The Soul of America is Country First, Before All Other Things

Sometimes words are harsh. They are difficult to hear sometimes. But sometimes harsh words need to be said. And sometimes we need to hear them even if they hurt.

Honesty is what is most important in this world. And unfortunately, it is something we seem to be losing. We live in a world of deep biases, false truths, and most dangerously, denial of truths.

This thought comes to mind as I have watched an ever-degrading landscape of politics in the United States—to the point that truth doesn't seem to matter anymore. Politicians can lie. The media can lie. And no one is held accountable for any of it simply based on which party happens to be doing the lying or where one's political loyalties happen to be.

It was beginning to happen long before former president, Donald Trump of course. But there is something that has changed about the speed of the degradation and the tenacity of the vitriol since Donald Trump became the president.

Maybe that was something he did? Maybe something about his demeanor was the reason? Even a Trump supporter such as I can freely admit that he could have done better at least in the area of his public discourse, even if his ideas and his policies were completely sound.

That's me being honest. That's me setting aside my bias and not creating a false truth, nor denying the truth that sometimes when Trump spoke, the words did not come off right all the time. He was a bit too brash. A little too quick to speak. Certainly, his lips worked a little faster than his brain did a lot of the time.

It hurt him. On both sides. It made people see him differently, and it gave the news media a lot of fodder to work with to set their narrative and allow the focus to be on the man, not what he was doing. It was enough to overshadow the good that he accomplished and what his legacy could have been above what it is today.

What he has been, since he took office, has been a political target. I have not quite figured out the "why" on that yet, although I have some thoughts. But the establishment certainly did not want to see him in power and the last five, going on six years has been perhaps one of the biggest witch hunts this country has ever seen.

Most of it completely unjust and wrong. As investigation after investigation has shown time and time again, there is simply no evidence to support any of what Trump has been accused of.

Not a shred.

Anyone truly paying attention knows this. Anyone able to set aside their bias can clearly see what is happening here. Anyone not denying truth knows full well that something is rotten here, and what is happening is not good for America and actually serves to potentially destroy it.

Because there are a lot of other things going on in American politics that ought to be equally raising eyebrows—and yet many people, mostly on the left, are simply turning a blind eye to all of it.

Because they don't like Trump. Because they have been told not to like Trump. Because the media has denied the truth about Trump and kept many people from seeing all sides of who he was and what he said and what he actually did.

Right now, we are having to go through this January 6th hearing about a so-called insurrection. But it is nothing more than a continuing and ongoing dog and pony show. It's all for politics. No one really wants to find anything out. Nor does anyone really care.

There's a midterm coming up and the democrats are in trouble because the current administration is an abject failure, and they know it. They have to change the focus. They need another story for the American people to look at so they can't see the other stuff happening.

Like maybe what actually happened in the 2020 election that the "insurrection" may have actually been a cover operation for.

But what about insurrection? How is it defined? It is a violent uprising against an authority or government. But forget about the word violent for a moment, if you will.

Is it not possible that the real insurrection was what was initiated before Trump even took office? We know that Trump's campaign was spied on, and we know that then president Obama instructed and authorized his agencies to do it. We know that the agencies also worked in concert with the DNC and Hillary Clinton's campaign officials. We know that former British intelligence agent, Christopher Steele was commissioned to write the dossier that became the basis for the Russia Collusion allegations and ensuing investigations. And we know that Hillary Clinton's campaign hired Fusion GPS to obtain the document and conduct further "research."

The dossier turned out to be fake and the entire Russia Collusion claim turned out to be nothing less than pure fiction.

But it underpins the beginning something greater and deeper. Because it made the entire aim of what followed it to be to overturn the presidency of Donald Trump come hell or high water.

Even after mountains of evidence clearly showing that nothing about the Russia Collusion claims were real, bias prevailed among many Americans. False truths were made into realities. The truth was denied even when it was clear and plain.

But it still goes beyond this, which brings me back around to my point about there being a lot of other questions that should be of concern to us. Why only focus on Trump? What makes the questions some people obviously have about Trump more important, and more worthy of our undivided attention than the other very important questions we should have as concerned Americans?

Like whether or not it was the purview of a sitting president to spy on a presidential candidate from an opposing party? Like what may have actually happened during the 2020 election? Like who may have actually funded and initiated the January 6th event at the nation's capitol?

Sure. I grant you. Maybe these are as dumb as thinking that the Russians put Trump in the White House. But we fell for that. We were willing to accept that and dig in as deep as we could to get to the bottom of the claim.

Did Joe Biden or the DNC or other people within the democrat party actually steal an election? No one knows. But I think there is enough to support at least asking the question and being concerned about it.

The democrats keep telling us, "We need accountability, and those responsible need to be held accountable."

I can agree with the sentiment and reason of that. Even if I disagree about the validity of the question. Okay, so let's ask the questions. Fine. But while we do that let's not ignore all the other ones we should be asking as well, that have just as much if not more impact on our political system and the way our government operates.

Let's ask all the questions and let's hold anyone accountable who has done something wrong who has the power to control our lives. Yes. Let's definitely do that. Because it is important, and the American people need to be damn well concerned if anything is happening that can damage our democratic republic we hold so near and dear to us.

Republican or democrat. No matter who is president. No matter who controls the legislature. Let's be honest and accept truths even when they hurt. Even when they hurt our political party. Let's not create false truths based on which party does what, or who we like or dislike personally. And let's not deny truths just because they conflict with what we would prefer the truth to be.

America first. Nothing else matters. Party comes last when it comes to the preservation of the integrity and sovereignty of our nation.

We have to bear one very important thing in mind as we discuss this and digest what I am saying here. To disregard all of these other important questions is unamerican. Is it harsh to point that out? No American likes to have their patriotism challenged. It hurts no matter who says it, nor whether or not it happens to be an accusation that is made with any truth behind it.

But as is the case with most things, the context of the accusation is what is more important than the accusation itself. I have used the word "honesty" several times in this article.

If we are honest with ourselves and set aside our biases, if we do not allow false truths to cloud our judgement, and if we do not deny truth, maybe we have a better opportunity to more closely examine ourselves.

Personal self-interest is what drives a lot of what is happening today in America and around American politics. We want to be right, and we want to have our way and we want to win. All other things become less important. We don't care how this happens so long as it happens.

But it hurts the country. It hurts the people. And while we may believe in the short term that it does not hurt us personally individually, the truth is that ultimately it does. Left or right, in the end, if we allow for biases and false truths and continue to deny truth, we all lose. The entire being of who we are as a people and a nation dies because nothing is real anymore.

We need to be curious about what really happened to all of those lost emails and what were in them while Hillary Clinton was Secretary of State. Why was she using a server that was unauthorized and not secured? What potential national secrets were possibly leaked? And to whom?

We need to know about then vice president Joe Biden's dealings with China and Ukraine and what the connection was with his son Hunter? We need to know what was on Hunter's computer. We need to want to know. We should want to know.

It doesn't matter that some people did not like Trump that we would just sweep potentially damaging but important information under the carpet. The whole basis for Trump's hate mongering was that some people thought he was a danger and a threat to the nation. Okay. Fine. Yes, that's an important consideration to make.

But again, how are the activities of Hillary Clinton less dangerous? How are Joe Biden's activities any less dangerous? And if we don't ask these questions as well as the ones we had about Trump, how do we know that the other activities may not have been more dangerous?

Some may say I am doing exactly what I am accusing others of doing. Holding a bias, accepting false truths, and denying truth on any question that has been asked about Trump.

The reality is that what I am defending is not president Donald J. Trump. Not the republican party. I am defending the thought that you can't only ask one question while denying all the others.

To only focus in on the one question while denying all the others do is, again, unamerican. And as harsh as that may be, it needs to be called out for what it is.

It is no different than what we accuse our politicians of all the time. That they are not operating with the best interests of the people in mind. But instead in the interest of their own personal interests and ambitions. If we choose to ignore things, important questions, because it may hurt our party or cause us to lose our power in the short term, we are making these decisions in our own personal interest. Not the interests of the entire nation, or in the interest of what is best for the nation.

That is unamerican.

What we need to defend, as a strong and united people, is not a person or a party. We need to defend the country. The United States of America. We need to honor and appreciate and remember what our founders wanted to accomplish when they started this country.

To have integrity and honor. To be free from tyranny. To be protected from evil and dictatorship rule. To not have kings and queens, but people we choose to be in power. At our whim. And to not hold that power absolute once it is gained. And not to turn a blind eye to, and have a recourse when power is abused in a way that harms the nation as a whole.

If we do any less than that individually it may be harsh to be called unamerican. It may be harsh to tell someone they have no right to display the American flag if they will not honor it and cherish and understand what it flies for. To not understand what it means. It may be harsh to tell someone that their bias, their false truth, and their denial of truth tarnishes the ultimate sacrifices our founders made, and all of the men and women in uniform who died to defend what it stands for.

But it is also necessary. It is American to do that. To put country before party. And to put truth above all other things as the most important thing. Even when the truth hurts.

The one thing that I can say with absolute certainty is that when it comes to my country, I made but one vow. To never turn my back on Her. Not for any one person. And not for any one party. And certainly not for any personal agenda or reasons. Even when I took my oath when I joined the U.S. Navy, I took that oath very seriously. Deeply understanding what it ultimately meant. And deeply understanding the importance of my place in protecting all that is America and American. And deeply understanding the sacrifice that all others before made to this country when they took the same oath.

Being an American is not a harsh thing to be. And calling out my fellow man when he is not American is equally not a harsh thing. It is honoring my loyalty to my country. It is honoring the oath I took. It is defending the nation I so love and cherish deeply and absolutely.

My flag, that I fly proudly each and every day, is not flown to honor a person. It is not flown to honor a political party. It is not flown to honor who is in charge at any given moment in time.

It is to remind me of my duty as an American citizen to my country. And it is to remind me of where my loyalties should lie. Above all other things. If I do not ask all of the questions of things and people that can serve to destroy my country, no matter who they are and no matter what party they are in, I do not have the right to enjoy all that She offers to me, nor to call myself an American.

Country first. America first. Nothing else matters. And nothing else should.

Lead image courtesy of Pixabay, user JJArtes. Flag Usa America - Free image on Pixabay