Posted on 12/31/2014 11:59:27 AM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
In A recent conversation with a friend, I confessed that a phrase had been stuck in my mind for days. The words sounded like a question, but it was purely rhetorical since I knew the answer.
“Where’s the majesty?” I had been thinking after surveying the wreckage of America’s political culture. Each time I considered the words, my gut response was the same.
Gone to hell, that’s where. Smashed to pieces by a cynical public and buried by a political class too craven to care.
The majesty I long for is behavior that tries to match the nation’s ideals. It is a concept invoked by Lincoln’s reference to “better angels,” of belief in American exceptionalism and the shared goal of living the American dream.
That kind of majesty demands a self-sustaining integrity in every individual and a requirement that public servants remember they were hired to serve the public.
Of course, the hope is naive, a concoction worthy of Frank Capra movies and tall tales about the Founders.
And yet, a collective faith that America was different from all other places fueled actual exceptionalism. Millions upon millions of ordinary Americans believed the dream, and because they believed, the dream came true for generations.
Unfortunately, each passing year brings fresh evidence that fewer people have faith in the ideals of America. The pursuit of individual happiness is giving way to pursuit of an entitlement, a demand that someone else make you happy.
There’s no majesty in that....
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
The majestry; the exceptionalism, the living the American dream and the self-sustaining integrity mentioned through out this article?
It’s there; it’s still found in America.
But NOT though our laws, our courts, our governments and political leaders.
Only IF a person can rise above the huge political and legal obstacles, can they indeed acheive the American Dream.
A cynical public?
Lost me there
My wife’s favorite phrase these days applies: Hell in a handbasket.
It’s the majesty of the mall riot.
I’m sorry, I would have a little more sympathy for the NYPD if they didn’t enforce stupid laws with such vigor, especially including gun control laws. They are no friends of liberty. Diallo and Louima come to mind as well as Garner.
a militarized law enforcement officer state is not majestic.
The NYPD enforces laws against illegal guns. Nothing more.
The NYPD enforces illegal laws against guns. Nothing less.
Semantics. Cops don’t make the laws. Change the laws and we’ll gladly enforce the new ones. The only ones with guns in this city are cops and criminals. Wish it were different, but these people keep voting for idiots.
Remember, everyone, to say special prayers tonight for the protection of our policemen, firemen, and EMT’s. It’s New Year’s Eve, when the enemy is planning mayhem everywhere.
Kaiser Wilhelm, the mayor of NYC, has allowed the dregs of society to put out a Fatwah on the head of every law enforcement person in the City.
St. Michael the Archangel, watch over all our men and women who defend the Thin Blue Line.
Please stay in Colorado and enjoy your granola and pot.
You are not wanted in NYC.
Idiot!
Very enlightening.
Who'd want to go to that marxist crap hole anyway? Some nice museums I guess, but a city full of rude, loud mouth democRats.
By the way, I’m an NYPD cop. So you must be very confused.
Concur!
“The NYPD enforces laws against illegal guns. Nothing more.”
If only that ‘nothing more’ part were actually true.
Me and my handgun are the first line of defense in my household.
If you could see the people who get locked up in those neighborhoods in Staten Island you'd change your tune. They are coached by their defense lawyers how to immediately file complaints against arresting officers for completely bogus claims. And these complaints are entertained by the laughably liberal review boards. Really, I wish you could spend one day there. You'd wonder why anyone would want to be a cop there.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.