Where is my country?

For some time, I have been very concerned about the state of affairs in this country. It has heartened me lately to read several very well written editorials about the various things which bother me, but I still feel there are some points to be made.

In the first place, our country itself seems to have been overlooked, forgotten, and unacknowledged for the entity it is in its own right. Loyalty and patriotism have been kicked aside. School children no longer sing “America the Beautiful“or “My Country ‘Tis of Thee,” and the Pledge of Allegiance is not heard very often anymore. Even when the national anthem is sung these days, it is never sung as the strong and patriotic anthem it is. Instead it is sung by pop singers who embellish it with individual treatments of quirks and quavers that turn it into a travesty of itself.

Another major danger to our country is the way our system of education is not working to teach American history honestly and un-politically in high schools and particularly in colleges and universities. In far too many educational facilities, instructors are not presenting our history in honest and thought-provoking ways. Instead, courses in what I call surface history — women’s studies, racial studies, and other such shallow subjects that do not go below current trends of the day are replacing good solid subjects that challenge students to really think about the various forms of government, philosophy, sociology, and histories of other countries that have existed in this world.

Equally unfortunate and downright dangerous is the way our government has moved away from the Constitution. That Constitution saw this country grow from 13 colonies into 50 states, serving as a strong and wise pattern of government that has existed nowhere else in the world. The principles on which it was founded are still strong and good patterns for government, laid out so well by the leaders who nourished the beginning of these United States. It has been a broad structure that serves us all well — when it is followed. Through the ages, necessary amendments have been made to adapt it to important societal and governmental changes.

One of the major dangers is that none of the three branches of our government has seen fit to operate as the Constitution has dictated. Presidents have been making more and more decisions that rightfully belong to Congress. The Supreme Court has become more political and makes law; it is only supposed to rule on the constitutionality of laws that Congress makes.

As for Congress, a pox on both their houses, as Shakespeare might say. Instead of working together in a timely fashion to make appropriate laws, Congress has degenerated into nothing more than battles between two major political parties, each of which is dedicated to seeing that the other makes no progress in deciding matters for the good of the country, regardless of which party is in power. To my mind, Congress has been a disgrace for years. Too many people have been elected too often and have just sat back and collected their money and their perks.

I would suggest that a member of the House of Representatives serve only three terms, 12 years. A member of the Senate should serve only two terms, 12 years. This would keep more people interested in running for Congress and keep their motives clearer. Members of both houses should get their base pay and an allowance for office expenses — no other free perks. They should also have to find their own medical insurance like the rest of us.

The President is already limited to two terms, a good thing. As for the Supreme Court, members should serve until age 75, unless circumstances dictate that they leave the Court at an earlier age.

Just about every person who assumes a major governmental leadership position swears to uphold and abide by the Constitution. They seem to forget this a lot, particularly when cities and states decide, in their great wisdom, that they are not going to obey the laws of this country but go their own way when it comes to who shall stay here and who shan’t. This smacks of anarchy, which is very dangerous. Of course, there are refugees from miserable and horrible situations who want to come here; this has always been the case. But these people, in former days, abided by the law and came in through the proper entries, got their green cards, and studied to become citizens.

Now all kinds of people are coming into this country in all kinds of ways, and because too many of them are not the kind who will become good citizens and who commit criminal acts while here, we need to put up some safeguards to protect our legal citizens and those who are striving to become such. Under the Constitution, it is it is the duty of the United States government to protect legal citizens first. Here, again, are we a constitutionally functioning country, or are we splitting into individual bits and pieces that, in the event of a serious attack or other problem, either can’t or won’t join together in the defense of their country?

Of course, I am all for compassion. It is a very necessary and often too rarely expressed quality in this world. But there are times when compassion has to be tempered with common sense. And there is something largely missing just about everywhere: common sense — and, equally so, honesty.

Also, recently, there have been stories of voter fraud (voter ID could go a long way toward preventing this), and massive fraud that has been found in the federal Housing and Urban Development department. What is happening to this country when so much illegal and disloyal behavior is going on in the top echelons of government to which most citizens look for honest leadership?

I am sorry if I have upset some people and/or alienated others, and I know there are better informed people who can better express what I have written here. But as I approach my 95th birthday, I felt I could not keep silent any longer.