I contemplated not writing this, because I was afraid it would fall under the "political" mental tag. I know I don't particularly like to read other people's views on politics (unless they're pollsters, 'cause they're great fun), and I also don't fancy shoving my ideology down anybody's throat; it has just occurred to me that, in fact, what follows has nothing to do with politics, so this is somewhat neutral ground.
Just a few minutes ago, Mitt Romney gave a speech in Denver; in it, he spewed his repetitive one-line soundbites, set the groundwork to start pummeling Rick Santorum in the same fashion as he slaughtered Newt Gingrich, and kept giving that stupid "they really like me" look to the cameras between glancing at his teleprompters.
Something he said in that speech sent me on at least a two minute rant involving some spilt tea, and figurative boiling blood. I can't quote him verbatim, but it was something along the lines of "the soul of America can be corrupted", in reference to the current state of our government.
Well, I have news for Romney: the soul of the United States is not corrupt, because the government has nothing to do with America's soul. The government is America's heart; when everything functions, America ticks along contentedly. America's soul is something entirely different, and only sounds proper flowing from the pens of poets, and the acts of true patriots.
America's soul, Governor Romney, is the tenacity of the American spirit. Our forefathers who fought an oppressive government for their God given rights; the ideas immortalized by those thirty-nine men who placed their signatures on our Constitution; the citizens who gave their lives in the hopes of preserving liberty, and opportunity -- from the Revolution, all the way up to those brave folks in our military today. That feeling that some of us get when we think about our flag flying over Fort McHenry in the dawn's early light, and knowing that those same stars and stripes still symbolize independence the whole globe over. That we, as a society, cannot be tied down because someone else says so; and, perhaps the most important, that we have hope for our futures, and those of our children -- and I'm not talking about election propaganda, I mean real hope.
That, Governor Romney, is the American soul.
What we have to remember is that we are the keepers of this legacy. The moment we forget, we're back at square one. If we're back at square one, we've lost everything we've ever fought for, and the government is back in control. We must keep in mind that Americans -- not the American government -- are the soul of America. And, by the grace of God, government will never, ever corrupt that soul.
