Is America Weak?

Last week, Zacarias Moussaoui was sentenced to life in prison without parole. While I think that the death penalty was totally appropriate in this case, I really didn't want to create a martyr for the radical Islamic terrorists. However, 23 out of 24 hours in solitary confinement just might fit the bill, although I thought he should go to Leavenworth to break big rocks into smaller rocks into pebbles into sand into dust for the rest of his life...

If I were a foreign national with an agenda to cause harm, destruction, and mayhem to the United States, and I was listening to the American media, would I think that the United States is weak and ripe for destruction? Yes, I would, and here's why:

• The media constantly promotes the divisions within our government. The constant political power plays are reported by our media as consuming great amounts of time and energy of our government. This means that they are not paying attention to other problems.
• People like Cindy Sheehan are pressuring politicians to bring the troops in Iraq home before a functioning government is in place. Part of the reason is the number of casualties that are being inflicted on the military. This means that if more soldiers are killed, the greater the public pressures the politicians, and the sooner the soldiers would be withdrawn.
• The US is a nation full of contradictions with our culture and laws. For instance -
  • Life is professed to be precious, but a fetus (a developing human being) can be aborted.
  • Reparations for victims of crimes is often non-existent, but convicted criminals have meals, a bed, laundry service, TV, and Internet access, often exceeding the capabilities of the poor to obtain.
  • The US states that it is a nation of laws, equally applicable to all citizens. But in the case of Patrick Kennedy last week, how many of us common citizens would get the breaks that he did? We would find ourselves in jail next to Bubba praying that nothing would happen until we posted bail.
  • Continuing the above nation of laws point, why are illegal aliens even being considered as having rights other than being treated as human beings? Some of the proposals that I have heard over the past few weeks would almost give them the same rights as citizens of the US!!
  • Our borders are like Swiss cheese, and yet there is continued debate on how best to guard ourselves against people illegally entering the country. (Hint: More laws and amnesty is NOT going to solve the problem.)
  • Where else can you change channels between the 700 Club and a rerun of Debbie Does Dallas?
  • The US has not taken steps to have an energy source independent from the Middle East.Besides being dependant on the Arab kings & despots for our economic survival, they take the $$ from the oil sales and support the very organizations that attack us. In essence, we are funding our own destruction - madness!!
• Most of all, the enemies of the US believe that the US is not only morally corrupt, but lacks the will to complete any task or mission. For instance, when Japan attacked the US, the country was united throughout the war, even through the defeats. Starting with Vietnam, the US has a reputation of not finishing what it started, often bowing to public pressure to pull out or not committing to finishing the job. Then there was the inaction in response to the bombing of the Marine barracks in Beirut, and the attack on the Cole. We are now seeing the same thing with Iraq with some elements of the public, media, and politicians wanting to cut & run. This is perceived to be weakness in the mind of the radical terrorists.

I know that there are more than what is listed above. Do I have all the answers? NO!! Let's just try & figure out how to make our own country better, safe & secure for our children and ourselves. Part of that is understanding that this is our common goal, and that we must, in this case, be single-minded in our direction and actions. In this effort:

• The media must support the troops & fairly report the facts.
• The politicians must have constructive debates instead of mindless & counter-productive power plays.
• The public must take an interest and let both the media & the politicians know that this nonsense ends now.