I WANT MY COUNTRY BACK

My friend Marvin Mixon, a local lawyer whom I’ve known for years, sends me occasional pieces like the following right wing rant “I WANT MY COUNTRY BACK.” I send him back occasional pieces that use facts and logic to reveal the truth behind the curtain of Washington politics. We write each other and have e-mail debates, but never lose our affection and respect for the other no matter how much we disagree on a subject. Here’s some excerpts from Rick Roberts’ essay, followed by my response. Which one contains the better argument is up to the individual reader.


“I WANT MY COUNTRY BACK

By Rick Roberts - 760 KFMB AM

I don't mean to go off on a rant here, but here's the bottom line, I want my country back.

I want my kids to be able to walk to the store or walk to school without being abducted by some 3-time convicted child molester. And the politically correct powers that be in this country just can't seem to get over themselves with "CAN'T WE JUST HELP THIS PERSON!" No! You can't. But they're let loose to prey on more children. I want my kids back.

I don't agree with everything this President does. I've never agreed with anything 100% that any President has done or said.

You know, I was very young during the Vietnam War. So I probably missed that thing by a hair. I don't know whether I would have agreed with that or not at the time. I was too stupid to have an opinion at that point and time even though I thought I did.

I want some semblance of respect for authority, whether I agree with it all or not.

I want the Boy Scouts to be "boy" scouts, not boy and "we think she's a girl" scouts. I want Girl Scouts to be "girl" scouts not Girl Scouts and "Bruce."

I want to be able to wake up in the morning knowing that I can walk outside without some gang-banger on parole taking my life.

Or being able to go down and purchase a car without having to worry about you know 90% of the parts being made overseas in some sweatshop.

I want my politicians, when they finally do get my vote, to do what the hell they said they were going to do in the first place.

I want the Abramoff's of the world to be labeled what they are....nothing more than organized crime in a better suit.

I want people to say something and when they say something look at me in the eye. And mean what they say. Not say what they think I want to hear. And then do what they want to later politically or any other way.

I want to be able to go out and work and make a decent wage and buy a home. Half the people that are listening to me right now can't even afford to buy a house unless they're working three jobs.

And I want America to be America. All of those opportunities, all of those things that made her great, I want those returned to the forefront. If you want to come to this country we welcome you with open arms. We simply ask that you abide by our laws. I don't want you to snub your nose at our laws, then take advantage of our opportunities, and then cling to the constitution most of which you can't even read because you don't speak the language.

I want us to secure our borders because the country is worth securing. The people that live here are worth protecting.

I want my children back. I want some semblance of what this country used to be.

It's worth protecting. It's worth defending. I don't recognize this country anymore.

Not politically, not philosophically, not spiritually.

Whether you like it or whether you don't, God was a part of building this great nation. To remove him is to take away the very foundation of what this country was all about.

The politically-correct-psychobabble-hug-a-tree-experts ~~ You are not qualified to release sex offenders back into our neighborhoods.

The southern border, more than any other border, needs to be secured tomorrow. For all those that wish to come to this country to take advantage of her opportunity, to live under a constitution~ a living document that breathes in and out just like you do~ this country is not for sale. I should know. I'm one of the owners. You can't sell it without my permission.

I want my country back!

By Rick Roberts - 760 KFMB AM

Jim’s response:

“I want my country back.” That’s ironic as hell. That's what those of us living a nightmare the last five and half years have been saying. I want a country where Congress and the Presidency aren't for sale to the highest bidder. Where the pledge of allegience means what it says: "One nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." Not liberty and justice for Christians, believers, people who aren't labeled as "terrorists" or enemy combatants before a trial, punished without a trial, without justice, where people aren't summarily tortured, taken to foreign countries for torture and murder, where wars can't start on lies and continue on absurdities like "we'll stand down when they stand up," where politicians can't gain and maintain power by dividing us by sexual preference and religion, where dissent is not only tolerated but understood as necessary to the health of a constitutional democracy, where the concept of a "unitary presidency" is recognized as nothing more than a 21st century verbal window dressing for the reinstatement of a King (also "King George").

I want a country where the real threat of global warming isn't met by junk science paid for by oil and coal companies so that they can make a few billion more bucks before the polar icecaps melt and the seas rise and more superkiller hurricanes arrive. I want a country where the deaths of innocents abroad is not seen as an "opportunity" but as a tragedy to be avoided, or if not, to be ended as quickly as possible. I want a country where cooperation is seen as a virtue, where science- including studies using stem cells to treat disease- is not attacked the same way Galileo was hundreds of years ago. I want a country where the Bill of Rights extends to everyone, including the least among us, and where a party in power doesn't use its position to stifle voting by the poor and elderly under a pretext of preventing non-existent voter fraud.

I want a country where sex is not viewed the same way Puritans viewed it 400 years ago, where gratuitous violence is considered a poorer role model for our children than a woman's breast on national television.

Of course I want a country where people have sincere religious beliefs- or not- but my country is one where they aren't imposed on others. I want a country where everyone can be safe- but my country is one where not just the rich white people in gated suburbs with expensive alarm systems and monster fortress SUV's are safe. Of course I want a country where we aren't inundated by illegal immigrants- but I recognize that this country was created and is great because of the immigrants who came and built it- immigrants who were the despised, the poor, the unwanted, the religiously persecuted, who wanted a better life. And I won't engage in demonizing anybody who wants those things- I just want the influx to be more orderly and secure than it has been.

As for "psychobabble hug a tree experts," yes, there have been people who may fit that description. But for the most part, that is an urban myth, and anyone who has spent even one minute in a modern courtroom knows that this is just fodder to stir up the ignorant and distract them from the realities that this is a country where thousands are dying in a war nobody can explain, millions are losing their jobs and health insurance, and gasoline is skyrocketing while oil companies rake in record profits while donating "campaign contributions" to those in power who refuse to enact any meaningful energy conservation policies.

That's about it. My rant is over, and I feel better, too.

Jim