Admit It, We Love Each Other

On September 8, 2009, Marine Dakota Meyer (absolutely no relation), saved thirteen Marines and Soldiers, pulled four of his dead comrades back from the lines and killed eight insurgents – and oh yeah, he was wounded in the leg. For this heroism, he received the Medal of Honor. You would think this would come with a check for a billion dollars – that is stimulus I could get behind. (Interestingly, when the White House contacted him, he was working a construction job and refused the call. The White House called back during his lunch break.)


Earlier this week, motorcyclist Brandon Wright was pinned under a car – his motorcycle tangled in the front burner and on fire. Undaunted, the people of Logan, Utah, lifted the car ala the Justice League and pulled Brandon to safety.

And we certainly need look no further than New York, Washington and Shanksville ten years ago, the heroes of that day our countless.

The point is this; things are going to get interesting in this country over the next twelve months as we face down the unbearable presidential campaign season. We will argue, snipe, conspire and slander. (We may even libel, which is like slander, but different. Sort of like flotsam and jetsam – no one really knows the difference but they always seem to go together.)

But when it is all over and the votes are counted (and re-counted, and after the Supreme Court chimes in) we will have a new (or new again) President. At this point, we can comfortably resume our arguing, sniping, conspiring and slandering. That is, we can resume this until the shit hits the fan. We can resume this until someone we don’t know is trapped under a car, until someone is stuck in a burning building or until our friends are pinned down. Because when that happens, Americans don’t really seem to give a damn about who you voted for. The firemen and police in New York didn’t ask, the citizens of Logan didn’t ask. Dakota certainly didn’t ask.

Are we a nation of heroes? No question about it. But we are also a nation of people with different views, beliefs and lifestyles – who also happen to choose time and again to refuse to let anything bad happen to our fellow Americans. This, my friends, is why freedom and respect always win.