Dear America,

Alrighty then.

G is about to be very flip...consider yourself forewarned.

Nothing like a little massacre in the morning to take the last modicum of wind out of our sails; what a buzz kill.  Just when I was feeling so upbeat about the direction our country was heading; splat, bird poop gets in my eye.

How was your first reaction?

I know.

For me, it wasn't all that unfamiliar to the day the initial reporting of our little Falcon was suspect to flying the mad world flying machine -- I just couldn't get over his name...Falcon.  Hollywood couldn't get it any better than that.

Fast forward to yesterday...

Major Nidal Malik Hasan. 

Major lump in the throat almost immediately.  Followed by excessive dizziness.  Rounding out with needing to lie down somewhere -- and stat.

I don't think anybody wanted to say that name out loud, at least not until it was confirmed by the surgeon general or his mom or his commanding officer.  There was this devastatingly long pause before that name leaked out; but boy, when it did, oy vay did the speculation start flying. 

Hard not to convey or insinuate something when it is just raw gut telling you, Houston, we got a problem -- in the face of millions of viewers. It tests the naked and exposed anchor of all restraint --- having the responsibility of stoically masking any sign of bias in order to maintain the code of conduct of journalistic decorum. 

But come on, Nidal Malik Hasan?  Are you kidding me?

Upon first glance to the scene, I really wanted the young soldier to be a John or a Bob; not that there is anything going on with those names, they are good names -- I just wanted it to be a regular Joe -- no offense papa, didn't really wanna go there, it just slipped out so easily. 

At least I'm not doing a "shout out" to Joe Medicine man, as our dear President did when he chose the first few minutes of his initial press conference to address the Indian Nation conference currently in session before addressing the American nation in distress -- what was he thinking? -- talk about untimely gestures leading into shallow sentiments -- it was as if the shooting interrupted what the President really, really wanted to say.  I'm just a G, but he is the President for goodness sakes.

 But of all things, and by all means, I definitely didn't want a name that tripped over the tongue in plurality, sounding more like an Indian curry or requiring three different pronunciations before getting it right. 

Nope.  That was what I feared.

Really, all G's doing now is displacing her feelings upon the light of day -- as really, what is a girl to do with this?  How do we all come to grips with something that shakes us to our very core within nanoseconds -- besides the usual telling of jokes or trying to find a place to hide?  How else do we do it -- without the use of hypodermic needles and a bottle of scotch?

How do we cope and recover?

What is happening to our country?

And I'm sorry to the dear cousin of the assailant, this is not what "good Americans" do.  A good American would allow the law to handle any grievance and would not take the law into their own hands; especially a fellow warrior.  It's just not done when you are taught strength through discipline and think before you act; especially if you are loyal to lives and welfare of your fellow troops. 

And he was a psychiatrist? He was paid, apparently six figures, to be the caretaker of our boys and girls returning from war or who are currently knee deep in it -- and he does this?

Oh my goodness, there were just so many things wrong with what happened. Thank God the guy still lives -- as I want to kill him. 

Okay, that was bad.  I take it back -- as I don't know, maybe its because I'm a sound able-bodied American who doesn't have a grudge against my government and tends to be responsible in my actions and actually believes in making smart choices and isn't cuckoo -- a sane person just doesn't do that.   Angry loose cannon people do that; people who need help do that; people who usually show troubling signs long before do that; people who do not seek help before they crack do that; people who are intent on doing harm or even killing other people do that. Radical Islam does that.

Having given away all his belongings, this was planned, premeditated murder on now 13 lives -- he only wishes now that number included his own, being the good martyr that he was; while these thirteen souls exponentially affected each and every one of us in America as the shots heard round the world.

And this guy lives -- oh how I do look forward to justice taking it's rightful place for the families of all of our fallen soldiers.

One thing's for sure, if I had a Benjamin for every time I heard "thoughts and prayers..." I would be in Tahiti right now.  Throughout the entire afternoon, Presidents past and present sent their thoughts and prayers...President Obama, Biden, Bush...while the entire Senate and the whole entire House ushered in their thoughts and prayers  too -- with a moment of silence to boot.  Heavy moments.

I was struck however in the moment, as I began to peel away the layers of my feelings welling up inside me and easily brought to tears.  This God, who we can induce at the time of inaugural speeches LIVES.  This God, who we can gaze upward for comfort and strength in prayer LIVES.  This God, who we laud and magnify on buildings or in Declarations or in Constitutions or upon the face of currency LIVES.  This God, lives and reigns and effortlessly falls off the lips of politicians -- all of them -- when lost in the valley of darkness and inhumanity.

In the climate of political correctness and grassroots efforts of atheists and lobbyists to kill all signs of life of any thoughts and prayers and religion within our society and governance, one would have to wonder if they got a little crazy yesterday.  With so many  of us doing the very same thing at the very same time -- something so radical like praying -- they would have had to feel it and had been quite uncomfortable.  I wonder if they will be contacting Pelosi or Obama to knock it off?

Oh, if it weren't so cliche -- those "thoughts and prayers".  
But all of a sudden we remember our humanity and look to Superiority upon the hour of death...we are weak and He is strong.

We have a sort of inside joke in our family --  its complicated -- no need to elaborate as that would surely put us all to sleep -- but the funny thing is, you can't control another person from praying for you.  There isn't anything you can do about it...they can do it anytime and anywhere for any reason and however many times. Dear God, Oh God, Please God, or Thank you God.  It is done in a blink of an eye.

They can do it silently right in front of your face. 
They can do it just before falling asleep at night uttering their last thoughts as one great big prayer for you.
They can do it with or without a magic carpet.
They can do it in the bathroom, the boardroom, catching a wave or while walking the dog.

The point is, it lives.  It has a life of its own; conceived in the one mind, connecting to the Almighty God, in an instant, prayers can just take off -- catapulting to heaven like a rocket. 

It lives with or without any one's knowledge, only approval necessary is on a need to know basis.

It is private and privy to the one creating it -- and unless you say it out loud, nobody would ever know you're doing it.

But yesterday, a bad thing happened to good people and we ALL prayed -- separately and silently, out loud and together -- nothing held us back, and no one told us no. 

Interesting.

Abraham Lincoln said,

"I like to see a man proud of the place he lives. 

I like to see a man live so that his place will be proud of him."

This is what makes a good American; another of course from Kennedy,

"ask not what your country can do for you,

but what you can do for your country."

The final element to ponder is how this horrific event may be used by unscrupulous organizations to further the growth of Islam within our communities.  We haven't touched on this issue yet...but just give G some time my pretties, we'll get there. 

I have long carried a link to Brigitte Gabriel -- a Christian Lebanese girl that experienced the destruction of her country overnight as militant Islam and terrorists took over her world, her village, her family, her life.  She lives in America now and fights for legislation to control the acts of terror in hopes of preventing radical Islam from doing to America what it did to Lebanon...and other places around the world.

CAIR, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, isn't really on America's side.  You would think so by name, but trust me, its not.  Be aware.  Become educated.  And check out ACT for America to get the facts and become involved with protecting America and our children's future.   They are a young group and need all the help they can get whether it is just reading the preponderance of Islamic abuses here in America or signing your name to a petition, or making a donation -- she needs your help.

Islam will use this event against us; it would not surprise me if CAIR has already filed a lawsuit against our Armed Forces.

Trust me, Brigitte knows what she is talking about and has lived through a life of terror from the age of ten; Brigitte is an America angel, and blesses us with a perspective and knowledge that our safe and secure naive little suburban lives will hopefully never fully recognize or witness first hand...

oh, my mistake, that was until yesterday.

Say a prayer for not only our soldiers and their families, but for all of America today.

Make it a Good Day, G

I know, I know, you're wondering after all this time of promoting the element of surprise when you click on  Dear America and today nothing.  No music. No YouTube. No nothing. 

G's moment of silence.