State of Confusion

Why can't we get along together? I hear from all sides of the political spectrum how bad the other side is; can we not just agree that this Democratic Republic is the last best hope for what we all stand for? Does there have to be so much hate that when someone calls for unity, the opposition calls for more disagreement? Listen, folks, no matter who is in the White House, there is going to be a great many of us who disagree. We've seen it with both President Bushes, we've seen it with Bill Clinton, who was investigated from the first day that he took office. We've seen it with George W. Bush, who was criticized from his first incursion into Iraq, and we've seen it from the day that President Obama was elected. To me, an old Veteran of the Vietnam conflict, it's all so tiring. All this nonsense prevents anything from getting done. I hear about wanting to 'Carpet Bomb' everyone in the middle east.. (didn't work in Vietnam).. challenging the eligibility of a candidate.. (John McCain.. you should be ashamed of supporting old orange hair!)... to demonizing everyone of a certain religion (Adolph, are you out there, somewhere, and smiling?)

I listend to the the State Of The Union, and then the supposedly Loyal Opposition's response. I just don't understand any of it. I hear people supporting Tramp's building of a wall, and sending the bill to Mexico, a country that is on the verge of bankruptcy. What I don't hear, from Tramp, or any of the other breakaway candidates, is how they will fix our crumbling infrastructure. Come on now, all you lofty pols, who wish to lead us in this brave new world, how will you fix these things? I drive under bridges every day that are rusting and falling apart. I drive over roads that should have been condemned years ago. I see this every day, and yet none of you will address this problem! I submit that this is a more pressing problem in our republic than building a stupid wall. I submit that we must turn our attention to our inner problems, and not try to solve things that are really beyond our control. Do any of you really think that a wall will stop illegal immigration? It will not! The illegals will find a way around it, because, they too, wish to have a better life.. I want to hear how any of these candidates will solve the problems that are in our faces every day. Don't tell me how bad the current administration is unless you have answers to to the problems that plague all of us today.

Listen to me, just for a minute: I love this country! I love all that we are supposed to stand for! I have lived through the Civil Rights movement... I have lived through a time when Jews, despite the horrors of the Third Reich, were looked on as people who had to be mistrusted. My own grandmother, as I have posted so many times before, was considered an 'Enemy Alien' simply because she was an Italian Immigrant who did not become a citizen... despite the fact that she had a son who was fighting in the Army in Europe, and despite the fact that her husband was a proud Naturalized American Citizen.

I am a loyal American Citizen, and a Veteran, who married a beautiful woman, who is Jewish. I have raised children who love this country, and accept all who embrace this nation as theirs.. regardless of national origin, or ethnicity.This is who I am. This is who we are! We reject xenophobia. We reject all the hatred of different religions that is out there.

Come on, America.. we are supposed to be the shining beacon of acceptance in the world! Do we want to be the new example of intolerance? I will never accept this. This is not the country that I pledged my self to protect and defend! This is not the country that Eisenhower so passionately loved. This is not the country that my personal hero, JFK, gave his life for. Please, demand from your representatives in the congress that they do their best to work towards improving this beautiful nation. Insist that they work together, despite their differences, to make this country beautiful and great. We either work together to come together, or we will fall apart, while our enemies laugh.

Goodnight, my friends. Namaste

John Zaffino, Kent Lakes, New York. January 1, 2016