I’m thinking about the great country that America used to be, and can still be, but I can almost hear dirges or ''Taps'' threatening to begin playing in the background. 

        It is almost as if the funeral director is having the floors of the mortuary cleaned and readying the stand to receive the coffin.  The flowers have been paid for, but not yet arranged.  So before the ceremony begins, and the “body” is taken off of life support, please indulge me while I take a stroll down 1776 Nostalgia Avenue.

        Whenever I want to read about sturdiness of character, I return to Revolutionary Times and the examples of men who fought to create our country.  They fought against the mighty British Empire, and won!  One example of patriotism and grit was Colonel Timothy Bigelow, a blacksmith by trade.  He fought in the Battles of Saratoga, Monmouth, and Yorktown, but was imprisoned by the British during the Battle of Quebec, and ultimately died in debtor’s prison.  I like to fantasize that he spent his fortune in the cause of the Revolution.

        Colonel Bigelow was born a couple of centuries too late.  In today’s world, he could have traded on his military service, gone into politics, and built his fortune in about two terms.  He would have had a nice pension for life, even after serving just one term, not that piddling Social Security thing with which folks in the lowlands have been endowed.  The valor he demonstrated in abundance is now a quaint notion, to be read about in history books or in the accounts of current battles--often unreported--in which our own men and women in uniform are still involved, and winning.

        What would an ode to America be without mentioning Patrick Henry, “the voice of American liberty”?  I guess he still gets passing mention in American schools where American history is squeezed into the curricula, or maybe not.  Many of us remember him for his defiant cry of “Give me liberty or give me death!”  Colonel Henry spoke memorable words, but he also put his actions where his words were.  He was the prime mover in the “Gunpowder Affair,” in which he led the Patriot militia in holding onto the gunpowder at the Williamsburg magazine to keep it out of the hands of the British.  Notice the word is “led.” He did not send a staffer to do the job.

        Like Patrick Henry, James Madison, “father of the Constitution,” was not too keen on allowing the federal government to become disproportionately powerful, to the detriment of the rights of the individual states, and the rights of individuals.  Were he able to return from the dead, he would probably be leading the charge against those who are now feverishly attempting to nullify his work!  He also “fathered” the first 10 amendments to the Constitution, which came to be known as the Bill of Rights.  These guarantee all Americans the rights of free speech, freedom of assembly, the right to bear arms, et al.  You know, the ones that some of us take for granted.  Then there is the freedom of religion, which is being turned into freedom from religion.  Many of us are so afraid of losing our guaranteed rights that we are out there “clinging to God.”  Cling on, fellow citizens.  You are following at least two hundred years of tradition.

        Alexander Hamilton began his climb to the top when he received his commission as the captain of a New York artillery unit, on March 14, 1776.   He was a warrior, a politician, a lawyer, and a duelist.  Yes, in those days, men fought duels to settle differences.  He was at the losing end of a duel with Aaron Burr, but he fit in more “life and living” than many who outlasted him.  By the way, can we bring back the duel in order to separate the men from the boys?  Just asking…

        Say what you will about Hamilton, he lived his passions.  And many of those passions were dedicated to the cause of his adopted country.  He was born on the island of Nevis, sister island to St. Kitts, my island of birth.  Does that make us relatives?  I told my father as a teenager that I felt that I was “special.”  I would be willing show how “special” I am by fighting a duel if a positive outcome on my part meant that our Bill of Rights could remain unfettered!  For the record, my “weapon” of choice is the pen.  I have more battles to fight!

        What about George Washington?  Is he still “first in our hearts”?  He is in mine.  He who “never told a lie” would never fit into our current political arena, where “massaging the truth” is practiced with regularity.  He would be hopelessly ill-suited for this modern-day political atmosphere, where “nuance” trumps plain talk.  He deserves an article devoted solely to him.  It will come.  It will truly be a case of “saving the best for last.”

        I want to be fair to the inheritors of the mantle of Washington, Hamilton, Jefferson, and maybe it’s not fair to compare now to then.  But to apply standards of “affirmative action scrutiny” would be even more unfair.  After all, the so-called playing field should be level, right?  I have to be honest.  We may never have men like our Founding Fathers again.  Men of their caliber do not have what it takes to “succeed” in today’s political maelstrom, where party affiliation trumps country “affiliation.” Today, it appears, it is acceptable for the U.S. president to literally bow down to Middle Eastern potentates and, accede to a diminished U.S. role in world affairs.  No, “Give me liberty or give me death” is now totally irrelevant.

        During Revolutionary Times, patriots, politicians, and fighters gave their lives and fortunes in support of their country.  Today, there is no sacrifice on the part of the Ruling Class.  Other parts of the citizenry are asked to forego bonuses and raises, but the Ruling Class votes itself pay raises with more regularity than a cuckoo clock announces the time! Maybe “cuckoo” is a very apropos word when dealing with this subject of “pay for no play!”  I have yet to hear of any member of the current Ruling Class giving up a fortune to save the country.  I have heard plenty of stories of politicians going into office, just slightly richer than church mice and coming out with enough dough to purchase a third world country!

        I have always had disdain for rulers who lived in their palaces while their populations starved, and I naively thought that this kind of degenerate and immoral behavior would never happen here, not in the country of Washington, Jefferson, or Lincoln.  I still have the disdain.  I no longer have the certainty that America is exempt.

        The America, “land that I love,” used to be an America that led the world in innovation. Many “new-fangled” inventions came from immigrants who threw off the shackles of totalitarianism and repaid their adopted country with their talents, skills, and loyalty.  Many came through Ellis Island--legally.  They would be scoffed at today for their honesty and “playing by the rules.”  Rules are now meant to be broken much as sovereign borders are trampled.

        The America of Washington, Henry, Hamilton, and Bigelow is now ''press 1 for English,'' nearly sixty-million aborted babies, and sniveling “Ask how much I can get from my country” denizens, most of it courtesy of the six-hundred-plus inhabitants of “Capital Olympus!”  Yep, it is now quite a change from Revolutionary Times.

        However, despite the emperors running around in their financial nakedness, and the perps on parade for fleecing their fellow citizens, hope does spring eternal, and I am drinking deeply from that well, hoping that I do not drown in disappointment.  Come April 15, I will be sipping T.E.A.

        America will always live in my heart.  Why?  It’s the people, stupid!  Millions upon millions still love their country, and although “outgunned,” metaphorically speaking, they are exhibiting that revolutionary spirit of old.  They, we, will not be silenced.