I read the poem by Doug Goodkin and thought it only appropriate to respond.
First, I fully respect the right of the poet to publish his beliefs about our government, our President, our domestic and foreign policies, and other issues. I say this because like my father before me, my brother beside me, and my son after me, I served yours and my country (for 23 and 1/2 years) to "support and defend the Constitution of the United States of America against ALL enemy's foreign and DOMESTIC" so that the poet and all others who share similar social, political, and cultural views can take full advantage of the freedoms and liberties guaranteed by the Constitution and it's Bill of Rights.
Now that you know what I've been doing for the majority of my life I would hope that you would agree that I'm not only qualified to talk about our government but have also earned (not accepted without giving back) the right to express my beliefs as well. Therefore, I offer the following:
Through my formal education, my practical education through world travels (over 30 countries), and my dealings with senior foreign government officials I have come to realize on simple truth. There is no better country to live in than the United States of America.
There is no country with that offers the opportunities to succeed in life, be it business, education, health, or any other area that one wishes to strive for success in!
There is no other country that pours millions and billions of dollars into welfare for those who can't work and unfortunately for those who don't want to work!
There is no other country that will spend millions of mine and your tax dollars (if you pay taxes) to conserve nature!
There is no other country that allows its citizens to degrade its political system and its leadership as openly as freely as ours does! By the way, the current President and Commander and Chief of the United States Armed Forces was elected by "we the people." For those who believe that it was stolen I suggest that they find enough people of the same beliefs to convince your elected congressional representatives to change the law to suite your needs. Once this has been done you will then be the majority, and I still think that the majority rules in a Democracy!
There is no other country that is depended on by the international community to feed their poor, provide trade to stimulate their economies, provide military might to protect their way of life, to ensure world economic stability, and to ensure world peace than ours is!
There is no other country that allows the expression of religious beliefs than ours does! By the way, there is no God versus Allah issue. God is Allah and Allah is God. This is probably because Allah is Arabic for the word God!
There is no other country and government that totally tolerates some of its citizens criticizing it for not doing enough to prevent terrorist acts such as 9/11 and then accusing the same country and government of violating individual rights by establishing a Homeland Security Agency who's purpose is to better defend you from future terrorist acts. Kids always want, want, want, want for me, me, me, without any thought of what's best for the people as a whole. Believe it or not, nothing is without a price.
I suspect I have gone on enough and hopefully the readers of this will at least understand my position. But before I go I have one final comment. Individuals that believe the way the poet appears to believe should seriously re-think their position on which country they wish to "support and defend." If it is not the USA then I would politely request them to leave my beloved country or else risk being classified as one of the "DOMESTIC ENEMIES" that I and millions more Americans have sworn to protect our country against!
Have a nice day!
