Remember When

By Tammy Derouin

Remember when scandals were exposed by the press and when those in power were actually held accountable?  There was a time when there were real consequences for inappropriate behavior.  Morals and ethics played a role on the world stage.  Those who made decisions which yielded disastrous results, even when made with the best intentions, paid a price.  Intentionally making decisions which violated laws and ethics had the press beating down your door, demanding answers.

Remember when indisputable evidence actually proved a crime had been committed?  The evidence incriminated the violator and the victim wasn’t the target of mob rule?  Remember when the innocent were vindicated and the guilty were convicted or condemned?  Remember when a Nobel Peace Prize winner didn’t actually cause chaos and mayhem?  Was it just me or did anyone else hear a collective, “for what?” 

Do you remember a time when the president of the United States, actually loved his country?  Well, there’s a loaded question.  There is a debate as to whether our Pres-a-king is or isn’t a natural born American citizen.  I feel there is enough of a reasonable doubt for an investigation.  There should have been a thorough investigation long before he was sworn into office.  The press should have jumped on this like the pit bulls they once were.  However, putting that issue aside, let’s say he is a natural born citizen.  Why does he hate his home land, the freest nation in the world?  Why does he seek to destroy everything which has made this country great? 

The United States has given him and millions of others opportunities they wouldn’t have had, had they been born in other areas of the world.  This goes for every single one of us.  Most of us have a basic knowledge of the lands our ancestors called home.  Many of us are a mix of several nationalities.  Most of the nationalities flowing through our veins have been at war at one time or another.  Look where you are now located!  The sacrifices of those who came before you have given you a better life.  You live in a land which guarantees the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

I’m not saying that there haven’t been injustices throughout the history of this once new land.  Injustices happen, life isn’t fair, and life is very difficult.  Our ancestors dealt with it, why can’t we?  We have much less to overcome.  They did the difficult part for us.  All we have to do is hold onto our freedoms.  The war has already been fought.

Where would you be right now if America didn’t exist or if those who came before you hadn’t made the journey, regardless of the reasons they landed here?  Pick a nationality which flows through your blood.  Now, undo your past.  Rewind the hands of time and imagine where you might be and which type of governing system you would be under.  Are you better off today, in the United States of America?  I think so.  If you aren’t happy here, no one is stopping you from going back to whatever region of the world your ancestors called home.  Had they not had the courage to travel to an unknown land or had they not been strong enough to survive the difficulties of life in the new world, you wouldn’t be here.

If you feel the injustices are greater in the land which provides freedom and opportunity, at least for now, than in the land you could have been born in, pick up a history book or pay attention to what is really happening in all areas of the world. 

Whether you are here because your ancestors fled tyranny or because of tyranny, you are here.  If life was so unbearable, there would be a mass exodus out of the country.   Instead, people are entering in droves.  The very country the Pres-a-king is attempting to destroy because of what he calls negative liberties, he is advertising as a land of opportunity.  So much so, that he has established open borders.  He has taken power beyond his authority, which results in tyranny; the very reason this country was founded in the first place.  History will repeat if we allow it.

“In Europe, charters of liberty have been granted by power, America has set the example…of charters of power granted by liberty.  This revolution in the practice of the world, may, with an honest praise, be pronounced the most triumphant epoch of its history, and the most consoling presage of its happiness.”

James Madison