be mad at them for all that.

No, what really gets me is the folks, the ones who are supposed to be on “our side”, who continue to point all of this out with either and “I told you so” or “this is really bad” suffix to their statements and then do what, to me is the worst thing imaginable- they laugh. As if it’s a joke. As if it’s funny. As if it is, well, true, but still something to be made light of and passed off as just another news item that they can comment on and profit from…with a laugh.

I’m not laughing and you really shouldn’t be so, please God in Heaven, just stop laughing.

Stop laughing. It isn’t funny.

Perhaps a bit premature but it has gotten very cold out and seems as if it is already Winter.  The winter of our discontent.

What in the good Lord’s name has happened to this country?  What in His still good name is still happening?  I guess that, being Americans, we always believe that “it just can’t happen, not here, not to us.”  Nope- we are Americans and have survived it all so we can certainly survive the worst threat yet to confront us- and that is us.

I believe that this was all seen long ago.  I believe that those slave-holding, out-of-date, boring old white guys might just have had it right all along.  Seems they tried to do a lot to help protect us from ourselves but seems they might not have done enough.

We have come so far from those boring old days.  Today we are enlightened and oh, so continental and cool.

So what if what we owe continues to grow at such an outlandish pace- it certainly is sustainable for who would tell the U.S. that “we won’t invest in you any longer” or “we would like the money you owe us now please.”  Couldn’t happen, not to us.

So what if the federal government completely controls all that we do- what we eat, where we live, where we work or go to school, what doctor we see and what hospital we are allowed to visit, who or what we marry or if we marry, how many kids we can have and how they are to be treated and raised and fed and taught, what pets we can or cannot have, what music and movies we are allowed to enjoy, what vehicles we are permitted to drive, what shoe wear we can don, what diseases we are allowed to be inoculated for or against, what time we get up, what time we go to sleep, what sports we can play, what songs we can sing, what water we can drink, how many showers we can take, how many flushes of the toilet are allowed per day, how many square feet per person we are allowed to have where we live, who we are to vote for, what information we can glean, what color we must be for certain things, who we can help and who we cannot, who or what we can worship and where and when, what is up, what is down, what is left and what is right…if we are allowed to be born and just when it is that we should die.

This just couldn’t happen here, not to us.

So what if our moral framework is allowed to be anything, anywhere, and anytime.  As long as Hollywood and MTV approve.  Anything can be said or done as long as it does not contain the words “God” or “Christmas” or any such similar, antiquated and now forbidden words.

God does not matter anymore.  Not here, not to us.

Funny.  I used to be religious; I used to believe in the better part of our natures.  Now I just sit back and watch it all fading away.

Couldn’t happen, not here, not to us. 

Funny.  A lot of it already has.

In many ways it is all about what was, and what wasn’t.

Though alive at the time (there goes a hint on my age) I was not old enough to weigh in on the memory (another hint).

It seems to me though that it was all about what was but also what was not.

It was a time when war was done (WW2 and Korea) but also was not (the Cold War, nascent Vietnam).

It was a time of the young and energetic (JFK, Peace Corps, Freedom Riders) but also about the old guard (LBJ, U.S. Steel & the Union, KKK).

It was a time for securing civil rights for all but, then again, it wasn’t.  At least not yet. 

It was a time for addressing and eradicating poverty- it was addressed but was not eradicated.

It was a time when many fought for the expansion of entitlements.  Under JFK this was not an immediate initiative but later was under LBJ and “The Great Society”.

It was becoming about sleek, fast cars and no longer about “your father’s Buick”.  “Fast and loose, isn’t that right Bert?”

It was not about openly attacking communism in war but was about trying to contain it in peace through strength.  And several fuses were lit.

It was about beginning to throw off your inhibitions on many social mores but was not about foreseeing where all of that may eventually go.  A truly open classroom experiment.

It was about the growing experimentation with sex and drugs and music and not about locking yourself into what you had been brought up to believe.  Mom and Dad were just plain wrong; or at least not very hip or cool.

It was about what you can do for your country and was not about what your country can do for you.

How true is that these days?

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way- in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.”

London and Paris; Britain and France; Camelot.

Washington, D.C. and Anytown, U.S.A.

I wonder how many young people know what happened on this date (I’ll let them off the hook on the matter of what year it was) if they are not told ahead of time.  I wonder how many of you do as well.

Tomorrow will mark the 50^th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, the 35^th President of these United States.  I think that I saw there have been 40,000 (or was it 400,000??) books written about JFK (short for John Fitzgerald Kennedy for those of us in the know), not sure how many were written specifically about Lee Harvey Oswald (the man who reportedly killed JFK).  He never went by LHO as far as I am aware but there was LBJ (if you need to know then please look it up).

It really seems to me that we may never completely know what happened that day but I would bet it would not be as simple as the Warren Commission concluded and it would not be as complex as the conspiracy theorists would have you believe.  I even see that a recent book again tries to finger LBJ for the murder.  Guessin’ I ain’t really believin’ that all that much.

There is the mental game you can play as to what would have happened, where would we be today, had he failed to travel to Dallas or had Oswald missed or had they installed the bubbletop or had Oswald gotten the flu…  If only the rain had continued the latter part of that morning the man’s life would have been saved and history altered as we know it.  How could a more tragic event hinge upon such a simple thing as the fact that the rain had stopped?  There are many such little things we know that greatly altered history and I’m sure many, many more we will never know.

It was such a different world in those days.  How much more information would we have today about the act, about the day?  The Zapruder film (look it up if you need to) seems so antiquated from our perspective today- almost like from some old 30’s movie. No, today, we would have so much video and so many pix and audio from countless sources.  And likely the assassin would not have gotten so easily away from the scene.  And J.D. Tippit would still be alive.  And Ruby would have never gotten the chance.  And Oswald might still be alive- an old man- today in some prison cell.

So maybe JFK didn’t have to die or, if he did, maybe we would know more had Oswald also not been killed.

And the world today, this country today, would likely be much different.  I’m not saying better or worse because who really knows for sure.  Just saying…different.

But, I suppose, there are lots of little things that cause impactful moments to happen a certain way and there isn’t much we’ll ever be able to do to change that, either before or after the fact.

We just keep going as best we can.