“What we have learned over this year is that hope is making a comeback. It is making a comeback. And let me tell you something — for the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my country.” - Michelle Obama
I love politics. I have since I was a kid. And it matters because policies shape so many aspects of our daily lives. There were many times I thought I would eventually wind up in politics. In fact, a Major I served under in the Army said he was sure one day he would hear about “Senator Doebler”. Since I’ve been in ministry, God has redirected my passion. The church is the ultimate hope of the world, not government. And Jesus is the ultimate answer to all of life’s questions. So, my political voice has been quieted.
But today, the gloves come off. I can not stand on the sideline and observe quietly and let the statement made by Michelle Obama go unaddressed and be at peace with myself.
RANT ON —– GLOVES OFF
I am absolutely appalled that the wife of a candidate that has a serious chance to win the Presidency would make such an outrageous, ridiculous, and hideously wrong statement. According to reports I read, she is 44 years old. That would mean that her “adult life” has been lived out since the mid-1980s. Which makes her my contemporary since I am now 46.
What America has she been living in? Because it certainly isn’t mine. Oh…that’s right. I only went to a regular state university. She went to Harvard and Princeton. Definitely not my America. I struggled to support my young family when difficult economic conditions hit and joined the Army. Oh…that’s right. She worked for a prestigious law firm. Definitely not my America.
So how is it that in my America, a place where I once couldn’t get food stamps even though my family was living on MREs, I could still be proud! How is it in my America, a place that I have had to work hard for every break I’ve ever gotten, I could still be proud! How is it in my America, a place where I couldn’t even buy my first real home until I was 35 years old, I could still be proud! How is it my America, a place where Christianity is pushed further and further to the back of the bus, I could still be proud!
Maybe the better question is how is it in her America, a place where she went to the best universities in America and worked in the most prestigious professions while at the most prestigious firms, she has never found reason to be proud?
What is wrong with these people? I grew up believing that America is a place where hard work is ultimately rewarded, where right is right and wrong is wrong. I grew up believing that America is the greatest country in the world…it is the only place where people will risk life and limb on a regular basis to get here any way possible. I grew up believing that even when there is much to be disappointed by, there is more to be thankful for. I grew up believing that when I don’t agree, I have a freedom to disagree that is far more precious than most of us understand. I grew up believing that America is the leader of the world and has been a shining light of liberty and freedom to everyone else who draws breath and yearns for those God-given rights.
Where did they grow up? And by they, I mean more than Michelle Obama. She simply said what many others haven’t. Where did they learn that America is shameful and to be rebuked for spreading the ills of the world. Where did they live? Where did they discover that there is more to be ashamed of than thankful for? Where did they get the impression that in spite of every opportunity, every freedom, every chance to live out a dream that is unavailable almost anywhere else in the world, that there is nothing to be proud of in America?
I don’t want those people running my country. If there is nothing to have been proud of before now, then I don’t want those people leading me or my children into “their future”. I’ll take my present over their future. And I’ll take every difficult experience I’ve ever had and relive every one of them again before I vote for someone who can find nothing of value and nothing to be proud of in the last 25 years in the land I love and served.
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