A View from the Country

Al Holman, Publisher
September 03, 2010

I am writing this on Tuesday, August 31, about 9 p.m., just before we download the paper to the printer. Today was a day of significant events. Today the war in Iraq was ended. We are bringing all but 50,000 troops back home. Today school started and the kids are no longer at home. Maybe you could hear the collective sigh across town from all the parents anticipating a moment of peace. Today was the last day of vacation for those of us who see summer as the time to relax and slow down a little. Today was the day that we are being told that a hurricane is on its way and cold weather maybe following it.

Today was not the day that Hamas stopped planting roadside bombs. Today was not the day that Al-Qaeda, a fundamentalist Sunni based movement, stopped it's Jihad. Today is not the day that every one of our soldiers was taken out of harm's way, since we are still losing soldiers in combat in foreign lands. Today was not the day that Afghanistan took control of it's own government and began the long journey out of the control of terrorists. Today was not the day that the Pakistan government stopped the border crossing at will of Al-Qaeda - yet they want us to send aid to the flood victims.

In fact, I can't remember a day when any country we have sent our soldiers to said thanks for our sacrifice. It seems that when we get there they don't want us, and when we leave they don't want us to leave. We send food and then we have to send troops to make sure that the food gets to the people who need it. The war on drugs is getting closer to home - in fact now Cancun (a favorite American vacation spot) is not a safe place. Just today 8 people were killed in a bar in that resort town.

When I was a kid it seems that all this stuff was so far away. All I had to think about was baseball cards and delivering my paper route and then collecting from my customers every week. Make no mistake, life has gotten more complex and the issues seem to be more life and death than 50 years ago.

Everyday somebody in D.C. comes up with an idea for a law that will fix some social problem. We have become a country that believes we can fix anything in the world with money, a new law or sending troops. Even more concerning, anybody that disagrees with the majority is viewed as a malcontent that must be investigated by Congress.

It just goes to show that good days are relative so one must take everyday as just another day in paradise. And yes this is one of the only countries in the world where I can write this and know that somebody will not come and take me away in the middle of the night.

And that's looking out my window at what was a fairly good day in paradise.