I meant it. I said it.

Read the Whole Thing:  

E Pluribus Unum. Amen.

I'm glad today's Americans are diverse. Our traditions teach inclusion, and our Constitutional government values Free Speech. Our military is independent -- not reliant on foreign taxpayers to finance and influence our defensive policies and positions.  Whose land is this?  It's Our Land, sir.

This Land is your land, this land is my land...

(How far does it extend?) From California... to the New York island.

From the redwood forest to the Gulf Stream waters... this land was made for You and Me!

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America is superior to Israel in this way. We've been around longer, our flag will be flying high over our own land for much, much longer.  If Israel wants to thrive -- not just "survive" for another 75 years, as insecure in her land holdings as when the country was first established with international help -- she should emulate the United States.

The best way to protect religious liberties is to respect religious liberties for all. America's First Amendment is a work of art -- for the enjoined religious and speech protections.  It's worth imitating...

As is our dedication in that same Bill of Rights (with the hard-fought amendments by evolved peoples attached to the updated document) to the freedoms of all citizens, our minorities and newcomer-citizens too.  

Israel will not stand as an island state in a sea of hostility with a sunken people living under seige within its territories.  For many generations, the Israeli people have had to choose whether to absorb non-Israeli citizens living within their territories into their populations, or to try to rise as a whole nation despite great inequality that seemingly is content to simply leave that populations of people living on the shared land behind...

"They are not ours. Not of our culture, not our concern."  Wise up to the fact that neither Eqypt nor Lebanon, nay Jordan nor Iran, will reabsorb the Palestinian people currenly living in lands intertwined with Israel's holdings. Those millions of lives aren't going anywhere. "They will always be with us."

It is similar to the thinking of former presidents and slavemasters and leaders in America circa mid-19th century wishing African-American former slaves would have solved the White Man's Burden simply by emigrating to Liberia or something; it's not gonna happen, contemplate all you like, then move on...

Israel is pushing hard on the throttle today, mowing the lawn lower than they have in years, cutting up a lot of innocent critters trying to flee the blades but losing their lives in this latest lawn-mowing fury.  The hostages are no closer, most of them, to returning to freedom a month after Israel was attacked.

Recovering them has seemingly taken second priority to unleashing round after round of death from above, as Israel ventures into the enemy territory they must live with until they decide that the people who share their land really don't have to live that way in the 21st century.  That something must be done to help them.

If not now, when? If not Israel, then whom? 

Who will rebuild a fair and equitable shared Palestine that acknowledges this Truth:  the fate of the Biblical sons of Abraham are intertwined in the people who remain living there today.  It's like a House that divided cannot stand for long.  

The job is there; the workers are needed. You cannot outsource the intelligence that tells you the solution, nor the work that needs to be collectively undertaken to build a longstanding independent democracy. 

Nevermind religious myths, the future is collaborative or nothing.  Outsiders need not apply as Fixers because that is just a waste of money promising good, then destroying, again and again and again.

Nobody can do another's homework for them. Others must learn to figure it out on their own, with guidance if they are to advance to the next grade level. The brain knows this...

Sometimes, the best thing the strong can do is set an example, shine a light.  Be -- in our natural state and with our honest strength -- the one emulated and admired, for our independence, generosity, leadership.  

For our smarts.

When America returns to a place of leadership at the world table, the smaller but still growing and developing countries like Israel and Ukraine will learn to rely on the same power that built America into the diverse, reliant nation we still are today (despite our leadership struggles of late):  human blood, sweat, and tears. Of every sex and gender, race and religion, culture and creed.

Nobody could have done this alone, or in a vacuum.  Go to that Constitution, that Bill of Rights, for greater understanding of how to proceed when things get dicey: the template to freedom is written there.

Nevermind beggaring yourself for American's military protection and "defense" weapons.  That's not what got us here; that's not what you really need to "win" similar freedoms for yourselves.  You cannot impose democracy from the butt of gun; this I know.

No, it was our People, all of them, collectively over time who built the country we still are operating today.  Not our strength in military, not the power of our weapons, not our killing capacity.  

Don't look now, but it was Love:  that human trait underlying our growth, our surivival, our resiliance and ability to think ahead to tomorrow.

As our country continues the internal churn today -- from the upcoming holiday season turning the corner into the future election year -- let us not forget our country's traditions. Let us hold strong, in our own families and faiths, to our own freedoms. 

The world needs the American spirit more than ever... let's not forget our own history, or try to whitewash our own sins and errors by forgetting the facts of life that led us to today's promise of a brave new world in this century:  the People matter most always; independent human lives account for something more than animal husbandry or technology or machinery can ever replicate or calculate.

Believe in this, if you understand why America's hold onto these lands as others lose their grip and seemingly need to continually war for their own. Let others choose to emulate our true strength, the faith in our diverse peoples here at home.  E Pluribus Unum. Amen.

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As I was driving, this ribbon of highway,      I saw above me, an endless skyway. I saw below me, that golden valley... this land was made for you and me!