A View from the Country

Al Holman, Publisher
November 05, 2010

By the time this is read the election will be over and those who supported the winners will be gloating at the same time that the losers will be questioning the count. There will be the day-after analysis of the Tea Party over coffee. I am writing this at 7 p.m. on election night - can't wait for the polls to close and get on with the show. Today I told the twelfth person who called my home that I don't have Alzheimer's and that they don't have to call me every hour to remind me to vote. If you believe what the taking heads are saying this is the most important election in history.

On November 11th we will celebrate Veterans Day. President Woodrow Wilson first proclaimed an Armistice Day on November 11, 1919. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed it into law on May 26, 1954, the current Veterans Day as November 11th the official day of celebration. In the state of Massachusetts 11.5 percent of the people are Veterans. And in Worcester 12.7 percent are Veterans. As of the 2000 Census there were 26,403,703 Veterans over 18 years old and of those, 29.1 percent are disabled. The statistic that is most troublesome is 5.6 percent are living in poverty. Yes, about 1,346,589 live in poverty - and of that number a large number are homeless. These are the men and women that have made it possible for the talking heads to recapitulate the day after the election. One interesting piece of information - 47% of veterans over 18 years of age are from two time frames in U.S. History - the Korean War and Vietnam era.

You may ask why did I point out the above information? The answer is simple. Thank your mother for bringing you into this world and this country, but thank a veteran for your rights, your freedoms and your vote. On Memorial Day we remember and thank those who gave their lives so we could keep our freedoms. On November 11th we thank those men and women that are still with us for the sacrifices they made so we could keep our freedoms. Make no mistake those that are still with us made sacrifices when they served and in some cases they are still making sacrifices.

And that's looking out my window - thankful that I can write and say what I want without worry of repression.

God Bless America! And God Bless our Veterans!