Don Crawford

Don Crawford

President of Crawford Broadcasting and the voice of the STAND Podcast

AMERICAN VALUES (OR THE LACK THEREOF)

We were once, we Americans were, known the world over as a nation of value. We said what we meant and we did what we said. That was then, and now comes NOW.
We announced to the world in 1776 that we were strong, even more than strong. WE WERE CONQUERORS. We said to the world then and for decades thereafter:

DON’T MESS WITH AMERICA

We were strong, at least strong in heart, in spirit. Our minds were committed to freedom. All was on the altar when it came to liberty, and justice, and even the pursuit of happiness. Freedom, or unbridled liberty was our highest secular value, so said PATRICK HENRY in his words:

GIVE ME LIBERTY OR GIVE ME DEATH!

Now it seems that America, current America cares more about its own definition of liberty, which is really in so many ways LICENSE without any thought whatsoever of putting all on the altar, of defending and even dying for liberty as our forefathers did taking for granted the good life which liberty alone can provide. Rather than do it ourselves, especially when it comes to defense and the military, our attitude seems to be:

LET SOMEBODY ELSE DO IT

In fact, we are a nation having forgotten to be thankful. Our forefathers and the revolutionary martyrs they represented seem to be hoary old men and not freedom fighters. Rather, the underdog everywhere is seen a champion and the underdog, like ISIS and other revolutionaries are seen by many as high-spirited often drawing both sympathy and support. Mainstream America and people around the world, those abiding, moral and especially people of faith seem irrelevant more and more. We the people drift in the scene of chaos, CHANGE, and change it seems so often for the worse, at least change which fundamentally changes traditional America in terms of values, spirituality, constitutionally and legally. We are by no means better off for this kind of change and in fact, never more so in danger as a nation as we are now.

We the people have lost:

ACCOUNTABILITY

No one is accountable for anything. It is always somebody else’s fault. We have become a nation rationalizing, excusing, blaming. We spin, lie. We avoid, we compromise. It seems as though we are willing to do almost anything to avoid accountability.

We have little or no respect at some times for the Rule of Law. We think of judges as often corrupt or at least compromised. We think of our judicial system as prejudiced, providing favors or preferences rather than justice. Some 7% of we the people think that our politicians are honest and trustworthy. When they fall, they get away with it and we the people do not. We seem to know whatever the crime, politicians will never do the time. Like Holder, Lerner, Sebelius and even presidential candidate Clinton. We know they did it but we also know they will never do it, that is the time. They are UNACCOUNTABLE, not like us ordinaries. They work and live above the law if they even know what the law is. Clergy become pedophiles and get away with it. Business can rise to new standards of corruption and cheating, like Volkswagen or negligent indifference like BP and oil spills, and get away with it. The penalty is little more than more money but virtually never any Corporate or personal accountability. We know they are guilty but the guilty facts when openly aired seem enough penalty and no more is done. The liberal, subjective, enormously biased media ignores and when they choose not to cover, investigate, charges die off and the UNACCOUNTABLE walk away. We are, in short, a nation which has utterly abandoned:

THE RULE OF LAW

And consequently the accountability which attaches. When each of us in our very own way chooses to live ANYTHING GOES, what goes first is American freedom, liberty and of course JUSTICE FOR ALL.

We have become a nation which seems to have abandoned:

ACTION

We talk, bluster, threaten. To paraphrase, we speak loudly but carry a little stick. We seem more content with changing, even destroying our own culture and values rather than acting aggressively in the world at large. We refuse for whatever reasons to solve our own problems, like poverty and crime but we lecture the world on the very same issues. We criticize but never correct. We seem unable to even define our own national self-interests much less act to implement or defend them. Our decision making is inept, hopelessly in turmoil. Our politics lack statesmanship, direction and purpose. We never know what’s coming next. We can change course in midstream and our ACTIONS can utterly lack ACCOUNTABILITY. The world at large respects us less and less because of our actions and often because of our:

INACTION

It seems as though we have lost the will, the ability to:

FOLLOW THROUGH

We create turmoil in the Middle East and essentially withdraw from Iraq. We do the same in Afghanistan and withdraw to the point where it seems in many ways as though we have never been there. We seem never to get the job done, or do it right. Our actions are an indication of an America gone soft and getting softer. It seems as though the world never knows what we will do or follow through and so many Americans feel the same.

We have seen a nation which has lost its:

AUTHORITY

Once, when America spoke, the world listened. We were strong, the leader, the standard. The dollar for decades was the standard by which all economies were governed. The dollar and our economy were the most stable in the world, reliable, predictable and ever strong. Not so today. The dollar may rise and fall but the American economy seems now as suspect as any in the world.

We were once the world’s leading military power. All nations respected America and asked for our help and intervention. Our military might and ingenuity were legendary and predictable. We used those assets for THE RIGHT, for justice. Now, others take over and strengthen their military, like Russia, and our leaders weaken our very own military for reasons unfathomable. We are at the core a nation in both military and economic decline. We seem to have lost authority, strength, purpose both abroad and at home. We lack leaders, or even candidates who are men and women of authority, strength, purpose and will. We seem resigned to the fact that our next leader chosen in 2016 will be cut from the same cloth, men and women without real accountability, or action, or real authority and we do little. We fiddle like Nero of old while America burns.

And we the people seem lacking in AWARENESS.

That is, really being aware of what is happening. We look at things transactionally rather than systemically. We have within us the WHAT’S NEXT syndrome and reaction. We look for the next event, the subject of gossip and talk. There is a neverending series of transactions which keep us occupied, even entertained, so that we do not seriously study the state of affairs much less become involved in thinking solutions. We may have flashes of insight but we seldom wish to invest the time to study, learn and become involved, really involved in solving problems. Our awareness is fleeting and never seemingly fully concentrated. Social media seems more important than foreign policy. FACEBOOK becomes more important than facing the nation’s problems. We would rather see pictures of babies than pictures showing the reality of war in the Middle East. We would rather read gossip, likes, than the Constitution. Awareness, if we have it, is fleeting, headlines rather than serious homework.

We are a people seemingly caught up in:

DIVERSITY

Diversity is disastrous for America. It seems to trump patriotism. We are more concerned with different cultures. We are equally concerned with ethnicities and we have created our own culture of over-sensitivity to the differences of people. We seem to honor minorities and forget about majorities. We honor differences with celebration days but seem to pay less and less attention to our own holidays.

Diversity seems to trump Americanism. We can be Irish and celebrate all things Irish. Or Italian. Or German. Or African-American. We can celebrate who we are as long as all such celebration is SECONDARY to:

AMERICANISM

Patriotism. Love of country. Understanding country. And entering into the American melting pot where we really are one for all and all for one. With commonality. With common and shared values and morals. With shared determination to keep America great and make it greater. To first of all be for individual culture, championing:

AMERICAN CULTURE

All that America is, FIRST!

The pride of American citizenship comes FIRST. That is our duty as citizens and that is our privilege. Everything else, important as it may be, is SECOND. We must return for the good of America and ourselves to:

E PLURIBUS UNUM

We must be one for all regardless of culture, regardless of differences, regardless of DIVERSITY. Or, there will be no America. Our country will be a series of satraps, differences. We will splinter, break apart and become ineffectual. It is now or never for us to return to:

AMERICA FIRST

Only then can we reconstitute our nation politically. Only then can we return to the Rule of Law. Only then can we all concentrate on the Constitution, its rights and duties, its privileges and demands. Only then can we see the Constitution as it is, and not something organic as we might wish it to be. Only then can we cherish our beloved flag, flying for freedom, and all it represents. Only then can we truly PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE to our great country, our duties as citizens and our demand for the return of all, including and especially our leaders to:

ACCOUNTABILITY
ACTION
AUTHORITY
AWARENESS

Only then can America remember its once held high character. Only then can we reestablish our values for ourselves first and then the world. Only then can we be consistent, trustworthy and rightfully committed to the affairs of all mankind. Only then can we make true commitments to justice, to the pursuit of life, liberty and happiness. Only then can our values be clear and what America is, and always has been, reinvented and restated to the world at large.

We should begin even now. We have in one year the most important elections, decision making we the people will ever make. We decide not only new leaders but policies, values, directions. America stays the same or changes course as WE DECIDE. There are critically defining moments in the next year which may very well determine not only the future of America but whether it survives. We are responsible for that as we vote, as we understand the issues and as we work together, band together to do what is right. We must not only vote for the right candidates but we must work ourselves to understand the issues and to make certain that others who vote understand those issues as well. America can not survive without an educated voter. YOU can be such a voter, such a real American who produces change back and change which moves us forward. We the people, all of us, are dependent upon:

YOU

Even as you are dependent upon us. One for all and all for one for the once great America and its survival and aggressive return.

Most importantly, we the people must return to our pledge. We must make that pledge anew and we must mean it:

I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE
TO THE FLAG OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
AND TO THE REPUBLIC
FOR WHICH IT STANDS
ONE NATION
INDIVISIBLE
WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE
FOR ALL

Let us pledge to reinvent our great Republic. Let us pledge, my fellow Americans to be one nation, one committed nation the same in values. Let us pledge to be indivisible never broken apart, never becoming the victims of the DISEASE OF DIVERSITY for it is only as we are undivided that there can be:

LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL

Those worthy and lofty goals are up to YOU. And me.
What kind of American will you be?
What kind of America will you make or remake?

What kind of nation will we become?
The world watches and waits.

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