Our nation in distress | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's Note: This article originally appeared in the Beaufort Observer.

    Today I did something that broke my heart; I lowered the American flag in my back yard and put it back up upside down. This is the legal way to display the National Colors when your situation has become untenable.

    My constitution is being shredded, my military is being hamstrung, and my religion is under attack, the moral fiber of my country is being eroded, and my leaders continue to ignore me, and others of like mind They pass legislation that benefits only a few and that few is not the everyday, hardworking American citizen.

    We have a president that is not qualified for the position by birth and by incompetence. He refuses to allow his personal history to become known, he has surrounded himself with communist sympathizers and those who believe that we should be a socialist country and will do whatever they can to make it happen.

    The political parties no longer care about what is good for the country but what is good for them. The Democratic Party is no longer democratic; they have morphed into a socialist/progressive group that is only concerned about staying in power. The Republican Party has lost its moorings and is drifting here and there as the wind blows. Their big concern now is not protection of Constitutional rights but what can they do to get more Hispanic votes. I don't know about you but that is not what I voted for them to do.

    Who ever said that "Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely" only has to look at our Congressional representatives to see the truth in that. So many of them came into office 10, 12 or more years ago with modest means, now they are millionaires. How did they do that while making only a hundred thousand a year and maintaining two residences? When you question them about something you get a canned answer written by someone on their staff that really doesn't touch the subject. They don't answer to their constituents, they answer only to special interests. They will say one thing for publication but do the opposite when it comes time to vote.

    Our military leaders have become corporate ladder climbers. Their first thought when they wake up in the morning is what can I do to get promoted? It used to be our military leaders' first thought was of their troops, even when they had to send those troops into harm's way. Now they view their troops as units to be used in mathematical exercises and are either involved in extra marital affairs or being brought up on charges of sexual misconduct with their subordinates.

    We have sent our young men and women into harm's way not to defend our freedom, our homeland, but for political reasons. Usually to prop up some two bit dictator who sucks our treasury dry before returning to the lifestyle he had before. When our young men and women return home, some missing limbs or suffering from Traumatic Brain Injury they are put in hospitals that tell them they can't have a Bible, and the Veterans Administration will manage to screw with their applications for deserved benefits for at least 12 to 18 months. One of the first things this president said shortly after taking office is that one of his first priorities would be to insure that the waiting periods would be reduced to 90 days. His appointment of VA secretary, Shinseki, promised the same thing. The VA and DOD spent billions of dollars over a two year period on ways to get their computers to talk to each other so that Veterans would have a smoother transition from the military to the VA. They finally gave up and said there was no way they could make it work. Territorial Bullshit. Current waiting time for compensation decisions are around 6 to 8 months.

    I spent a good part of my life, I thought, helping to make this country a safe place to work and live and defending our Constitutional rights. I have seen what life is like in third world countries and knew that this was the greatest country on earth. Daily I now see how we are reducing this country to their standards instead of raising them to ours. Some of my time in the military required me to study the Soviet Union as it was known back then. Now it is just called Russia. I had to study the people and their government as well as their military and I could not imagine how it would be to have to live like that but daily I see our government doing more and more of those things that I saw in the government of the Soviet Union. We are being lied to every time the government officials open their mouths. Our privacy is invaded on a daily basis. Governmental agencies are being used to punish those who disagree with the administration. Our religion is being removed from our everyday lives and the money we work so hard for is being taken from us and given to those who don't produce.

    The American dream is a thing of the past because those in power have found a way to get what they want. They have been working on this plan for years, quietly implementing their socialist programs; welfare, food stamps, housing assistance, monetary allowances for having children out of wedlock, make work programs, and anti-American teachers and professors who denigrate our history.

    I have not given up, but I no longer look to my government to promote the same things I was brought up to believe in. I know there are others out there who feel as I do and we will band together and do what we can to stave off the inevitable.

    I believe that the United States was truly a second chance at the Garden of Eden. This country has everything needed to provide its citizens with a good life but many have tasted that forbidden fruit and have become addicted to its juice. I pray daily for God's intervention but I know that sometimes He doesn't answer them the way we want.

    And to top it off, today I saw our chairman of the socialist party give a speech behind bullet proof glass and standing in front of the American flag that is on the wrong side. Flag etiquette requires that the National Colors are to be on the left when viewed by the public.

    How long will our God require us to suffer?