Louis Roney: Oh say do we see

Are the days forever gone when Old Glory reminds us of our allegiance to the flag of the United States?

My b.w. and I — she from Ohio, I, from Georgia — began each school day as kids saying the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag and singing the Star Spangled Banner. In the late ’20s and early ’30s (in Winter Park) kids were patriotism exemplified. We were proud to be Americans, and our Americanism was prominent in the blood that coursed through our veins.

In World War II when I looked up from the deck of an American warship at the red, white and blue flying on the mast, I was thrilled at the sight. That flag represented what we were fighting for, and were prepared to die for. I was never prouder than when I wore the uniform of a U.S. Navy gunnery officer.

Today, the American attitude toward patriotism seems to be somewhat jaded, even something to be approached reluctantly with a mild semblance of embarrassment. As a people, we Americans often hide our better emotions, and that habit is nothing in itself to be proud of.

At times one may have the distinct feeling that Barack Obama does not sincerely love this country of which he is president. Brilliant economist Thomas Sowell, himself a black American, states:

“Quite aside from the immediate effects of particular policies, Barack Obama has repeatedly circumvented the laws, including the Constitution of the United States, in ways and on a scale that pushes this nation in the direction of arbitrary one-man rule. Now that Obama will be in a position to appoint Supreme Court justices who can rubber stamp his evasions of the law and usurpations of power, this country may be unrecognizable in a few years as the America that once led the world in freedom, as well as in many other things. Barack Obama's boast, on the eve of the election of 2008 — "We are five days away from fundamentally transforming the United States of America" — can now be carried out, without fear of ever having to face the voters again.”

We are now learning the alarming extent to which Obama went, in trading favors for votes. Attorney General Eric Holder is highly unlikely to fail to carry out the orders of the president — think what he may have covered up already: i.e. Fast & Furious, Benghazi.... But we have voted, and we are all stuck with the wishes of the majority, which may or may not be for the best in the long run. Democracy is, after all, mob rule and are there not always a few wise among us who know better than all the rest, but get mowed down by the “madding throng? ”

What did the 2012 election accomplish? Are we any closer to solving anything? Solving problems is, after all an integral part of adult human life, and an ever-present requirement of government. Has “E pluribus unum, In God we trust”— been replaced with “what have you done for me lately?” The availability of the thinking of Thomas Sowell is a major plus with which to countermand the mendacity of Barack Obama, a man who may be causing many of us to ask, “How did we ever elect this guy twice!?”