As I am now in the final chapter of life, I find it appalling that the nation I love appears to be as well. The relentless process of natural aging is the reality I face, but our United States of America faces expiration from a long lingering affliction of racism, homophobia, gender inequality, and a growing disrespect for the notion that all of our citizens should share equal opportunities to pursue their dreams of choice. Worse, far too many of our citizens envision a sense of entitlement over the aspirational values of their neighbors. Some cloak their evil intents under a false religious flag, which is frankly antithetical to Christian, Jewish or Islamic values — or the values embodied as the spiritual foundation `of any modern society.
However, despite the symbolic underpinning articulated in our Constitution and represented by our Statue of Liberty, we will occupy a special place in world history that has included leadership of free nations on a global scale. Our legacy will be that we not only gave it away at the ballot box, but many fellow citizens celebrate the demise of the values we used to cherish. There are many differences between the political death of a nation and the human variety. However, there are similarities, too. One was the death rattle in the Oval Office we witnessed on February 28th when Trump and his team humiliated President Zelenskyy.
Major General Don Loranger
USAF, Ret.
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