Thursday, February 19, 2009

A Nation of Cowards? Absolutely NOT!

I shy away from discussions of politics. Why? Because I am proudly a Republican, and some of my friends are too. And, some of my friends are not. But, I love them anyway. And I respect that they feel as passionately about their views as I do about mine. And that is what our country is about. Different people with different views. So, I write this post, not to discuss politics. Yours or Mine. What I write is to disagree with a clip I heard on the news yesterday that greatly disturbed me.
The clip I saw on the news was of our nation's Attorney General, Eric Holder. According to the CNN website, here is the quote, in context:
"Though this nation has proudly thought of itself as an ethnic melting pot, in things racial, we have always been and we -- I believe continue to be in too many ways essentially a nation of cowards," Holder told Department of Justice employees at an event Wednesday celebrating Black History Month.
I am terribly saddened by a man of his authority and power and position making a blanket statement so insulting about all Americans.

I do not live in a nation of cowards.

I am a military wife of three small children. I am raising my three girls to be confident, competent, considerate, contributing citizens of our great nation. I am a woman entrepreneur in today's economy. I am a christian. I am not a coward.

My husband is a United States Marine. He is a jet pilot who lands on the pitching deck of an aircraft carrier and is catapulted off the deck of that same carrier. He has served in the Persian Gulf and in Iraq itself in recent months. He is not a coward.

I have a dear friend, who, while her husband was serving in Iraq, was called on to be a foster parent, of three young boys. She answered that call. She is not a coward.

I read recently about a family who discovered in January that their young daughter had cancer and less than a month later, she passed away. They face each day brave in their Faith. They are not cowards.

I have friends who, like me, raise their children and face each day with the goal of being good parents, good leaders, good christians, and good citizens. They are not cowards.

5 comments:

Jen said...

your post is spot on. I don't care if you are R OR D this should apply universally. I am an Army wife, I understand thoroughly your struggles. It's an awesome feeling though to be that wife and I am very proud of my husband and every soldier out there. We are not a nation of cowards. Maybe he should spend a good month or two in the hot desert with the troops and tell them that. Bet he gets a good whooping. :)

your post was very heartfelt & honest, I appreciate that. Hope all is well and yall are adjusting at home. best wishes!

i want fabric said...

your dad was absolutely outraged at the comment, and plans to do something, although he hasn't said what.

Anonymous said...

I agree whole heartedly with you Missy!

Kirsten said...

Amen, Amen, Amen. I get so frustrated when our media and politicians want to dramatize our racial situation in our country. 68% of Americans voted for a black man to our president, does that not say anything? It frustrates me that they want to create contraversy where there isn't any or not nearly as much as they keep creating. Maybe our Attorney General was speaking for himself because the way I see it he is the coward for not seeing actually what our country is made of. If he actually left his comforts of Washington he would actually see what our coutry is made of, it certainly is not COWARDS! From the bottom of my heart I want to say thank you for your post and thank you for your husbands service to our country. Praise God for YOU!!!

Unknown said...

I agree! I don't even understand why he would say this. I want to understand more what would possess him to utter these words.