It Is Time to Put an End to This Nonsense

As I sit here on a Sunday evening, I’m enjoying the fireworks show courtesy of the thunderstorm streaking across Collier Bay, all the while lighting up the western sky. On a night like this in New Hampshire, where I grew up, the temperature usually falls after a thundershower like this, but after being here 30 years, I’ve learned not to rely on that; and tonight was no exception. 

In the last several weeks it seems everything has heated up. From the tragedy in Minneapolis and the outrage which it sparked, to the senseless violence, looting and terrorism that has spread through our nation we feel a grave sense of sadness for all those families who have suffered so greatly. 

The rush of a small segment of our population to be so politically correct that they would destroy a segment of our nation’s heritage and threaten an even larger rewrite of our history is also so sad. It is only through a thorough study of our nation’s heritage that we can see our way forward with reasoned and intelligent changes to make life better for all segments of our population. 

To tear down the statue of the battle-hardened leader of the Union Army, General Ulysses S. Grant was one of the most idiotic injustices I believe I’ve ever heard of. The man that overcame the Confederacy’s march towards independence and began the end of slavery in our nation certainly deserved so much better. 

To read social media posts by some defaming the dignity and vision of one of our greatest Presidents, who would go on to create the Emancipation Proclamation during the third year of the American Civil War made me sick to my stomach. President Lincoln had his Presidency cut short by a coward’s bullet and see his dream vanish as his Vice President assumed that position. It also showed the ignorance of those that would claim their superiority in these issues and cause me to wonder what lies ahead of us in the future should these anarchists persevere, which I doubt. 

To see that a Vietnam War Memorial was defaced by cowardly acts of vandalism would also cause me great pain these last three weeks. The memories of those men and women deserved so much better by a nation who failed to recognize their valor and courage during their service to their country. 

The disrespect and reign of terror being brought upon the brave men and women who wear the badge is another horrific act of mob violence that must be brought to an end and we must restore order in our nation.  

This weekend alone in the City of Chicago, 14 are dead and 42 wounded. Of those 14 dead, there are the bodies of a 1-year old boy, a 10-year-old girl and a 17-year-old boy. Can you imagine the lifeless body of a one year lying there and the agony of those parents?  

One has to wonder where the humanity has gone in our culture. What does it say about a nation that cannot keep its children safe?  

Violence in this nation must be brought under control and it cannot be done by government edict or laws, but through a systemic cultural change in how we view life. When children are desensitized to death by videogames, movies and television, it is no wonder they no longer cherish that which was once held so special in the past. 

Somehow, we must reestablish the family unit. Kids need to be kids again and be given safe places to play and grow. There must be a sense of normalcy brought back to our everyday lives, where fathers no longer fail to live up to their responsibilities and mothers don’t merely have children to increase the size of the government check they receive. 

The last four months have seen our nation struggle with the onslaught of the COVID-19 illness which has spread worldwide. We can beat this thing, but not before we take it seriously and step up our sense of personal responsibility. To think we are immune and don’t have to take precautions is a recipe for disaster and will find us going to more funerals and continuing to try and find someone else to blame. 

We have some of the most brilliant minds in the world working on this, and we will find a way forward, but we cannot rely upon that alone. We must all take precautions regardless of our dislike for the inconvenience. Wear a mask when in public settings, wash your hands more frequently and don’t gather is large groups. 

You can still enjoy a meal out or a coffee with friends, but first, take the necessary precautions and be careful. 

Yes, these are tough times, but together we can come through this. I’m not saying it’s going to be easy and it will take some sacrifices on the part of us all.  

I think of President John F. Kennedy when he spoke about going to the moon on September 12th, 1962.  

“We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, one which we intend to win, and the others, too.”