I agree.
And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.
This, of course, is the last sentence in our Declaration of Independence of July 4, 1776 when selfless patriots risked it all for their country.
I wonder how many selfless patriots one could find in this country today who would take such a risk as did our Founding Fathers? We now have career politicians in our Federal, State, and local governments who will do and say only whatever it takes to achieve office and then stay in office. This self-serving mindset continues throughout our career military leadership and our Federal workforce where, again, they will say and do only what is good for their career and what’s good for the country doesn’t even enter into the equation.
Do you really think any of the NPS Police who are on orders from Obama to keep Americans out of National Parks and National Monuments will do anything that will jeopardize their careers? For that matter, if the people resist the government and Obama declares Martial Law, do you think our military leadership will risk their careers by refusing to fire on the American people? Like you, I once thought they would, but life has taught me differently; let me explain.
I remember back to War Zone C in 1966 when I was a U.S. Army Special Forces NCO assigned to a Special Forces A Camp on the Cambodian border. When the weather was clear and intelligence reports indicated the Viet Cong weren’t in the immediate area, VIPs would occasionally helicopter into our camp for a visit. After our Detachment Commander had briefed them, they would usually stroll around our camp and “inspire the troops” before they departed. One day a visiting Colonel asked me, in passing, "How’s the war going Sergeant?" I’m sure he didn’t expect an answer to his inane question, but I gave him an answer anyway, and it was an ear-full. After he wiped the shocked expression off his face, he smirked and replied, "You just don’t have the Big Picture, Sergeant." Then, he strutted back to his waiting helicopter, flew back to his big city Headquarters, and left me standing there scratching my head and wondering what he meant by his "Big Picture" response.
It took me a while to determine exactly what the Colonel meant, and when I did figure it out, it was a paradigm-shift that brought the war and the world into focus for me for the first time. That Colonel, and many other officers I served with in Vietnam, only saw the war as a once in a lifetime career opportunity that had to be milked for everything they could possibly squeeze out of it during the brief time they could take credit for its prosecution. As for the Colonel and his entourage visiting our camp, along with other Special Forces Camps along the border, I learned their motive was only to earn Air Medals, as each time they landed in one of our A Camps, they logged it as a Combat Assault.
At first, it was hard for me to understand how these officers could fight a war and nowhere in their agenda would be a priority on closing with the enemy, destroying him and winning the war. History had taught these officers that when the war ended, the ride was over, promotions stopped, the Army downsized, and they would be out of a job. So their priority was to keep the war going until they received their stars and could retire as General Officers. As medals were a sort of insurance against losing their jobs after the war, there were large division sized operations run for no apparent reason other than to justify medals for their senior leadership. There’s no doubt in my mind some of these officers prayed to God every night and beseeched God to “Please don’t end this war before I get my stars.”
I found many, but not all, officers in Vietnam to be career-oriented opportunists who only saw the war as an opportunity to enhance their careers, and they would only do or say whatever was good for their careers. In an officer’s day to day decision making process he had three basic elements to consider: What’s best for the Mission? What’s best for his Men? And what’s best for his Career? When the war ended, I noticed that those officers who had given primary consideration to their careers in every decision they had made remained in the Army and those who had put the prosecution of the war ahead of their careers were caught up in the first Reduction in Force (RIF) and eliminated. Those officers who had protected their careers at every juncture continued to protect their careers, and by doing and saying only what was good for their careers, they rose to become the senior leadership of the Army.
In my day to day interactions with these career conscious officers, I noticed that they considered us Special Forces NCOs to be feeble minded, and they didn’t trust us simply because we placed no importance at all on our careers. They couldn’t understand how we could be so irresponsible that we wouldn’t take care of ourselves above all else. If we didn’t protect our careers, we wouldn’t have one, and then how would we one day support our family, pay our mortgage, and send our children to college?
No, I don’t think there will be many, if any, NPS Policemen who will endanger their careers and threaten their family’s security over this. For that matter, I don’t think there will be many, if any, Americans with a full time 8 to 5 job, a family, and a mortgage who will risk their family’s security over this. And, of course, the 47% aren’t going to risk their welfare check, EBT Card, and “Bama Phone over this either.
Yes, we have become a nation of complacent sheep, and what the future holds for us is anybody’s guess, as the American People live out the old Chinese curse, ”May you live in interesting times.”
And it is sad to think of how many enlisted troops lost their lives so that the career officers could further their career.
I don’t know much about war, but some of the stuff I’ve read about our troops losing their lives due to rules of engagement and kowtowing to muslim sensitivities is very disheartening.