Category Family

May 26 2012

A Memorial Day Column from Senator Susan Collins

 

Susan Collins: The Gratitude of a Nation

column by Senator Susan Collins.

“Let us in this solemn presence renew our pledges to aid and assist those whom they have left among us a sacred charge upon a nation’s gratitude — the soldier’s and sailor’s widow and orphan.” These words were written by Union General John Logan, who in 1868 designated a day in which the graves of Civil War soldiers would be decorated on a day that is known today as Memorial Day.

Memorial Day is a time of solemn remembrance of loved ones who have perished for the sake of our nation, and gratitude for the freedoms we enjoy because of their sacrifices and acts of heroism. At the same time, it also signifies the beginning of the summer season, time to spend with friends, family, and loved ones, and anticipation of warmer weather.

From the local community parades highlighted by participants waving our flag with pride to ceremonies filled with bright spring flowers draped in honor over the final resting places of fallen soldiers at cemeteries throughout the nation to the neighborhood barbeque where friends and family gather to commemorate the new season, Memorial Day offers Americans many opportunities to express gratitude to those who lost their lives in our nation’s military conflicts.

When it originated in 1868, Memorial Day was known as Decoration Day, because it was the day designated for Americans to honor the fallen soldiers from the Civil War by decorating their graves with flowers.

The first Memorial Day was observed on May 30, 1868, although roots of the holiday can be traced earlier, to the end of the Civil War when organized women’s groups in the south decorated the graves of fallen Confederate soldiers.

New York was the first state to recognize the holiday in 1873, followed in the next several years by most northern states. And eventually, the day became an occasion to honor all those who died in all American military conflicts. In 1971, Congress declared Memorial Day a federal holiday to be celebrated the last Monday in May.

A national Memorial Day tradition occurs each year at Arlington Cemetery when a small American flag is placed on each and every grave, and a wreath is laid, generally by either the President or Vice President, at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. People from across the country will also gather on the National Mall in our nation’s capital for the annual Memorial Day concert, offering Americans an opportunity to come together to remember and to honor the legacy of those who paid the ultimate sacrifice for our country.

As in years past, Memorial Day will bring opportunities throughout the state for Mainers to pay their gratitude and respects to fallen soldiers. Whether you attend a local parade or ceremony, visit a memorial, or fly the American flag at half-staff until noon, it is important for all Americans, in their own way, to take this time to pay tribute to all those—generations past and present—who have fought for our freedom and the values that Americans hold so dear. We also must demonstrate to loved ones of fallen soldiers that we are a nation of gratitude for the sacrifices these soldiers have made for all of us.

Mar 8 2012

Adults

Most of the time these columns are spent defending the tenets of Conservatism and those that espouse them.  In this piece, this columnist must take some exception with the behavior of a few within my own Conservative ranks.  Their actions have moved beyond the necessary confines of decency and common sense.

I refer to a new popular program called “The Five”.  It consists of five political pundits who sit around a table and debate, in sometimes colorful fashion, the various issues of the day.  While I generally find the program entertaining and informative, today there was a segment that gave pause and then disappointment to this viewer.

The topic, quite frankly, on the surface seemed unworthy of discussion and, really, none of their business.  They discussed of basketball game in San Antonio between two high schools; one with a majority of Caucasians, one with a majority of Latinos.  The Caucasian school won the game, whereupon, the winning school’s student body began chanting, “U.S.A, U.S.A.”!  In the aftermath of this, the leadership of the winning high school issued an apology to their opponents’ school for the behavior of their student body.

To my surprise, the majority of the co-hosts on the show took umbrage with the issued apology as if the school was apologizing for the school’s patriotism…really?  Juan Williams, a liberal whom I generally as a rule disagree with, was the first to show some sanity by explaining that this was not an international game.  This was no triumph of the United States over some visiting foreign team.  This was simply two Texas high schools competing in basketball.  There was no need for chanting “U.S.A.” at their opponent.

As the other commentators converged on Mr. Williams, I despaired that my fellow conservatives were arguing out of blind passion and that none would advocate for common sense.  Thankfully, Dana Perino spoke up with fairness and clear-headedness that should be the banner of all conservatives and agreed with Juan Williams.  This issue is not that difficult.

Some children misbehaved at a basketball game.  They allowed the tensions of the immigration issues of our day filter into their competitive spirit.  There is no international border that separates the two schools, but there is the color of their skin and origin of their race.  Why didn’t they chant the name of their high school, their fight song or their mascot?  The adults present used this as a teaching opportunity. They showed there is a correct way to hail the symbols of your nation and it is not to diminish the validity of your fellow Americans.  The leadership of these schools behaved like adults and handled the matter effectively and rightly.  They are to be commended.

Sometimes, unfortunately, there are times when we as combatants in these ideological wars get so engrossed in staking our ground, we lose focus on truth. We rail against a wrong whether it’s there or not.  It’s what we call here in Maine “right of reason”.  For this matter, the school leaders of San Antonio, Juan Williams and Dana Perino behaved as adults.  Eric Bolling, Andrea Tantaros and Kimberly Guilfoyle, in this instance, did not.

Jun 12 2011

WHERE STRENGTH LIES

It is not to the loud, the brash and the bold

Where a seeker must first fix their gaze

To divine the source of the stalwart’s strong hold

When times needs a standard be raised

Look out past the bluster

Look out past the blow

Look out past the crave of the show

For none here are gallant with steel in their eyes

No, none here will know where strength lies

 

Ere’ lest we be swayed by the Piper’s pipe played

Let us deafen our ears to the sound

Through the siren’s sweet silver words seekers have strayed

For them strength has never been found

Press on through the lust

Press on through corruption

Press on through its sweetness deception

For these want your soul, your strong battle cries

They loathe that you love where strength lies

 

But I know where strength lies…..

 

Strength bounds in the hope that beats in the chest

Of a mother whose child suckles quiet on her breast

Father’s dreams shine anew in young children’s eyes

This seeker knows, I found where strength lies

 

Oft’ times we have seen on the strength of our dreams

They’ve taken our hopes for their power

And now so it seems for only their means

They’ve builded their own gilded tower

Fear not, those so used

Fear not, those betrayed

Fear not, souls and be not dismayed

For these cannot last with their towers of glass

If we hold to find where strength lies

 

For we know where strength lies….

 

Strength is found in the great hearts of women and men

Who stand unbending in the face of terror’s grave din

Soldiers who’ve died Soldiers who’ve lived

All have shown us what strength can give

In the citizens resolute, this truth we cannot refute

Leaders waver their voices soon mute

But under God’s Almighty hand the people still stand

With courage, hope and trust in His plan

 

So focus we must on the things we can trust

And not on the greed of mere men

Tho’ schemes are called grand oft’ times they go bust

And we face their failures again

Hold fast to your hopes

Hold fast to your dreams

Hold fast to your family and means

For many will come kings fall and they rise

But it’s the people who know where strength lies

 

Yes, We The People know where strength lies

Mar 22 2011

THE FACE OF DISCIPLINE

Stoic, resilient, these are words that have been rightly used to describe the Japanese people in recent days.  In the wake of horrific tragedy, there has been one description of our friends in Japan that has left a marked impression on this columnist.  That word is discipline.  The Japanese people are a people of great discipline.

This column is not intended to debate the minutia of Japanese traditional faith and family, its perceived or real flaws, and or its comparison to the Judeo-Christian value system we, as a nation, once embraced.  This columnist simply wants to examine the template of a disciplined society in the face of impending chaos.

It has been reported that, in spite of the massive devastation in the little island country, there has been no looting.  Citizens are waiting in lines calmly for hours on end to find needed food, water and fuel.  A Japanese gentleman finally reached the store to find only 12 bottles of water on the shelf.  Witnesses say he quickly grabbed them for he and his family, then stopped himself, turned back to the shelf and replaced 10 of what he desperately needed in respect for those coming after him.  No crime.  No anarchy.  Perhaps it is time we as Americans take a hard look at our lack of discipline juxtaposed against the amazing discipline of the Japanese and decide what that means for the future of this great Nation.

In the 1960’s and 1970’s, the “me generation” was spawned.  The rigid confines and demands of the family structure and discipline were railed against as an obstruction to free thinkers.  The intellectual elite mocked fathers and mothers, who placed strong emphasis on honor, respect and faith in their homes.  Opportunistic professors at colleges instructed the children from these homes that rebellion against their parents; authority was the only hope for society.  The strict “unbending” rule of parents was now dysfunctional.  The age of Dr. Spock was born.

A new, “better” progressive society immerged.  They raised their children with a new discipline.  Now it was all about respecting themselves, first, before others.  Just believe in themselves and all would be alright in the end.  No set standards to adhere to.  No higher justice to answer to.  Just find your own inner peace by expressing yourself in whatever way you saw fit and utopia would be on its way.

Dr. Spock would find the Japanese family hierarchy very dysfunctional.  Parents demand (Yes, I said that word…oh dear…) obedience from their children.  It is rumored that authorities actually say “no” in Japan.  Bringing dishonor to their family, their country and their faith is an unspeakable thought.  But now, we see the fruits of their belief system.

The Japanese now face these grim unfolding tragedies with the same stoic, unflinching discipline they have been trained through the generations to portray.  It is their honor and they refuse to relinquish it to disaster.  In so doing, they have been a calming influence on the world.

Here in the United States, by contrast, we watch as college students, enraged by some perceived affront, jump atop an innocent bystanders car and completely destroy it.  We watch union teachers in Wisconsin drag first grade students into the capital rotunda and lead them in anti-government and pro-union chants.  Lenin would be so proud.  Honor has been replaced with opportunism and relativism.   Standards are manipulated to accommodate the situation rather than situations being judged by an unchanging standard.  Our society believes itself far too sophisticated to be judged by an overriding moral standard that is a sounding board for good behavior.  So our nation’s moral compass continues to vacillate from crisis to crisis.

If we as Americans wish to face uncertain futures with the same strength exemplified by the Japanese, we must reestablish our strong family units.  We must do this in the face of the inevitable mockery that will come from the Hollywood, social and media elites.  Our strength does not come from government.  The strength of a nation will always be God and family.