Since the invention of the automobile, there have probably been hitchhikers, and in the early days, the motive was to get to the destination more quickly. The person seeking free transportation was generally friendly and faced the approaching traffic with a thumb out to indicate the desire for a ride. This was done while walking backward, always moving toward the place that they wanted to be.
Later, people would walk more determinedly, turning around to face oncoming traffic when the sound of a moving vehicle was detected. Then people began walking forward with their thumb out, never bothering to turn and face a prospective benefactor, and finally ended up standing stationary, never moving at all until a ride appeared. It's as if people stopped trying on their own to get to wherever unless they could do it quickly.
Such is the seeming mindset of our government these days, as they refuse to do anything at all unless the goal can be achieved instantly. (This is assuming that they actually want to achieve anything in the first place). How many times have we been told that drilling for oil -- our own oil -- would have no demonstrable effect on our supplies "for ten years"? This has always been the excuse for not drilling at all.
It's been 30 years since we first heard that pathetic excuse, which is, if you're counting along, three decades worth of progress wasted. Think where we would be today with three ten-year shifts of drilling.
Think also of the border security we would have if those who have sworn an oath to protect this country had actually spent more time securing our southern border than they did trying to convince us that it was already secure. Reagan afforded amnesty to millions of illegal aliens in the 1980's on the promise that we would secure the border. That never happened, just as the spending cuts he was promised in return for raising taxes never happened.
Now, we are facing yet another crisis of illegal immigration and the Republicans are demanding border security before any promise of amnesty. And of course, the Democrats and several RINO's in Congress are saying that the proposed 700-mile border fence will only stop one quarter of illegals from entering. Their answer? Don't build it, ostensibly because it doesn't stop all illegal immigration. (I still prefer to call it breaking the law). They are still playing the all-or-nothing approach. I say if that is their equation, then let's build 2,800 miles of fence and stop it all, and then we can figure out what to do with 11 million criminals already in our midst. Call me kooky.
When Democrats fear real progress -- they are using the descriptive term "Progressive" these days, go figure -- they will stall it while claiming to want more. But when they have a really bad idea that will fail, they move with great haste, ObamaCare being a perfect case in point. They will also try to destroy the true heroes who come along every now and then; Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, and yes, Sarah Palin. People who genuinely love the America that we all do are now seen as the enemy, and we must reverse that trend.
America has been sacked, folks, and nary a shot was ever fired, just as my dear grandfather warned me over forty years ago. Patriots have been guilty of complacency in past years, of figuratively sitting still while the country moved away from us. We didn't even have a thumb out to catch a ride, we were simply content to watch the traffic go by. And we have paid a dear price.
I say it's time we began walking briskly again to get back to where were used to be, the greatest country on Earth.
And a simple thumb in the breeze wouldn't hurt, either.
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