It's Time For Us To Get Up Off Our 'Duffs' And Go To Work — We Are Soldiers, Too!
By Debbie Daniel (01/04/04)
This is when I burst into my “This land is your land, this land is my land” song and start marching around the house ready to take on the world. I can hardly get out of my car because of needing a knee replacement, but that doesn´t stop me from trying to high-step-it in my family room. Ha!
I held on to Christmas as long as I could this year, because I knew when the last carol was sung and the last gift opened, it was time to get dressed in battle fatigues and get ready for the storm ahead.
I sipped slowly on a cup of hot chocolate as I opened my last present the Sunday after Christmas. I sat at my desk staring hard at this gift and taking to heart its profound message. It was a book called We Will Prevail, which is a compendium of prepared and impromptu speeches of George W. Bush on occasions of great import during the last three years.
At just about the time of listening to too many television and radio pundits, or reading too many news accounts that make me want to beat my head against a wall, here come the calming and articulated words of our president, and once again my heart is prepared for the work ahead.
Yes, we will prevail . . . we are soldiers, too.
I´ve been saying over and over, “We´ve got to be ready” . . . and now the time has come for us to load our proverbial guns . . . ready, aim, fire.
Batten down the hatches . . . .
First, America needs us to stand and be counted in her defense – we´ve lost our moral barometer. We´ve let the ACLU run rampant and no one´s doing anything to stop them. Secondly, we´ve got an election year that´s just about to explode with assaults we´ve never heard before. And thirdly, we´re still at war and I fear we might let down our guard with the capture of Saddam Hussein and not be prepared for another 9/11.
Oh, my heart feels burdened by such responsibility, but we cannot become complacent on any of these fronts. We are soldiers, too.
We´re going to be challenged as never before in this next year. It will be a must for us to get up off our “duffs” and go to work to protect what´s still left of America, after the ACLU rifles through every town in our country looking for vestiges of something “sacred.”
Is your city ready for a “terrorist” attack from the ACLU?
No more voluntary lunchtime prayers for our U.S. Naval Academy; a tradition since its founding in 1845, and now the ACLU calls for “separation of church from state” and wants to get rid of it . . . just like that.
The graduates can go fight for our country, but they can´t say grace on government property. Whoa! My tail feathers are getting mighty ruffled.
The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals has already ordered the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) to cancel its supper prayer. “When these cadets were allowed to say a non-denominational prayer it was the equivalent of Congress establishing a religion,” say the judges.
In both cases the prayer was voluntary . . . not mandatory. Have you ever seen blood boil? Come to my house.
If we don´t allow our men to pray in training, will we deny them prayer in the foxholes? God help us all . . . this has gone too far.
Ten Commandment monuments have been ripped out of the ground in several cities throughout the United States: the municipal building in Elkhart, Indiana; a public park in Plattsmouth, Nebraska; a public courtyard in Johnson County, Iowa; Chester County Courthouse in Pennsylvania, and in front of the police station in Everett, Washington. Some of these monuments have stood for over 40 years. The cranes were ordered in . . . the monuments yanked out, and not one word said.
Displays of the Ten Commandments in four southern Ohio schools were taken down. Not a peep out of anyone.
They´re all coming down, folks . . . every last one of them. And it doesn´t seem to stir us to action.
Some monuments and plaques have been in place since the early 1920´s and we stand and watch the bulldozers tear them down.
Is anybody out there? Does anyone really care? I´d like to sue the ACLU for denying “my free exercise of religion.” No one ever said I had to go hide in a cave to exercise this right . . . but to the caves I´m being relegated.
Just three weeks ago, firemen were told to “undeck” the indoor walls of the firehouse because residents who could see the Christmas ornaments through the windows were offended. The lights, a Christmas tree and Santa Claus were banned from this public building. It was clearly out of sight from public view except for those peeping scrooges. Give me a break . . . this is preposterous!
These were residents who were offended. Maybe we´re letting ordinary people, just like you and me speak for us, and the ACLU believes the majority has spoken. Or maybe they really do want to control our lives. Either way, we´ve got to let our voices be heard. I´m not ready to give up everything just yet.
As Americans, and particularly as Christians, we´ve got to know what we “stand for” in this coming year or we “stand” to lose everything. Most of us have no idea what´s being taken away from us every single day, yet we go about our lives as if everything is fine, and then we wonder what happened when we see another wrecking ball swinging at a courthouse treasure.
In some cases we´re talking about 2500-pound granite stones demolished in seconds . . . forever. Can´t we at least talk about it and let the people of these municipalities have a vote?
When you ask, “What can I do?” . . . well, here it is: Be aware of what´s going on in your town. Raise awareness and then act.
Our precious commodity “freedom of religion and the free exercise thereof” is being sold to the loudest screamers, better known as the ACLU. And we´ve sat back and let them have their way. If it´s something that offends them . . . it´s gone.
We´ve got a new year on the horizon and we´re going to have to step forward and be counted. Are you ready for it, or would it be easier not to think about it at all? Are we going to look the other way because we don´t want to get involved? Come on soldiers, buck up.
If not, we´ll have no recourse but to accept what´s happened. It´s a terror we´ll have to live with.
On the political front, I was amused at Howard Dean when he declared, “We´re no safer since 9/11.” What an ungrateful commentary on our soldiers who are giving their lives to protect us by telling them, “In spite of your efforts, we´re still not safe.” I bet that went over real well in Baghdad.
The truth is . . . we haven´t been safe since Pearl Harbor, Mr. Dean, but please don´t tell me it was George Bush´s fault.
And if you think George Bush is to blame for everything, what have you done for your country lately, Mr. Dean? All I hear is your bellyaching about the Democrats being mean to you. Well, boo-hoo Deano, you´re in the big leagues now and you need to toughen up, soldier.
Take note of how a real president leads. Do you hear him complaining every time he gets in front of a camera? Do you hear him whining to the people that no one told him it was going to be this hard?
No, he´s leading this nation in a war and you´ve got the “chutzpah” to criticize his every move. But when you get harassed from fellow Democrats, you want Terry McAuliffe, the DNC Chairman, to call off the dogs. Can you imagine what the president listens to everyday? You might want to look at another career path, Governor.
In case you haven´t noticed, the very tax cuts your going to repeal as your first legislation as president, are the very tax cuts that have given us an upsurge in our economy.
Hang on, Howie . . . you´ve got quite a ride ahead.
And to those concerned about our war efforts, I encourage you to have faith in this president. We´ve got to trust those in charge, because frankly I don´t know the first thing about fighting a war, do you?
But you know that cave I was talking about? If necessary, we may all need to get in one and do a lot of praying. And if the ACLU starts peeking through holes and drags us out, then “Annie Get Your Gun”, because you´re a soldier, too.
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