The dream of a place where tyranny is unknown

My father and mother named me in memory of an uncle I never knew, my father’s older brother David, a naval fighter pilot in the Pacific theatre who did not return from his last mission and of whom it is said no trace was ever found. On the occasion of Memorial Day it is impossible for me not to think of this and of the similar sacrifices that have been made by so many Americans and their families in defense of the dream.

Over the approximately 231 years since the day the embattled colonists fired the shots heard ‘round the world at Lexington and Concord, a long line of courageous Americans and their families have offered themselves willingly to sacrifice everything they had in order to defend the dream of a place where tyranny is unknown and the people govern themselves. All of us living today owe more than words can ever express to every one of them for what they did.

On this occasion of Memorial Day 2006, something else must be said, grim though it is to have to say it. For the last 5 ½ years the chief executive of the United States of America and his entourage of sycophants have brazenly declared themselves by word and deed to be contemptuous of the Constitution and above the rule of law. In so doing they have continually shown themselves to be unworthy of every American who has sacrificed himself to defend the dream in every conflict since the courageous defenders of Lexington Green stood firm against Imperial Redcoat regiments.

The uncle I never knew did not pay the ultimate price in order for the likes of George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, and Alberto Gonzales to trample all over the American dream that he perished to defend. Every one of the honored dead who has made the ultimate sacrifice down through the years of our nation’s history deserves better than for the dream they defended to be dishonored by an American regime that scorns the very Constitution they were sworn to defend. My fellow Americans and Texans, we owe it to ourselves, our legacy, and our posterity to flood our polling places this November and bring this dishonor to an end.

David Van Os

:kick:

I ran through the gamut of emotions yesterday, Memorial Day, as I thought about those in my family who fought for this country. My father's family participated in the Revolutionary War - they settled in the Philadelphia area in the early 1700s. Many others in the Civil War, WWI, WWII and Vietnam. In particular, my Grandfather who rushed the beach at Tarawa and managed to live through it.

I have never been so sad and embarrassed by the state of our country and will do whatever it takes to vote these bastards out of office - in honor of my family's sacrifices.