The Turning Off of America
by Mark C. Carlson

It seems that like some post midnight, pre dawn bill being passed through the senate, we have been the collective victims of a mass changing of the guard that we didn�t see coming. Pride, integrity, risk taking, persevering, family, loyalty and rising above the fray are terms and words that have little or no meaning to the vast majority of the Stepfordites walking amongst us. As long as the money is rolling in, the kids are Ritalinized and happy and the Lexus starts every morning �.most folks are good to go. 

Gone are the days of hard work, family values, pride in ones work and other such non-commodities that return little or nothing to the bottom line. At least it would seem that most would think this. Along with this rapid decline in morality and values is a devaluation of our God given and Constitutionally guaranteed rights--the least of which is certainly not the 2nd Amendment to the Constitution. Of course there are those that would have you believe that we don�t need that right anymore. I mean after all...we�re not running with the wolves and defending ourselves on our own turf anymore. Some folks who I�ve actually tried to converse with on that right have actually conceded to me that since they're not rabble rousers and letter writers that the 1st Amendment could go and it wouldn�t really effect their bottom line all that much. 

It blows my mind to think that there are people walking around who really believe that the Constitution and the Bill of Rights don�t ever enter into their day to day. �Hey�.I get up...go to the office�cut some deals�come home. Done deal. Where the hell in that day did I need to wave some flag or rant and rave about my frickin� rights?� That was really rattled off to me by an acquaintance. 

In a nutshell you�ve got a huge collective that has no idea of who we are, how we got here or what we really need to do to keep it. To me it�s simple�most folks are uneducated and/or ungrateful. I am the first male member of my family who didn�t serve in the military. But I have a grave and reverend respect and awe for what they are and what they have done and will do. My father and all my uncles were recipients of purple hearts. My father and uncles served in WWII and Korea. Growing up in South Peabody, Mass during the late 50�s and early 60�s found me graveside, on more than one occasion, with my mother and/or father watching another son of a friend laid to rest for his efforts in Vietnam. Honor, liberty and self-sacrifice were not words that came cheap. They had deep, profound, eye watering meaning. 

I know every single day of every week that this country, and all it stands for, are under constant and vigorous attack. Without the Constitution and Bill of Rights we are nothing. Those are the watch words. Those set the stage. That�s all we have to cling to. Those are our guiding light.

When I hear people cast aside the 2nd Amendment like an old suit and declare it useless, outdated and costing the lives of innocents I become enraged. It�s their inability or lack of desire to aspire to be a real American, or at least try to learn what it�s all about, that has them in the dark.

Liberty and freedom comes at great expense. There are those who think life is just another IPO, a bigger house, a better car. They care little, if nothing, for what made and makes this country great. Everyone has to realize that life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are not easy. They will cost lives. There will be guilty men let free. There will be innocents gassed, hung, and electrocuted. And yes�there will be Columbines. 

Every day of every week people accept a certain amount of collateral damage or the potential thereof. You go skiing�.you can break a leg. You go skydiving�.you can fall to your death. You go whitewater rafting�you can drown. 

BUT...when it comes to the biggest challenge of all...LIFE, LIBERTY and the PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS, that�s different. That�s got to come at you hot and heavy and perfect. No injuries or death will be accepted.

Yes folks...this countries been turned off. A switch was flipped and a huge group decided that lust, greed, and me me me would pull us through. 

It�s time to flip the switch the other way.