Dear America,

"The Almighty hath implanted in us these inextinguishable feelings of good and wise purposes.  They are the guardians of our hearts.  They distinguish us from the herd of common animals.  The social compact would dissolve, and justice be extirpated the earth, or have only a casual existence were we callous to the touches of affection.  The robber and the murderer, would often escape unpunished, did not the injuries which our tempers sustain, provoke us into justice.

O ye that love mankind!  Ye that dare oppose, not only the tyranny, but the tyrant, stand forth!  Every spot of the old world is overrun with oppression.  Freedom hath been hunted round the globe.  Asia, and Africa, have long expelled her.  Europe regards her like a stranger, and England hath given her warning to depart.  O! receive the fugitive, and prepare in time an asylum for mankind."

Thomas Paine, Common Sense

Only in America did it become actually possible for all men to prosper, freely and liberated under the rule of law, unencumbered by the ties to working under "the man", and give full creative license to become anything your heart desires.

It seems easily forgotten, doesn't it; America got here through struggle and strife, a great loss of life, coming from the position "did not the injuries which our tempers sustain, provoke us into justice."

But with what is going on now, in America of all places, all I can think of is how things here must be taking up quite the conversation up there in heaven. As we turn our laws inside out, at times even reaching the travesty of full extirpation altogether, America is losing it.  For all the common sense from which we stand today,  rebellion is leading the way once more. And for what, because some people do not want to do the right thing? 

If only We the People could sustain the memory of our original intent, remembering the original sins of a tyrannical past which anchored our humble roots.

From The 5000 Year Leap,

"As we have seen, The American Founding Fathers would have agreed with Aristotle rather than Plato.  Part of this was due to the fact that the Founders looked upon law differently than Plato.  Instead of treating law as merely a code of negative restraints and prohibitions, they considered law to be a system of positive rules by which they could be assured of enjoying rights and the protection of themselves, their families, and their property.  In other words, law was a positive good rather than a necessary evil [to preserve and enlarge freedom]."

There is no freedom in a society racked and sacked with lawlessness -- it prohibits all action, all commerce, all good and all peace of mind necessary to prosper.  (Arizona case in point)

In this moment I am tickled by a little bit of advice from Ann Landers; I have had it cut out and on my fridge ever since my girl was three (while she is thirteen going on thirty today). 

Dear Ann Landers:
I'm a sixteen year old girl who is a nervous wreck from getting yelled at.  All I hear from morning till night is: "stop smoking.  Get off the phone.  Hang up your clothes.  Do your homework.  Clean up your room."  How can I get them off my back?
-- sick of parents

Dear Sick:
Stop smoking.  Get off the phone. Hang up your clothes. Do your homework, and clean up your room.

Has anyone else but me noticed how the more we "evolve", the more restricted this land is our land has become; our laws and regulation are changing, upturning our very foundation right out from under us.  They are changing to meet the demands of a new age -- a new age alright -- the age of wanton disregard of our individual duty and obligation to be of good citizenry.  The irony really, for this new age of social justice is prohibiting our very ability to come together as Americans -- extinguishing one of the core principles of maintaining our freedom, a limited government!

Because some people have no clue, or care, in keeping to our individual duties as citizens, we have returned nearly full circle to the land of the restrained, restricted, regulated and oppressed; an outcome tilling a perverted twist on the separation of the wheat from the chaff, if you ask me.

The community organized factions keep breaking us apart, don't they. And then again, maybe not:

"Islam condemns terrorism unreservedly and totally," Naseem Mahdi said yesterday, adding it is "the duty and responsibility of all Muslims living in the US to be loyal to the flag and to be law-abiding citizens."

Amen to that, Naseem!

If you are here, in America, then someone a long time ago or yesterday, took the distinct action of becoming a citizen of America -- or at the very least we assume then you are visiting lawfully, and politely, respective of the individual duty to uphold our laws and expectations to the fullest extent under the law while here.

Is that really asking too much?

I believe Naseem is spot on. 

This is AMERICA for God's sakes; defined by the melting pot, characterized by immigrants from around the globe coming to America in search of a better life from our birth!  No other country offers as much for so little!  All America has every really asked is that you bring something of value to the bounty already here!  The open door immigration policy advocates all are welcome -- that anyone who comes, must come with the intent to become a fully integrated, responsible, compassionate American citizen, and honor her through and through.

All people being fully capable -- no matter what faith -- recognizing that each and every one of us is the embodiment of the very nature from which all things are made;  the Founders looked to our inherent birthright from a God we call by many names, in various forms of rites and rituals, supplying us with everything we ever truly need.  Even an unbeliever must find faith in something -- if only this faith is found solely in themselves.

The thing is, it is good that we find ourselves grappling with who we are, as Americans today.  This is a good thing, as Martha would say (not Washington, the other one).

But let us not also realize, that the more we splinter off into our separate issues, divided by make believe rhetoric and false assumptions, the more we will fail each other and this country as a whole.  The reality is, we're becoming so divided and partisan, we will eventually get to the point where each and every citizen will feel disenchanted and disenfranchised for something -- ultimately, all of us will be discriminated against for one reason or another, and around and around we will go with discontent.

This is surely not the intention of the original intent.

Look at the Tea Party groups -- immediately disgraced and riddled with derogatory name calling, equating them to tea baggers instead -- or as white Nazi extremists.  Both President Clinton and Nancy Pelosi have come out acclaiming the gravity and seriousness of the spoken word, basically causing us to take heed and be careful with what we say to each other.  And yet, the peaceful protest of a group unhappy with current government, taxation without representation -- a road we've clearly been down before -- gets attacked --viciously targeting personal character, ideology and position.

So hey, if we are in fact getting to a point where discrimination happens to everyone, doesn't this redistribution of discrimination make actual discrimination obsolete?  Wouldn't we all be back on equal footing?  Yes, warped I am, I am..but it was Bernie Goldberg who said a couple days ago, "I don't see anyone complaining about affirmative action, that's racial profiling'"...but we digress. 

In a weird way, we would be back to every man for himself; every pet peeve and issue would be hung out on the line for all the world to see -- no longer would our magnificence be what attracts people of every nation to our shore -- no longer would our enterprising spirit and ingenuity to create new things hold a special place -- what would gather the attention of our neighbors and make for tabloid fodder would be the airing of our dirty laundry -- instead of just bucking up and doing the right thing right from the start.

Ooooh and where have I heard that before?

Our Founders cultivated the American soil for prosperity and advancement by affirming a faith in every man for himself tied to our Creator, providing the necessary natural law to coexist in order to feed the American soul to not only grow, but thrive.

Every man for himself, indeed; all citizens living peacefully and dutifully under the same law -- to be, do and have to the precise level our hard earned efforts received (whether it is an hourly wage, Wall Street bonus, Software giant billions or Hollywood millions, and everything in between).

Naseem is so right, Ann Landers is so right, Aristotle, Paine and our Founders are so right!

We the People are all Americans.  And as such, as the evolution of our days spent in revolution fall fast behind us, what must be resurrected and restored is the original responsibility to be of good cheer and to make good citizens in order to save the future.  Self-reliance and self-government protects the common man, uplifting every limitation through sheer determination and conviction, proven the years over, to create avenues of unprecedented prosperity -- no matter how rich or how poor your daddy.

This is not a time for dissent. 
This is not a time for factions.
Unless of course you are on the side for ALL AMERICANS one and all, from the immigration policy set forth, way back when, encapsulated in HR1776 -- you know the one, the people's House Resolution in the year of our Lord Seventeen Seventy Six  -- connected, united and created by the grace of God, to reunite for the common cause promoting the liberal distribution of our founding principles.

And for today, the greatest of these seems to be found in our Declaration of Independence declaring our unalienable right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness -- our commitment to love our neighbors as ourselves, united in the spirit of the one, true, American voice, goes hand in hand.

Our true freedom is not free -- nor is it guaranteed at this rate; there is a price -- it not only takes work and our undying obligation to do our part, but a people's lasting independence depends on it.

Oh yes, and speaking of dependents,  let's raise them well:  may they stop smoking, get off the phone, hang up their clothes, do homework and clean up their room. With any luck, they will raise their children to do the same -- not for the sake of running a tyrannical household, like I can hear some of you say -- but for the sake of raising our children right, responsible, rooted adults.

Making the promise to themselves and future generations that they, too, remember the temper from which they came and grow up big and strong and fully capable of being like every other man unto himself --  in the community of others that is -- without destroying it for the rest of us; without creating one more reason to legislate another law; without adding one more restriction to what otherwise should be a free, loving, nurturing place we all like to call home.

And even for those of us who consider themselves "all grown up" already, may we recognize the blessings AND THE DUTY to live in America -- as AMERICANS -- not Hispanic-Americans, not African-Americans, not Muslim-Americans -- but as AMERICANS. 

Nobody really likes keeping our room clean and picking up after ourselves, but come Sunday dinner, we all have reason to rejoice as one big happy family -- anything less, is simply being un American.

Make it a Good Day, G