Fourth of July

Today's the day we celebrate our independence, displaying patriotism by hanging flags, saluting our troops, barbecuing w/ our families, & overall enjoying our American freedoms. So it's ironic that as I sit here while so many celebrate our Founding Fathers, the superhuman foresight they had in writing the Constitution- setting in motion the superpower country & invincible government that exists today- and what it means to be an American, I'm not feeling so patriotic myself. Don't get me wrong, I'm incredibly grateful to everyone who fought & continues to fight for our freedoms, protect us, & may pay w/ their lives. It's more that I'm a little disenchanted w/ our government & the illogical way things are run because they're so outdated. A lot of these thoughts came about late last night/early this morning as I stayed up to read Where Men Win Glory by Jon Krakauer. Chronicling the persona & death of Pat Tillman, the aftermath, Krakauer pieces together a great novel in what seems to be pretty thorough. To make contribute to the reader's understanding, he included the mentality of the Middle East pre-dating Tillman's time in the military when the USA invaded the area during the first Bush's administation and the reasons behind their perspectives. Like so many of Krakauer's books, this is no exception to his wonderful writing though the contents of it is extremely maddening. It details as best as it can the cover up that our Army & government tried so hard to implement regarding Tillman's death at the hands of his fellow Ranger. Though the book demonizes the Bush's presidency (& in this case, rightfully so) for its actions, the worst part about this is that it couldn't have been the first & as long as wars exist, definitely won't be the last time a situation like this arises for any of our presidents.

It's sickening to know that this story is only coming to light because of Pat Tillman's celebrity & without it, he'd be another name in the book & his family could possibly be lost in the shady bureaucracy forever, foraging for answers that never come. What's even worse is the countless families that have been lied to in a similar fashion.

Moreover, it's maddening to know that people who are high up in the military aren't in the battlefield & people back in Washington who don't even oversee day to day action on the ground can veto or override what commanders in the field know that they need. If we're going to fight a war, we need to do it right. We need to provide our troops w/ the necessary skills & equipment they need during & after the war. Any other way & people are going to slip through the cracks as we've been seeing. However, it doesn't even stop w/ the parents fighting the wars. Check out the Newsweek article on the conditions of schools that military kids go to if you're interested.

We have all this patriotism & love for our country but when it comes down to it, what do most of us do for our country? Nothing. We say, like our brave countrymen who so vehemently fought off the British & other enemies, we'll take up arms to besiege any enemy that wrongs us. Yet, when the time comes, most of us sit idly by, allowing the action to come from some one else, not him or her. The lay person doesn't understand why we went to war in Afghanistan, current events, or even who the vice president is. It's alarming that we take our country & our freedoms for granted. Furthermore, it's the latter that allows us to sit back on our heels & become oblivious to ongoings not only in the rest of the world but in the United States. Yet, instead of realizing this & giving back to communities & helping the betterment of society as a whole, we complain about petty & trivial things like not being able to sign up for a class, something at the grocery store being priced higher than usual, or a driver who cut you off. Basically, though people say they're proud to be American, I don't see it. There's hardly anyone giving back to our country in any form, whether it be to charities to help the millions living in 3rd world conditions a few miles away from us, community service, or serving our country. We all say Happy Fourth! but do most of us really feel the emotion or say it w/ passion? To me, it sounds like an empty saying which at one point meant a great deal to all citizens of our borders but over the years, we've started to forget. Of course, I'm not saying that I'm a saint & do all of these things, but I feel like after nine years of volunteering & donating to charity I have a little soapbox for me to preach upon. Anyways, I'm getting off it. Incredibly long rant, I know