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America? It’s Become a Silly Little Place

-By Warner Todd Huston

The United States of America used to be a fearsome power but one with a soft touch. Peoples of the world looked to this great nation as that “shining city on a hill” and came here by the millions to become the next new American citizen. Producing its greatness were great men and in memory of those great men landmarks, and worthy institutions were named after them by a proud and thankful people.

We had Washington City named for the father of our country. We had schools and libraries named after the first man of the people, Andrew Jackson. We had more schools and later highways named after the Great Emancipator, Abraham Lincoln. Yet more schools and highways were named after the man that won WWII for us, Dwight Eisenhower. An Airport was named after the great communicator, Ronald Reagan.

These great men helped build this country and contributed to its greatness in their own special ways. Their contributions can neither be slighted nor forgotten. These were important men, great men that led this wondrous nation.

So, what do we have today? What great men are finding an adoring public choosing to name important facilities, places of learning, or great veins of transportation after them? What great men are following in the footsteps of these past great men? Who else has done things like won a terrible war, became our first president, freed the slaves, saved the country from elitists, or helped bring the masses into political power?

Well, we have Senator Robert C. Byrd whose name is engraved upon nearly every public building in the state of West Virginia, a man whose body sat in state at our nation’s capitol, a man whose life was celebrated by former presidents upon his passing.

And what great things did this apparently great man do? Well, he was a KKK terrorist. He then refused to vote for the civil rights of millions of Americans. Later he helped the downfall of the country by constantly voting for every bloated budget and freebie giveaway he could find to vote for. He sent billions of federal money back to his home state and bought himself all sorts of public buildings. Oh, and he was the longest serving Senator in American history, so he was there for a very long time.

If that isn’t great enough for you, word is that the bankrupt state of Pennsylvania has just “found” $10 million to build the Arlen Spector library and yet another $10 to build the John P. Murtha library.

So what did these great men do?

Well, Arlen Spector did… um, he was the man that… well, he jumped parties when he thought he would lose an election yet still lost his primary anyway. Besides that he…, uh… well… he was in Congress for a long time… and stuff.

Now, let’s not forget John Murtha. Why, he bad mouthed our military calling them murderers and wanted to put them in jail, he tried to help manufacture our loss in the war against terror in Iraq, he was known as one of the most corrupt members of Congress in his day, he was caught up in stings, and he was somewhat distempered to his constituents. Oh, and the really great thing he did was… well, he helped… uh, it was his idea to…. well he was in Congress for a long time… and stuff.

Come to think of it, we have been scraping the bottom of the barrel for a long time when naming new buildings and facilities after “great” political men, haven’t we? If this is any indication of our “great” men, America has become a sort of empty shell of greatness, hasn’t it?

Will it be long before we have the Charles Manson Mental Health Center? The William Ayers Crime Prevention Center? The Steve Urkle National Theater?

Sadly, I don’t think it will.
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“The only end of writing is to enable the reader better to enjoy life, or better to endure it.”
–Samuel Johnson

Warner Todd Huston is a Chicago based freelance writer. He has been writing opinion editorials and social criticism since early 2001 and before that he wrote articles on U.S. history for several small American magazines. His political columns are featured on many websites such as Andrew Breitbart’s BigGovernment.com, BigHollywood.com, and BigJournalism.com, as well as RightWingNews.com, CanadaFreePress.com, StoptheACLU.com, AmericanDailyReview.com, among many, many others. Mr. Huston is also endlessly amused that one of his articles formed the basis of an article in Germany’s Der Spiegel Magazine in 2008.

For a full bio, please CLICK HERE.