Memorial Day

Today, we remember those who gave their lives for America. Both my parents served in WWII. My father served in the Army Air Corps, a forerunner of today's Air Force. My mother served in the Navy, and, like my dad, served overseas during the war. And while they both survived to tell the tale, they never let us forget that, like the song says, "All gave some, some gave all."

It is the height of disrespect for some misguided folks to use Memorial Day to protest the war in Iraq. Yes, they, like all of us have the right to freedom of speech and the right to peaceably assemble. Ironically, part of the reason they have those rights is because other patriotic people down through the centuries of America gave their lives so that we could live in freedom. To protest a current action on Memorial Day diverts attention away from the true patriots--the ones who gave the last full measure.

Our country needs more people to commemorate Memorial Day for what it is--a national acknowledgement that we enjoy our liberty because people have gone before us so that we could be free. To quote the Gipper, a true American hero, "We will always remember."

A Shining City Upon a Hill

"A Shining City Upon a Hill" will look for the answers to one question--Are we, as a nation forever young, holding to our faith in the ideals that made us great? Democracy, freedom, free markets, the marketplace of ideas, American ingenuity--some people seem to have forgotten these values. Unfortunately, many of them hold office or occupy positions of power in the media. They would do well to remember Ronald Reagan's Four Pillars of Freedom:

National Pride
Global Democracy
Individual Liberty
Economic Opportunity

These remain the ideals that can guide us to a better tomorrow for our country and the world. What are we doing to strengthen and expand each of these? Take national pride, for example. We have so much to be proud of, as Americans, but it seems our current leaders have chosen to neglect this area in favor of partisan rancor. Lincoln said, "Politicians think about the next election. Statesmen think about the next generation." It seems we have only politicians these days.