April 19th and 20th are, or should be, exceptionally poignant for America, since events that shaped our nation happened on those days. April 19th is probably best remembered for the Oklahoma City bombing, when a couple of nutjobs blew up a truck bomb in front of the federal building in Oklahoma City.
However, we tend to forget that just two years earlier, also on April 19th, the federal government gassed and immolated (that's burned) a group of civilians called the Branch Davidians, after illegally attacking them with military equipment, including tanks. Although vicious rumors swirled during and after the siege that led to their deaths, as near as anyone can prove, the Branch Davidians were guilty only of being eccentric and somewhat apocalyptic. These aren't exactly crimes in the U.S., a country that has embraced various forms of tongue speaking, snake handling, Pentecostal groups through the years, to say nothing of the Mormons, among others. Waco doesn't justify the OKC bombing, but it is part of the same cycle.
April 20th, on the other hand, was the birthday of a man of whom H.G. Wells wrote that he had "a strain of certifiable insanity in his make up"--Adolph Hitler It is also the anniversary of the massacre at Columbine High School, by a couple of deranged souls, who came to school that morning intent on topping Waco and Oklahoma City. Supposedly, they picked the 20th because it was Hitler's birthday.
Is there a bright spot in these remembrances? Only this. April 19th and 20th are not solely the reserve of lunatics spreading death and destruction. They are also the anniversaries of the "shot heard round the world." The battles of Lexington and Concord, those battles which launched the American Revolution, and our war for independence. Lest we forget, those were the days when a small group of ordinary people held a bridge against the mightiest army (at that time) in the world, in defense of their homes, and their liberty. And that, my friends, is what AMERICA is about. Not bank bailouts, and government handouts, and not a world where the government takes from some to give to others, and where the president can buy banks and insurance companies, and fire the head of a car company. Somewhere, we must find a bridge, and make our stand. Blowing up buildings is not the answer, or killing people just for the killing. Never forget, that Hitler was democratically elected, and always claimed to be responding to a crisis. Instead, if we wish to remain free, we must excercise the freedoms we have, which were won in those little towns in Massachusetts. We must speak the truth, and live it, and demand that our government do the same. We must not worry so much about our pocket books, that we sell our liberty for a bigger house or a good stock market, for a tax break, or for a government check. As Abraham Lincoln said in his Gettysburg Address, spoken on July 4th, another notable day, to commemorate a battle fought, at least partially, on that same date,
"Let us here highly resolve...that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom. And that government of the people, by the people, and for the people shall not perish from the earth."
As Patrick Henry, another great American patriot famously said, "If THIS be treason, make the most of it."
By the way, isn't there an election coming up in a couple of years?