Once upon a time there was a country, a country like none other before it, a country like none since.
A country that was “conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men (people) are created equal”. A country that wasn’t ruled by a monarch or a dictator, but by the “consent of the governed”, by “a government of the people, by the people, and for the people”.
It wasn’t a perfect country. Perfection can only be found in Heaven. But it was a great country, the greatest country on Earth, the greatest country that mortal man had ever established, the greatest country that ever was or will be.
It was a country founded by great men, men who were willing to risk everything, including their lives, to make their dream come true. It was a country that gave us the Constitution and Bill of Rights, the greatest set of rules ever devised by man to live by, second only to the Ten Commandments.
It was a country that wars were fought for, both to protect it from those who would do it harm, and to protect other countries that could not protect themselves. It was a country that stood for rights of people everywhere, not just within its own borders.
Today, that country is nearly 250 years old. It is still a great country, still the greatest country on Earth, but it not as great as it once was. It is a country that no longer adheres to the values upon which it was founded. It is a country that has lost its way.
It is a country that is under attack, not from without but from within. It is a country where the elected leaders of the country no longer represent those who elected them. It is a country that is no longer governed by the consent of the governed. It is a country that no longer has a government of the people, by the people, and for the people.
It is a country where the government is now a government of lobbyists, special interest groups and global elitists who dream of a New World Order. It is a country where the government now believes that the people exist to serve the government rather than a government that exists to serve the people.
It is a country where the Constitution and Rule of Law no longer apply equally to the people and those who pretend to represent the people. It is a country where the government wants to take everything that the people have and give them what the government thinks they need.
It is a country that is still populated by a great people. But sadly, it is a country that is doomed to fail if it continues on its current path, if We the People fail to act.
Most stories that begin with “once upon a time” end with “and they lived happily ever after”.
How this story ends is yet to be written but unless something changes very soon, I have my doubts about a happy ending.
Once upon a time, there was a country, a great country.
Once upon a time!