A Special Day for a Patriot and Tears in My Eyes Along the Way

Marine Corporal JB Kerns was injured in Afghanistan on April 7, 2011. He was on his third tour there, when  his vehicle was struck by a road side bomb. He was

lucky to survive, but lost both legs, and the lower half of his right arm in the explosion. He had been at Camp Lejeune waiting for the return of his unit, but was set to come home, to Ararat, Virginia today.

Arrangements had been made for the Patriot Guard to meet him in Pinnacle, North Carolina, and to escort him from there to Ararat. It was certain that a good percentage of the town would be there to greet him. He is a home town Hero.

Over two hundred bikes showed up in Pinnacle to meet him, and a thoughtful Highway Patrol officer had arranged for a police escort and road blocks for our caravan of bikers as we escorted JB through Mt. Airy, North Carolina, to his home coming.  What a sad and happy day. Sad because of JB's injuries, but happy because he made it through alive, and has gained all the respect, honor, and love of his town, his country, and of those who know his story.

When he arrived in Pinnacle in a van, he got out and greeted the waiting crowd. All of the two hundred plus of us wanted to shake his hand, hug him, and thank him

for his service, and most of us did. As his van finally pulled out, the bikers revved up their engines, and formed a staggered formation for the 25 mile trip through Mt. Airy and on to Ararat.

Along the route, people were clapping, saluting, holding flages and waving for JB, and cheering us as we rode along. It was a rousing display of appreciation and honor for JB, and a remarkable show of patriotism. You see, JB is the real thing. He is a living testament to the sacrifice that our military makes for us every day to preserve our freedoms, and the people along the route demonstrated that there are people out there that really understand this, and care deeply about it. They took their Sunday afternoon to pay respect to a Marine hero; a soldier that we all owe something to for his service to our country.

It's was good to see this demonstration of patriotism, and it brought tears to my eyes, because I love our country too. JB went home today, but he brought home for all of us the meaning of military sacrifice.

It would be nice if the world were a friendly place, but it clearly is not. Unfortunately, we need young men and women to defend our freedoms, and carry the message of that freedom into the world. JB has done that with honor, and he has shown all of us his tennacity and courage in doing so.

Today, Marine Corporal JB Kerns had somewhere between 500 and 1000 supporters today there in Ararat, Virginia, and with the evening news reports that will air tonight hundreds more, in the comfort of their homes, will get the chance to share in the joy of an American hero who teaches all of us a most precious lesson in Patriotism. Thank you and God bless you JB, and God bless America.

A Santa Clause Government: Seeds of Destruction?

A recent Associated Press article in my local newspaper, "Labor unions adjust to new reality under Obama," generated numerous thoughts which I feel are worthy of comment. The article opines  that labor forces face continued fights for
survival in high profile battles notably in Wisconsin and Ohio. In addition, it mentions that union leaders are disappointed that Obama has not produced jobs promised, and quotes Larry Hanley, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union as saying, "Obama campaigned big, but he's governing small."

So what is the problem? As an outsider to this conflict (I'm retired), I'm aware that the National Labor Relations Board is preventing Boeing from opening a new plant in South Carolina because it claims Boeing is going into a "free to work" state to halt union power.  Unions have also gotten exemptions with the Health Care Afford ability Act, and Obama has spoken out against Wisconsin Governor's efforts to control union power in his state. What more do they want? They want it all! It's human nature, and once one becomes dependent on benefits, it is difficult to relinquish them.

This problem, of complaints of inadequate government benefits, will only get worse in the future because of the delicate role our Federal Government has assumed over the past 80 years. Beginning with the New Deal, our government entered into new areas of social regulation by "providing" benefits for various social misfortunes.  Beginning with Social Security, these efforts have ballooned into a panoply of benefits ranging from medial care to home care, to special "exemptions" from numerous government oppressive requirements, farm benefits, and on and on and on. Our government has essentially positioned itself in the middle of distribution of property between different factions of public life. Unfortunately, this activity will only generate anger from both groups: the receivers will want more, and the "givers"--by force of government taxation-- will feel abused.

It is apparent why, over time, this would happen. People always have problems and
trouble. I am not denying that government may need to help under certain defined circumstances, but their needs to be some restraint on this spending because our system encourages it. Life is riddled with difficulty. Our "representatives" get elected to positions of power by promising help and benefits  to constituents, and over time, with continued growth, this "temptation" in our system has begun to show its flaws. Government always pays for "benefits" with other people's money, and the lack of personal responsibility with this vicarious spending leads to financial debt.  Benefits are only increasing and that will continue unless the system is challenged.

Particularly vulnerable to these "defects" in our type of government are the public service unions. The chart above shows the growth of public service unions. Better benefits, pensions, salaries, and other perks are the earmark of this type of employee-government relationship. It is one of the reasons that California is sliding into a financial sewer. Wisconsin is trying stop this trend, and the Governor's efforts have generated predictable union responses.

It is pathetic that the forces of maintaining this status quo in government have persisted in labeling the Tea Party with disparaging and vulgar terminology. It is the main force working to stop this spending trend. Liberals can't see their ideas--or don't want to-- and will persist in continuing to spend other peoples money at unsustainable levels. The Greecification of the United States is not far ahead unless we change our ways. Spending must be curtailed if our form of government is to survive.

I tend to view our 200+ year old government as a social experiment. Oh, we have some good features: Rights of the individual, the Bill of Rights, and the Declaration of Independence. But we have yet to discover, or openly admit  our "Achilles heel": the government doling out  of benefits to factions that realize they have the keys to the treasury because they obtain a majority status. The baby

boomers have not yet reached full voting power--it takes time for people to wake up-- but when they do, it will test our nation down to its very foundations. Will we all continue to vote for "our share" of the national giveaways, or submit to a reduction of these incipient self destructive schemes. I believe the 2012 may be a bellwether for our future.