Where's The Glory In Old Glory?

When I was a little girl, I remember the emotional high I would get at every Fourth of July parade. I would wave my little flag and think about how lucky I was to live in the land of the free. I would put my hand over my heart and recite the Pledge of Allegiance, would stand for the National Anthem (I still do) and I wanted to be as honest as George Washington and as fearless as Davy Crockett. I found out the difference between the myths and the men only too soon.

Almost 6 decades later, I wonder what in the Hell happened. It's bad enough that CEO's make obscene amounts of money while other citizens can barely scrape by. When I hear the conservative pundits whining about "Welfare Queens" I hear, in my mind, Ebeneezer Scrooge growling, "are there no work houses, no prisons?"

Every fairy tale that I was told in History class has been revealed in all its bias and spin-doctoring. I have since learned that Custer was an arrogant, bigoted bully...not a hero. If there were a real sense of fairness in our government and society, the victory of the Sioux at Little Big Horn would be an occasion for a national holiday. The Puritans were narrow-minded, religiously intolerant satraps. We have inherited every bit of their unforgiving lack of charity for those who don't follow the rigid rules of good sexual conduct. It is like pulling a hippo's teeth to try to reason with the irrationally religious and hawkish.

I've been seeing what I consider to be the Fall of the Greatness of America for a while, now. But it was really brought home to me with the scandal that has erupted around foreign adoptions, the Russian situation in particular. Our arrogance and the willingness to put a price tag on that which should be priceless is irrefutable evidence of our national avarice and self-entitlement. Capitalism has been taken to an unhealthy extreme while socialism, which in measured amounts is already with us and stands as our national conscience, has been condemned as almost Satanic. Sorry folks,but that "loaves and fishes" thing is about as socialistic as you can get.

We have practically made it an unspoken crime in the US for the poor, the disenfranchised, the unmarried and the young to have and raise children. Now that most parents in our country tend to urge terminations when their daughters become pregnant while single, the elite adopters must look in other directions for that healthy, white infant, preferably one without the added inconvenience of a natural mother in the wings. The American way of adoption has engendered disrespect for women, disdain for the mother/child connection and for all the talk of family values, caused a devaluing of the natural family. That's just one of the areas where I think we are going wrong, but it is the one that affects me most directly.

People talk about the good old days of the mid-20th century. To me, it was a time of hypocrisy, judgmental attitudes and saw the nadir of the exploitation of the natural mother. Those good old days were so fraught with secrets, lies and double standards it was a wonder we didn't go under then. Only our economic strength kept us afloat in the international pond. The Ugly American was already becoming well known. Now the Ugly American comes after the children of other nations and there are enough criminals and corrupt, petty officials in those nations to help reap the cash crop for a piece of the action.

So we get news stories of a little Russian boy sent back to the "store," traveling on his own. Or we have the latest celebrity  announcing their intention to adopt a little fashion accessory. Or we have PAPs trolling forums and websites and shopping malls and high schools and you name it, seeking to purchase that desirable infant to "complete their family." We've said it before and we'll say it again...it is not about a home for a child but is all about a child for a home. Our priorities are so screwed up it isn't even funny. If this isn't indicative of a breakdown in values, nothing is.

I guess all we need is a huge fire and get someone to hand the President a fiddle. Like Rome, America is failing, falling, burning and one of the barometers of this change is the way of adoption. I am a sad senior citizen of what I once thought was the greatest nation in the world. Now, all I want is for us to make an effort to make it a good nation.

We do that one issue at a time. Mine is adoption and the EMS. Pick yours and just maybe.....well, we'll see.