The American Spirit

I found this on Lone Ranger’s site yesterday, who in turn, got it from Wonderwoman’s site, who got it from a National Post article:

LONDON - If British Prime Minister Tony Blair had not been vacationing in the Caribbean yesterday, it seems a safe bet he would have announced to the world that Britain feels deep sympathy for its freshly wounded ally, the United States.
He might have been wrong.

In fact, to judge by the reaction of some Londoners yesterday to Katrina's rising death toll, Britons seem to feel the United States is overdrawn on sympathy. In an online discussion group set up by The Guardian newspaper, for example, one man sneered that George W. Bush will "blame global warming, or 'ecological terrorism' for this extreme weather event." Another said the disaster will be all the worse because the National Guard, which so often helps in relief operations, "is in Iraq to provide for the comfort of U.S. occupation forces."

And there was much snickering over which wing nut televangelist will attribute the devastation of New Orleans to Genesis 6:13, in which God, about to flood the sinful Earth, tells Noah: "The end of all flesh is come before me ... behold, I will destroy them with the Earth."

The rest of the article describes the utter indifference that Brits exhibit towards America in the face of the monumental disaster in our gulf states.

One has to wonder if this is the same attitude the rest of the free world has toward the United States. I have yet to see anywhere in any newscast or website where we are being offered help by any of them.

Is this a surprise? No.

Is it troubling? Yes.

Here is the good news:
America doesn’t need their help, nor do we ask for it. One of the many things that make this country great is the willingness of it’s citizens to pull together in times of crisis and despair. Even as the Hurricane moved across the Gulf on it’s way to Louisiana, good people across this nation were preparing to offer their services through the generosity and goodness of their heart.

There are relief organizations, churches, individuals, companies, and government agencies all pulling together to help in the efforts to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina. There is no Democrats or Republicans, no Conservatives or Liberals, only Americans. Athiests, Jews and Christians, white, black, and brown, all working together to get the job done. We are all Americans today.

Now I’m not saying that there isn’t any looting going on. Anytime there is a disaster, there will always be selfish, opportunistic, criminally oriented people there to take full advantage of the situation, and damned be anyone who gets hurt. But they are in the minority, no matter what the television newscasts say. The majority of the people are honest hard working people that have found themselves in a desperate situation. And they are the ones that need our help. Many of them would offer help to those less fortunate than themselves even in the situation they are in now.A couple donate money to the Red Cross

That is the American Spirit at it’s finest.

I am reminded of a song written by Phil Coulter called “The Town I Love so Well”. The last verse tells us:

Now the music's gone but they still carry on
For their spirit's been bruised, never broken
They will not forget but their hearts are set
on tomorrow and peace once again
For what's done is done and what's won is won
and what's lost is lost and gone forever
I can only pray for a bright, brand new day
in the town I loved so well.


We did not have to wait to be asked for help. We help because we are Americans. We help because we are civilized. We help because that is what Americans do.

All we ask is where and to whom do we send whatever aid we have to offer.

What will happen the next time a tsunami strikes or terrorists bomb a subway or an earthquake devastates a country? Will America respond the way the British and the others have to America’s need?

Not at all. Again, we will be the first to respond, the first to help, the first to support, the first to pray.

That is why we are the greatest nation on earth. If we ever turn our backs on the world, God help us.

For He is the only One that will.


Lie Of The Day (from Laura Ingraham's website)
Hosting C-Span's "Afterwords" program, in which she interviewed former UPenn President Sheldon Hackney, Janet Cohen (wife of former Clinton Sec-Def Bill Cohen), said, "I'm not accusing the south of being terrorists, although that culture has terrorized a race of people historically...." She continued by saying, "How do we reconcile the very enemy we're fighting whose traits are very similar to our own."


THE TRUTH:
She said earlier in the interview, "I'm seeing parallels between what's going on now as we look at life and our world after 9/11. You talk about an overly religious group, you talk about people who resist modernity, and have a desire to oppress other people." Sounds like equating the South to terrorists to me.