Tuesday, December 7, 2010

A Day That Still Lives in Infamy

Pearl Harbor Day. The Day that Admiral Yamamoto and the Japanese naval and air forces took to the skies and to the sea and rained death upon thousands of innocent and unaware soldiers, workers, family members, and civilians. On this day, it was decided that the United States could no longer sit back idly and watch as the Axis menace continued to spread like a plague across Europe, Asia, and North Africa.

This day was the day that America unified under the Stars and Stripes and swept forward like a cleansing tide and washed away the Nazi menace with nothing but American can-do optimism, a few rifles, tanks and planes, and a tenacity that is sorely lacking in today's wartime mentality. President Roosevelt, a man I disagree with on just about anything, was at least one thing that our current president is not: A leader. Franklin Delano Roosevelt may have been a big government Progressive, but at least he didn't shy away when a threat shoved itself directly into his face.

Our current president is nothing more than a thin-skinned wannabe by comparison. Listen to some of his own speeches as compared to FDR. FDR did everything he could to make certain that the people were involved in the war effort as much as the soldiers on the front lines were. If you weren't fighting, you were growing a victory garden. If you weren't growing a victory garden, you were working in a factory. And if you weren't doing that, you were probably at least buying war bonds so that the troops could get the material they needed to fight back the Fascists.

We've been in Afghanistan for eight years now. Eight years. We beat the Nazis in half that time, but we can't seem to handle a few camel riders in caves who saber rattle more than they actually fight. Is this current strategy really the best America can do to combat the new menace that is Islamic terrorism? If our FDR wannabe would just acknowledge the real threat, it would go a long way toward finally stomping them out and bringing our boys home. But fat chance of that. That's like getting Hank Williams to admit that he was an alcoholic. Not likely to happen in the near future.

On this day, I would like to extend my thanks to the brave servicemen and women who hold the line against the invisible enemy. I would also like to apologize for the actions of those who wouldn't know gratitude if it bit them in the ass.

Semper Fi.

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