Speak Out 1/10/12

Buchanan and Swiss cheese

This is my opinion on the Opinion piece 'Whose Country Is It, Anyway?' by Patrick Buchanan. If it makes it into the Speakout, excellent; if not, at least I tried!

I enjoyed the 12/28 opinion piece by Patrick Buchanan, 'Whose Country Is It, Anyway?' It was clever, informative, and downright inflammatory. For a man of his stature and breadth, I would have expected him to see through the veritable 'swiss cheese' and realize what the American social environment is coming to. He says, 'This mockery and hatred of Christmas testifies not only to the character of those who engage in it, it says something as well about who is winning the culture war for the soul of America.' In reference to Leesburg, Santa Monica, etc.: what 'Culture War'? What about the legal nightmares/social atrocities of the 'Personhood' Amendments that are being sought for by extremists of our country, and being defended by Conservative presidential candidates (more pledges)? What about the social engineering pandering by extremists to more align our government with a certain dogma? What about the minorities of other faiths that are practiced by other Americans? What about the 1st Amendment? He further states that, 'Not long ago, the Supreme Court (1892) and three U.S. presidents -- Woodrow Wilson, Harry Truman and Jimmy Carter -- all declared America to be a "Christian" nation'. Wrong. Regardless of what the Supreme Court (having become biased and legislative), past presidents, or even future politicians have said, the Founders knew of the quandary a religiously-oriented society would create. Thus, they molded the Bill of Rights to not allow the government to uphold or denigrate any form of religion. The Treaty of Tripoli (1797), signed by a Founder of the United States (John Adams) and 23 senators unanimously, further solidified our unaligned status. So, I ask you, and Patrick Buchanan, this: Were the actions those people took an attack on Christmas, or a defense mechanism for the foundations of our country? Think again. 'We are made wise not by the recollection of our past, but by the responsibility of our future.' - George Bernard Shaw