Home » Telling It Like it Is » Currently Reading:

The ‘Wussification’ Of America

June 2, 2006 Telling It Like it Is Comments

I’m ashamed; I’ve been online all evening, ever since I got home from my good-paying American job. I’ve been checking email, writing friends, making airline reservations for my vacation coming up, buying books, copying code for my website, and all the while, I’m recording my favorite programs on TV.

Then everything goes black. Mind you, I live in the north Georgia mountains, so there are no street lights to illuminate my house. Mad? Hell yeah! Home phone (plugged into the wall) is dead – cell phone, thankfully, had a full charge. I immediately began calling the electric company to report the outage, and truthfully to bitch about it. Why, it has interrupted my life!!!!!!

Yes, I got the typical “all circuits are busy” recording, but continued to call as if it would make the repair come faster. On the 8th call, I got the “we realize there’s an outage in your area, and it will be repaired as soon as possible” recording. I was thinking, “What can I do to speed this up? This is going to take forever!… DAMNIT!” I was trying to find a flashlight to navigate my way around the house, and I’m mad as hell. How dare the electric company let an outage happen while I’m writing for my blog!?!?!?!? What an absolute inconvenience! Now I know I have to reset the clocks, the microwave, the VCR, and every damn thing else that keeps time with the flow of electricity.

Then I think about my PC! Oh, the horrors! OMG! I didn’t get to shut down properly! Did I lose everything on my hard drive? Did the last thing I was writing get lost? Did the monitor fry because of a surge? What will need replacing when the electricity is back?

Before I could even finish the above thoughts, the power came back on. PC, TV, microwave, clocks, etc. Yes, I had to change some of them, but I am lucky.

You see, in that brief 5-minute span, I was an American without electricity in my home. I was mad; mad as hell, by God, I pay my bills! Then I thought about a story I’d seen earlier about the “progress” in Baghdad on Fox News. They have a shiny, new power plant, that, for now, provides electricity for the citizens for at least 10 hours a day. Do you know that it is normally 115 degrees on any given day for this time period in Iraq? It was only 88 degrees here in Atlanta, and I’m bitching about not having electricity for ten minutes maximum.

What has become of us as a nation? I know it wasn’t just me, either, because on the 2nd to 7th call to the electric company, ‘all circuits’ were busy. Do we not appreciate the luxurious lives we have? Apparently not. I didn’t -Â but now I do.

The people of Iraq have risked life and limb to vote in the first democratic elections in five decades, yet we can’t get the same percentage of Americans to come out and vote for most given elections. We are a spoiled rotten bunch, and if we don’t change our ways, we’ll be thrown out with the garbage.

I vote conservative because I believe in life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness – all 3 of which are of my personal choosing. It’s not owed to me by the government; it’s my personal responsibility to achieve all three. Herman Cain has a different and more precise take on it: Life, Liberty and Ownership. Without ownership of property andÂ one’s own things, how can ‘happiness’ be achieved? That’s where the “Fair Tax” comes in to play. But I digress.

So my electricity went out and I was mad. Whose fault was that? The electric company’s, or mine? Truthfully it’s mine. I have to be prepared to have nothing, for that’s what I was brought into this world with – nothing. No TV, no computer, no clocks, ovens, cell phones, air conditioning, lights, etc. That is all a gift, my friends. It’s not owed to me. Don’t you think the people of Iraq think of it as a gift?

The average Iraqi citizen, mostly in Baghdad, would probably only DREAM of having what I have, even though it’s not much to me. That’s where my wussification is showing. I’m an ungrateful American, taking my liberties and freedoms for granted.

How would I feel if foreign soldiers were patrolling my streets? How would I feel if I had to live in fearÂ of “snitching” on the opposition insurgentsÂ who wanted nothing more than to quash the freedom I so preciously desired and tasted on the day Saddam’s statue fell? What about myÂ children who now had school books and materials they’ve never had before? …not to mention my girls who would now go to school, even though they are female?

The things I would not miss as an Iraqi womanÂ would be the rape rooms, torture chambers, mass graves, and public mutilations carried out under Saddam’s tyrannical rule. The Iraqi men didn’t have it much better. How can you trust a president who gets 99.9% of the vote, and the .1% who didn’t vote for him are summarily executed?

Now today we have these stories of U.S. Military members possibly intentionally killing innocents. Would I rather be shot by a bullet to the head, or be raped, have my head cut off, or even burned alive? I’ll take the bullet any time. Are war-time deaths ugly? Yes they are. Are the unavoidable? No, they’re not. War is an ugly thing, and death happens. Winning hearts and minds is not easy, and we’re paying the price for such a philosophy. As with Viet Nam, if this war is lost, it will not be at the hands of the U.S. Military – it will be at the hands of an irresponsible media and the leftist peace-at-any-price crowd.

The wussification of America will be her undoing. Pray for the silent majority to be silent no more.

“You and I have a rendezvous with destiny. We will preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on earth, or we will sentence them to take the first step into a thousand years of darkness. If we fail, at least let our children and our children’s children say of us we justified our brief moment here. We did all that could be done. ” – Ronald Wilson Reagan

Choose Options to Share This Post

M. Murray

Are we more advanced than at any other time in history? Yes!
Are we in greater jeopardy than at any other time in history? Yes!
The devil is in the details. Today we have more Ph.D.'s than there has ever been and today we are in greater want of philosophy than ever before. In the past fifty years we have moved so fast that we've actually left ourselves behind. Sometimes, when we've misplaced something of value, we have to stop and think. Maybe we should be stopping and thinking more. Let's all pray the lights go out more often.

megapotamus

Yes, the Lefties and the media certainly did lose us the war in Viet Nam, or another way of putting it is they won it for the Communists. That is not my opinion merely. General Vo Ngyuen Giap made this declaration some years back and he had been Eisenhower to Ho Chi Minh's Roosevelt, if we may make such a metaphor without insulting Ike or FDR. The greatest offender in this of course is John Kerry who has admitted that his charges before Congress were lies. As was mentioned above, the US never lost a major battle in VN, including Tet. The battle was lost to Walter Cronkite, not the ARVN, at a significant cost to us, yes, but even moreso in Viet Nam where the usual slaughter one associates justly with Leftist political successes ensued. This is what the modern American Leftist is trying to duplicate in Iraq to say nothing of here. We will not let such a crime be again committed.

Whitehall

Excellent post and so correct.

While the point about our brave military people is the most important part, I'd like to put in a good word for the people who make and deliver your electricity. As I tell my children when I catch them leaving a light on, if they knew how much work it took to make kilowatts they'd think twice before wasting it.

Of course, I've working in the electric utility business in one way or another all my adult life but I'm always inspired by our people who will work rotating shifts in hot, boring power plants, the meter readers who brave mad dogs on their rounds, and the line men who'll climb a power pole amongst hot wires in wind, rain, snow, or sleet to get the juice back on as quickly as possible.

One thing that makes it all possible and worthwhile is the knowledge that every neighbor is a customer. People depend on us, especially when the power is out from hurricane, earthquake, or blizzard. While we catch hell if the lights go out, a stick, it is the carrot of appreciation that makes it more than a job.

Gregdn

The media isn't losing this war anymore than they lost Vietnam (and I was drafted in that one). Both were ill advised adventures started by men who had never seen combat. The only question now is how many more soldiers you want to lose before you declare victory and get out.

JP Davis

Dern ungratefuly Iraqis, complaining about a little lead in the cranium. Don't know how good they've got it. The real wussification of America is the willingness of people who proclaim themselves to be strong, hard boiled patriots to trade their liberties away to have someone assure them they'll be nice and safe behind our borders. "Live Free or Die," they say in New Hampshire. I will gladly be killed at the hands of terrorists before I let them make me live like a prisoner in this nation where so many died to get those rights. Are you willing to do the same?

MsUnderestimated

You're very welcome, Amy. But I'm not the one who needs to be thanked - thank your husband for protecting my freedoms and my life from the terrorists. And thank you for having the will to let him do so. All thanks for you and all military families everywhere.

Ms. U

Amy Proctor

Ms. Underestimated,

What a powerful post.

When my husband was in Iraq, it changed my life. In the summer of 2003 I noted with a certain amount of contempt every civilian who complained about how damn hot it was.. a whopping 95 degrees... how inconvenienced they were by taking their 2nd or 3rd car to the garage to be serviced.... how they had to travel on vacation ALL THE WAY in their A/Ced SUV with rear cooling system and quad-DVD players.

Meanwhile, I was ever mindful of my husband in full body armor in the 130 degree heat living in blown out buildings not knowing what sort of threat would face him over the next bridge. After Baghdad was taken, he was on hundreds of convoys and I'd get handwritten letters a month or so after the fact saying that they are finally not sleeping in the dirt anymore and have moved to the top of an Iraqi car lot (sleeping on hot pavement, but these guys never complain). And he got his first shower in 6 weeks. Manning the gun on the Hum-V he said was like having a hot blow dryer in your face... the guys had to wear gloves and face scarfs to avoid heat burn. Oh, and everyone was sick from the water system in Iraq, which makes it even harder to fight the Baathists when you're throwing up.

I remember seeing a story on the History Channel of an unfortunate newlywed couple exiting a hotel at the same time Uday was entering... the man was dragged away and Uday had the woman taken to his suite and he raped her. I'd say that even in the event of a possible civilian casualty I'd have to agree with you that I'd rather be shot accidentally than tortured, raped or victimized by Saddam or his sons.

And you're right about the wussification of America. Liberal men are the worst. Their politics are limp-wristed and their agendas dangerous. They lose battles and put people in the position to be collateral damage. Look at their opposition to the Patriot Act and Domestic Surveillance Program. They are willing to have Americans picked off, with sufficient time in between, of course, rather than kill terrorists.

This was a great post. Very thought provoking. I'm so happy to see that non-military get it as well. Thanks for everything!

jainphx

The same kind of retoric was used in Viet Nam. Heres a war in which we naver lost a battle,but we lost the war.the war was lost on Americas campi,and in our streets. The Ny times and media outlets unrestrained by the NEW media brought the worst result of a war in history. Now the same people are trying for the same results.I say shame on all of you that don't have the nerve or the forsight to see the end result if they get their way. G-d forbid.

PoliticalCritic

I'm with you on the war is ugly bit and that atrocities will happen, but I must deviate when the blame is cast on the media. I'm not a fan of the mainstream media, but if the war is lost, it will not be because of peace activists or the media. The fact is that the war has been mismanaged from day 1 and continues to be mismanaged. The simple truth is that there have never been enough troops on the ground to stabilize the area. That is not the fault of the left or the media.

brian bonner

Well, that happened to me as well, but I lived in a tent for 4 years, so it was no big deal for me, except...Just like you I was on the computer when the power went out. So, when they came to my door and said it was fixed, I turned on my computer and ran a scan disk to make sure the hard drive had no errors. Good idea right? We,, they shut the power down again to fix something else, and it took out my hard drive. a week later and I still don't have my desk top up and running due to a lack of drivers. Good thing I have my wife's laptop.

Even all of this, and it does not compare to what the people in Iraq have to go through daily..

EDDIE HIGHTOWER

FANTASTIC BLOG POSTING!!!
THOSE NORTH GEORGIA STORMS CAN REALLY WREEK HAVOC, CAN'T THEY?
IT WAS AN ICE STORM IN THE NORTH GEORGIA COUNTY OF WALKER WHICH TOOK A "LOW-COUNTRY" BOY FROM BAMBURG COUNTY, S.C., BACK IN '35 WHICH RESULTED IN MY PARENTS GETTING TOGETHER.
WHAT HAVOC THAT STORM CAUSED FOR TODAYS LIBERALS!!!
YOU AND I JUST HAVE TO KEEEP ON KEEEPING ON.
WE MUST STRIVE TO ENSURE THAT VERY SOON IN AMERICA, AMERICANS WILL HAVE CHOICES THAT ARE DIFFERENT AND HAVE MEANING, AS WE CONSIDER THIER MERITS AS WE PRACTICE GOOD CITIZENSHIP IN THE VOTING BOOTHS.
TODAY, OUR CHOICES ARE SOCIALIST PARTY A AND SOCIALIST PARTY B.
EDDIE HIGHTOWER ON THE RIGHT

jainphx

Yea we really have it good in this country,but by god we earned it,work 60 hours a week sometimes gets old but we keep at it.People around the world envy us almost to hatred,while their on their 60 day vacations,and working 35 whole hours a week. All in all God has blessed us beyond our wildest dreams.

fubaglady

Well said, MsUnderestinamed!
We are a spoiled nation of children who do not remember what it is to sacrifice. In wars past, EVERYONE sacrificed, not just our soldiers. Some days I wonder if we even deserve to have our Republic preserved. While some of us appreciate the freedoms and benefits American have, and want to fight for it tooth & mail; most don't really appreciate it at all, and so many want out & out want to undermine it.

God help us, because I am not sure if there are enough of us left to help ourselves.

MsUnderestimated

Home » Telling It Like it Is » Currently Reading:

The ‘Wussification’ Of America

Search This Site:

Content Tags:

Premium Blogads

Proud Member of “The 9/12 Project”

Who’s Here Now?

And My Thanks Go To…

Comment on this Article:

Related Articles:

Welcome To All

RESOURCES

Support This Site

My Visitors

Islam Is Peace?

TTLB & Technorati

Recent Comments

Copyright 2010 MsUnderestimated - All Rights Reserved