Ghostly black and white images danced across the television screen as a roomful of friends and I bore witness to one of the greatest accomplishments of humankind. It was history in the making and we were living it! Men were walking on the moon! Those grainy pictures were the fulfillment of a dream for every ten year old kid who ever peered out of a window cut in a big cardboard box or watched Flash Gordon conquer the Clay People at the Saturday movie matinee. They were the fulfillment of a challenge by a young president whose life was snuffed out before he could see that his words had successfully inspired a nation to such incredible deeds.
Today is the 40th anniversary of that first moon landing, when men soared into space using precarious technology born of Snoopy’s leather flying cap and carrying less computing power than is found in today’s average $25 calculator. Buzz Aldren, Michael Collins and Neil Armstrong were explorers — true heroes, men of vision driven by fierce pride. Back then, America was driven by fierce pride. Where has it gone?
Somewhere in the 40 years since Apollo 11 we have lost our way, mired in the quicksand of failing social programs in the name of bettering life on Earth, all the while robbing men of their dignity and building a false government dependency. Such political misdirections are gradually transforming dreams and pride into guilt and stagnation. America is now being painted as a problem in the world instead of a solution. Even an activist president colors with a broad brush that masks our greatness.
Sufficient time has now passed so as to relegate moonwalks and other significant victories to mere paragraphs in history books, read by new generations that have never experienced greatness — some of which even doubt and debate the very existence of these accomplishments. The final irony is the use by non-believers of the many spinoffs from the space program, like laptop computers and cell phones, as they question the merit or even the reality of our moon journey. Believe me kids, we were there and we were there first! The proof will clutter the craters of that heavenly body for centuries.
Winning the space race not only inspired America but played a part in defeating the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Now that we’ve discovered it’s not made of green cheese, there is a renewed interest in going back to the moon — generated by other countries, places such as China and India. The other night, I heard one of our congressmen express the hope that we would “go all out” to participate and not just graciously accept a second place finish. I thought, “Whoa! We were ALREADY first, a long time ago. It’s the next country that’s gonna’ be in second place!” [This is the same mentality that overlooks the fact that America was attacked on 9/11 and goes straight to criticizing our assault on the Taliban, wherever they may be].
When it comes to the moon, we’ve already ‘been there, done that’. I see no particular reason to go back and would rather we set our sights on Mars. Let the other guys fall over each other for runner-up positioning on Earth’s natural satellite. I’d like to feel the pride and exhilaration of great national accomplishment once again. Moreover, our country needs to feel it. Forty years ago it inspired and united our nation, in fact [for a moment] the world. Those kids with all the answers could use a reality check, too.
Today we celebrate America’s first moon walk. No, it wasn’t the late Michael Jackson, he came later. It was imagination come to life. It was three incredibly brave pioneers who crossed, not the western prairie in covered wagons, but the sea of space in a tiny capsule — to walk on that silvery disc in the nighttime sky that casts long shadows on new fallen snow, lights the way for starry-eyed lovers and kindles sparks of inspiration in the hearts and minds of men.
R.S.F.
Humorist Arnold Glasgow once wrote, “A friend is someone who laughs at your jokes when they’re not so good and listens to your troubles when they’re not so bad.” But what happens when a friend starts giving you bad advice? The acting president has been running into that for some time now with his close, warm, personal friend [CWPF] “Totus”. “Totus” is a ‘Bamaprompter.
Let me make something perfectly clear to those who might otherwise get the wrong impression — he speaks neither for me nor for the vast majority of American people. We owe apologies to no one. The ugly chip on his shoulder speaks for ‘Bama alone. He and “Totus” have become dangerous embarrassments — two of the Three Stooges. Since he has difficulty forming coherent sentences without help, we must conclude that the formerly faithful ‘Bamaprompter has run amok and is feeding him bad information. Maybe his contemporaries can ‘roll’ him like a hooker with a jon in a cheap hotel but not so the people of this nation. Americans love freedom and have always stood strong against tyranny, whatever its origins.
Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner
Thanksgiving was, after all, an important holiday. If there were no Thanksgiving, how would we know that Christmas and New Years were coming — not to mention Hanukah, Kwanza and a host of other traditional holidays? Some folks called it ‘Turkey Day‘, although Thomas had never been told exactly why. He knew the words must have some kind of very special meaning, because no one ever talked about Thanksgiving without talking about turkeys. He closed his eyes and pictured himself as guest of honor at such a glorious celebration. M-m-m-m — pass the cranberries!
At school, he learned revisionist history about people called Pilgrims who were so dopey that when their boat first came to America it landed on a rock and they didn’t even know how to feed or clothe themselves. The Indians (They didn’t become Native-Americans for another 300 years), who were already here, had to show them how to do everything — and to say thanks, the Pilgrims slaughtered every last one of them! Then they had a big feast to celebrate the butchery and called it Thanksgiving.
Somehow, that didn’t sound right to Thomas. I mean, why would the Pilgrims kill all the people who were helping them? Besides, the Pilgrims were religious people and knew that God wouldn’t like that. There must be another explanation for Thanksgiving and he was determined to find it — and to find out about the important role that turkeys play in the festivities. Another story that sounded more plausible was told to him by the wise old Grandpa Turkey who sat by the big brown tree stump at the head of the barnyard.
It seems that the Pilgrims who landed on the rock had an arrangement where all the people would put everything they made or grew into a big storehouse. Then when somebody needed something, they would just take it. From each according to his ability to each according to his need sounded pretty good, at first. But some people were lazy and let others do the work — yet they took as much as anyone else from the big storehouse. The people who did all the work said, “The heck with this noise!” and stopped working. With no one producing anything, they all nearly starved.
The head Pilgrim said, “Okay, from now on each individual keeps whatever he creates and can use it, sell it, or trade it for other things he needs. The free market system worked and so did all the people! They even traded with the Indians and invited them to the first celebration of their new found prosperity — a celebration of Capitalism which today we know as Thanksgiving!
Even though the wise old turkey’s story made more sense, it still didn’t explain why some people called the day, ‘Turkey Day’. When Thomas told of his dream to be invited to the glorious celebration, the horrified Grandpa Turkey exclaimed, “Holy giblets! Have you lost your head?”
Once the special role of the turkey was fully explained, Thomas began to tremble. It was only then that he noticed the shiny metal thing with a long wooden handle on top of the brown wooden stump, and heard the squeak of the gate as farmer Fred entered the pen. Thomas quickly sucked in his chest and tried to look smaller.
As Thanksgiving approaches, I think about Thomas a great deal and look forward to a festive holiday with family and friends — as well as with our guest of honor. Remember just like elections, wishes have consequences.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
R.S.F
