US Government: Friend or Foe?

It's been almost a month since news broke of the disgusting action of the US Air Force dumping the remains of military personnel killed in action. A Washington Post investigation revealed Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, the main portal for dead US service personnel being shipped back from Iraq and Afghanistan, was sending cremated remains to a Virginia landfill. The exact number of fallen service men and women is unknown because records were only retrievable since 2004 but it has been reported that the practice was standard procedure from 1996 to 2008. The Air Force, after public pressure, finally admitted to 274 individuals and at least 2700 body parts but the actual number will probably never be known and could be much higher.

Regular readers of my editorials will already know my disgust at government's oftentimes utter incompetence but this revelation is so unbelievable that this editor could not have made it up for a horror movie. This is not incompetence, it is flagrant disregard for American values.

How have the American people, second to none in compassion for their fellow man, inherited leaders from hell like the ones responsible for this heinous treatment of the dead. Almost daily, news breaks of yet another scandal perpetrated by people we pay handsomely to take care of public business. The US Government is like a bad dream that is real and when you think things can't get worse, a new nightmare unfolds before your unbelieving eyes. How could anyone be part of throwing in a garbage dump our fallen sons and daughters who gave their lives in service to us? Let alone military commanders being paid to honor and serve the last rites of these special people.

Osama Bin Laden was our sworn enemy, dedicated to kill all Americans, men, women and children, yet our government and military afforded him a respectful, no expense spared burial at sea so as not to offend his friends and other enemies of America. You have to ask why that same government and military, can't do the same for their own?

Is it because disrespecting Bin Laden's body carries harsher penalties than dumping a soldier in a landfill with the trash?

Where was the US Establishment outrage, United Nations condemnation, and marching in the streets that would have been the result of doing the same to one of our sworn enemies. Could you imagine the outcry of Congress and the President if the military had burned up Bin Laden and dumped him in a Virginia landfill?

What have we come to? Where has America's humanity gone? Can we really consider ourselves the good guys when we allow the people who did this to get away with it? Maybe America is no longer the great country of legend if we silently condone this foul practice?

It is my opinion that this America the Great has been taken over by individuals that are diametrically opposed to the inherent values of the American people. They don't represent us or our values. They were dumping remains for 15 years. Shipping them all the way from Delaware to Virginia. Hundreds, if not thousands, must have known it was going on and in all that time no one was outraged enough to come forward. I believe it would be difficult to find a thousand people in any state willing to dump our military heroes, yet the US Government has found and employed them, and kept it quiet. Truly an enemy within without American values.

It is also my opinion that the degrading treatment given our fallen heroes and the lack of accountability leveled at those responsible is a reflection of a nation on the brink of self destruction. It is pointless claiming shame on the barbarians responsible because they have no shame. They play the system we have allowed them to create. We have trusted them with great power and it is flagrantly abused every day. Anonymity, institutionalized job protection, unaccountability and legal immunity has created a dangerous monster. Our federal government has become an entity, devoid of fair play, common sense, sense of honor or ethical principles. A shadowy Mafia that shake us down and beat us up using a system that was supposed to protect the American way of life.

If this tragedy is to stop, I think voters of America will have to change the way they choose every elected official from the president down. It will take determination and courage to re-evaluate the criteria for choosing a leader. Television appeal and international charisma is not a recipe for honesty and integrity. A nice smile and boy or girl next door good looks will not keep your family or freedoms safe. Political correctness and tolerance will not prosecute those responsible for the degradation of military dead or the damage to American core values. Cheap talk and hollow promises will not reign in unruly government or stop the abuse.

It is true, if nothing changes, things stay the same.

For America to get back on track I think we need to change how we do things, and for that to happen we need to change the type of people we choose to lead us. We have to learn to not be pressurized into voting for the lesser of two evils as we have done for decades. And we have to learn to ignore the media lie that to vote your choice is to waste a vote. If neither the Democratic nominee or the Republican nominee will do a good job bringing America back on track, then why vote for them? If you vote or not will have the same result then why do it? But if you vote an outsider not supported by either the Republican or Democrat party that loses, even his defeat will send a message that you are not happy with the choices the parties are giving you. It is the undecided vote that swings elections and your no-vote will unnerve both parties so that next election they might nominate a candidate more to your liking. As things are now, both parties are screwing up the country in a colossal way. Both grow the federal government. Both borrow and spend too much. Both increase regulation which stifles entrepreneurship, the key to a healthy economy and new jobs. The choice given the voter by either party is no real choice at all, unless you are comfortable with the way it has always been. Romney will likely be chosen by the media and the Republican party leadership to face off with Obama for President. They want this guy because he is establishment friendly and can be trusted to not rock the boat. But is he a real choice for the American people?

This election you can change that by voting for a good leader and not a party. Even at the state and local level, Republican leaders are prepared to support a democrat with no conservative values so long as he runs as a Republican and can win an election. And they openly do this even though a true conservative may be running for the same seat. Values and principles are not important, only power is.

Many of Cleveland's leaders are Democrats with extreme liberal ideals yet run on a Republican ticket, and are supported by the Bradley County Republican Party. A fact that is not talked about at meetings, but is absolutely true. No wonder the country is in a mess.

If I were to choose a good leader. I would choose honesty over television appeal. Choose the US Constitution over a nice smile. Choose a strong sense of honor over political correctness, and choose actual spending cuts over cheap talk and promises. And I would not vote for anyone that did not meet these criteria.

But what I think will not put America back on track. Only you can do that.

What do you think?

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