Jaded

I watch everyday as the world slips deeper and deeper into the dark abyss, decaying at every level, corrupt to the very core. Politicians, police, military, laborers, the average everyday citizen so corrupt that when they see a crime or law violation being committed they are too fearful, or too apathetic to intervene, but they sure as heck will watch. The people cry out for mercy, the populace plead with their governments to crack down on the unjust, but nothing ever happens. We're satisfied with slapping the low level street thug on the wrist and allowing the masterminds to continue roaming the streets. No one cares anymore, no one gives a crap about justice. No one gives a crap about the people that are dying, the people that are abused, the people that are oppressed by the dictators that are criminals on our streets and among our people. No one gives a crap.

I even find myself drifting into the darkness. It's addictive, like a drug. It satisfies for a brief moment and then the pain creeps back into my life and I need another fix. Just a little bit to calm my nerves, but all it really does is hook me more. I've become jaded, and corrupt... just as guilty as the rest of the scum, just as filthy with the crude of my sins. It's a heavy weight to carry on my shoulders, and there's no relief in sight, there is no end. I have no atonement. I have no hope.

Hah... Even thinking about it makes me laugh at how ridiculous the idea of it is. There is no hope for this world. A world that is so quick to turn on itself, so quick to devour it's own. Even when we have heroes we do everything in our power to tear them down and destroy them. They might as well wear masks and colorful costumes and keep their identities a secret if they want to keep up the ruse of perfection. It's almost gotten to the point that this world isn't even worth saving, or worth caring about. After all why care about something that doesn't give a care about you? Why should it matter to me? Why does it matter to me? Why can't I get away from this feeling of responsibility to the world? Why do I care?

It's not like I can throw on a red cape and put an “S” on my chest and save the day, and lets be honest these nut jobs that go around in superhero costumes that think just because they picked up a little bit of litter that they are up there with the ranks of the comic book heroes are fooling themselves. You're living in a dream world. And I'm not trying belittle what you do, but if you think for one second that you are a superhero, fine then go do something to fight actual crime. Stop a mugging, find that little girl that went missing from her front yard, don't just call the police when you witness a crime DO something to stop it. Why? Cause it's your duty as a citizen. It's your responsibility as a human being. Screw this idea that we can avoid the danger by being complacent and satisfied with just making a three digit phone call. You're not making the world a better place you're doing the exact opposite by telling the criminal that he has all the power.

Yet here I am. It's pathetic... embarrassing even. How do we make a difference when our own government refuses to hear our voice? How do we make a difference when our police are so restrained by the law that they can't enforce it? What do we do? How do we provide the world with hope? How do I make a difference?

The truth is that we need that hope in the world. We need a symbol of hope, a symbol that let's us know that it's okay to take the world back from the evil men. A symbol that let's the people know that they have the power, that they are in control, not the corrupted politician in Washington. We need a symbol that lets the people know that the oppression is over and that they can come out safely in the night. Evil will always be with us in the world, but that doesn't mean that we have to let it consume us. It doesn't mean that we have to stand idly by and let it devour our children. We need a symbol of truth, a symbol of justice, a symbol of security, a symbol of deliverance. It's like the Good Book says, “Be not overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good.”

Valkyrie

Here it is July 4th and most would expect a blog about our independence or something appropriate for the holiday. Maybe a support blog for our men and women in uniform or a tribute to those who have fought so bravely to win our independence. However, I find myself thinking on other things, albeit such matters deserve discussion and rememberance. The thought for today goes to my son. I keep thinking of what I am going to teach him as he grows up and how I will impact his life. How will I contribute to his life and help him to be a better man than I?

One word keeps coming to mind.... Honor. But why? The truth is most of us don't even know what honor truly is. My father told me, "Honor is a man's gift to himself." I thought to myself, "man that sounds good." The saying comes from a movie starring Liam Neason, "Rob Roy" and while it is a good movie, and the statement sounds good and has a bit of ring to it, it doesn't hold any weight. There is absolutely no substance in it. The fact is that it couldn't be further from the truth. It was simply Hollywood's attempt to glamorize a man who while in the movie seemed to be honorable, is still a man who in the movie commits kidnapping, and covers up a murder committed by his wife. There is no honor in that.

The truth is that Honor is something that is fleeting in this day and age. Fewer people understand it's importance as the days go by and fewer still posses such qualities. We think of honor as doing the right thing at all times. Folks that's character, just as important as honor but not exactly the same thing. Honor though is being true to yourself and to those around you. Honor is being a man or woman of your word. Honor is saying what you mean and meaning what you say. Honor is making a promise and then fullfilling that promise. Honor is and always has been something we have not fully understood, but it is also something that we always have needed.

There was a day when this country was full of Men of Honor. It was led by Men of Honor. Men who did what they promised to do. These were men who maintained their honor even when doing so was unpopular. Few men have such honor in these days. I want my son to be a man of honor. It will put him on the right track, it will set him up to make the right choices where I have made the wrong ones. Maybe then he will be a better man than me.

Valkyrie

Second and Third Order Effects

Decisions. We all have to make them. We do it every day and there is no avoiding it. We decide to get out of the bed, we decide to get dressed and ready for the day, we decide to eat our breakfast, we decide to do everything. No one can tell us that there is no choice because there is always a choice and we have to make that decision.

The fact is that some decisions are easy to make, some are a lot more difficult. In fact sometimes the hardest part about making decisions is being decisive. We often hesitate on some decisions because (especially when we are with certain people) we don't want to effect their lives or well being in a negative way. Sometimes we make those decisions because we don't want to effect their lives in a positive way. The problem is that no matter what you decide it has an effect... not just on you, but on those you love and those who surround you. Not only will it effect the ones you love but it will effect the ones they love. We call these Second and Third Order Effects in my line of work.

What I find sad is that often we make very critically important decisions without considering the second and third order effects of those decisions. We don't stop to think, "how will this decision effect my wife, or my family, or my loved ones and friends?" We don't think because at that moment it seems so minuscule to think that what we do really matters.

I'm here to tell you that every decision we make, whether big or small will have some effect on those around you. Decisions you make on the fly will effect the decision of a family member or friend. It is the actions that we take that can either aid or destroy a strong and lasting reputation of being reliable and trustworthy.

I guess I only bring this up because I have been struggling with a decision for the past few weeks that will drastically alter the course of not only my life but the lives of my family and friends. That's right this effects you. The funny part is that most of you will never fully know what the topic of debate in my minds parliament is about, but it is only fair I warn you that it will effect our relationship. Talk about your second and third order effects.

See the question is a profound debate. On one hand I have my family and friends and the continued relationships that I have built. On the other I hold a noble cause, but a cause in which methods used are often controversial.

So as I debate this great question in my minds senate halls I must consider all possible outcomes and all possible second and third order effects in order to determine which outcome is going to the best fork in the road for my family and friends.

The fact is, my faithful readers, the decisions I make today, my son will have to live with tomorrow. I can only pray I leave him a blessing and not a curse.

Valkyrie

A Word To The Critics

"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."

President Theodore Roosevelt

"Citizenship in a Republic,"
Speech at the Sorbonne, Paris, April 23, 1910

These words echo daily in my mind as I look back. I won't lie and say that I have been the greatest of men, though often times I have felt like the least of them. I have always desired to be the next great champion.... the next great hero..., but as my days continue and the more I experience the less of a hero I want to be. I have no more desires for fame or glory. I have no desire to be honored in the halls of heroes.... No. I just want to be known as a good man, a loving and faithful husband, and a father a man can look back on his childhood and be proud of. It is something I have fallen short of every day. I'm not the man I want to be or that my wife and son deserve to have, but there is no critic other than my own conscience who has the right to point out how I have stumbled.

The truth is it is easy to see where I have stumbled. It takes no great eye to see where I fail. But the test of a good critic and a true friend is by the way they can spot your worth, even when you can't.

I have accomplished a lot of what I always dreamed of as a boy. I have come farther than most that dreamed of the same things, but it was a long and hard road, and the journey is far from done. To judge me and tell me I cannot is only the encouragement I need to get up and try harder. The ecouragement to quit will always go unheeded, but the encouragement to get up and fight harder I can never hear enough. I have reached the point in my life where the critics voice is no longer heard; a point where the only sounds I hear are the sounds of those who have held up my hands when I've grown weary. "Fight on" they say. "Don't quit now" they say. "You're almost there."

What we must teach our children is that life truly is an arena. It is a fight. One that never ends. For a boy to grow up and become a man he must be made of grit. He must be honorable, intelligent, and a scrapper when he needs to be. He must know when to use his wit and how. He must know when to scrap and why. He must know what honor truly is. Finally, he must know that he must live with the choices that he's made. Because, when it all comes down to it, it's not the critic who counts, it's the man.

Valkyrie

He sits there quietly on his own in the back corner. He doesn't say a word or make a sound or even move other than the vigorous motion in which he cleans his rifle. He prefers silence. Solace. He prefers to left alone to his own thoughts.

Some would say he is the quintessential idea of what a Special Forces soldier should be. He's strong, fast, cunning, and very lethal. He has perfected his craft in the eyes of those around him, but in his own he still falls so short of the mark.

He feels this because he remembers the past loss of his comrades on the battlefield... men whom he has slept in the darkest of places beside, men he ate with, men he lived with, men whom he would have given his own life for, yet they are men who died in his arms. That's not something that a man can shake or get over no matter how strong he is. It's not something he can run from no matter how fast he may be.

Where most men might use this to drown their sorrows in the bottom of a bottle, he chooses to use the pain as a catalyst in honing his skills, to make himself better, but this is not enough. It's not enough that he is better, that he is faster, stronger, smarter... no. It helps yes, but this is not what keeps his men and comrades alive..... that was not the lesson that he had learned from that pain.

So he takes us, the new, green horned, rookies. He pulls us aside and teaches us the lesson. He makes us faster. He makes us stronger. He makes us more cunning. He makes us better than what we are. Why? Because when the bullets start flying, and the chaos ensues, he cannot defeat an enemy, who has become faster, stronger, and smarter, alone.... no. He needs us, as much as we need him. It is a matter of trust. We trust him to lead us, and he trusts us to follow. It isn't a matter of his being superior and we inferior. It is a matter of this is what must be done in order to keep each other alive. It is a brotherhood... It is a family.

Folks, we argue and bicker and mock each other. We ridicule and sneer. This country was a great and honorable nation. It was the Monument of Freedom.

Look at us now though.

I am ashamed.... Not of my country, but of our behavior.... I am ashamed of myself and of what mockery we've made ourselves. Politicians who will vote according to their party lines rather than with their constituents whom they represent. Military leaders who are too afraid to voice their opinion of how to win the war despite what the rest of this cowardly world might think. Teachers who are too scared to educate their students on the Proud and Noble Origins of our Great and Mighty Nation. Americans who refuse to pledge allegiance to our Glorious Flag. Americans who trample on the Most Important Document in our Noble Nations marvelous history,... the Constitution of these United States. What have we become?

We can change though. We can learn our lesson as the man I described above. But we must change ourselves. We must identify the fault that lies within our own hearts. We must see ourselves for who we really are. Then we must teach our children how to better themselves and how to never be satisfied with mediocrity. We must teach them how Great and Noble this Nation of the United States Of America truly is. We must instill in them the desire to love it, cherish it, and to secure it from all enemies both foreign and domestic. This is our home, this is our land, our brotherhood, our family. The wolves are growling at the door, and we are a house divided. We must come together in unity in order to keep these sacred lands free from tyranny and oppression. Let us learn from this lesson and keep our home free.

Valkyrie

Startled Awake

I wake up to the sounds of explosions all around me, the earth trembling beneath my bed. I realize that beyond the sounds of the explosions I can hear the sounds of scrambling feet and hurried and urgent voices. I hear cries of pain and agony. The first and immediate thought that runs to my head is "Not another drill." All I know is that I just want to sleep. I come to my senses a little more and realize I'm being selfish and complacent and need to snap out of it. I throw on a shirt and some shoes ( I really don't care if they match or not), grab my pistol, check the magazine to ensure it is loaded, then do a quick press check to make sure there is a round in the chamber. There is. I turn to the door and rush out to help where I can either by assisting the wounded or by putting down a potential intruder.

That's when I realize it's just another drill. Another sleepless night. Another day in this place. I then immediately go back to droning again.

I hate that. I hate that I know it and can't change it. This apathetic complacency which numbs me to my surroundings and the threat around me. But the question I have to ask is, are you sure that you're not doing the same thing? We have all grown to complacent, to apathetic, to numb, and unaffected by the threats that are against us every day.

Terrorism isn't neutralize, Al Qaeda is still plotting, new groups arise every day, and then we have the threats at home. So called "Militias" (which aren't really militias they're terrorist organizations) plotting to kill cops, racism (and I'm not just talking about white people here either), murder, rape, molestation, and the list goes on and on.

Yet we sit, unaffected in the "safety" of our own homes. "Poor folks," we say, "God bless their hearts, someone should do something." Yet we sit by and do nothing ourselves. We let the polititcians run our society, we allow the government to have the power. But it is not the government who can wield the power that this nation has been so richly blessed with. It is you, the American people who hold the power. You make the decision to end it all.

The nightmare that rattled you awake isn't just a dream. It's not a drill. It's the real deal. So what are you gonna do about it?

Valkyrie

When Good Men Do Nothing

It seems that today in our nation we stand divided on every side. It's not the North vs. the South, it's not even about Freedom vs. Tyranny though many would have us believe that it is. It's not about Progress vs. the Lack of Progress, nor is it Democracy vs. Socialism. These are merely the channels in which this conflict has been delivered. This conflict that has caused such a vast division amongst our nation actually has nothing to do with politics, health-care, the constitution, nor even our nation at all. No this fight goes much deeper and comes from something much more important than all of that. This is a fight of what is Right vs. what is Wrong.

You may feel it wise to attempt and sit on the sidelines and ignore the facts, you may think that it is best to mind your own business and let the "political" types figure it out. I'm here to tell you that your view and your belief is skewed and misguided. There is no sideline, there are no benchwarmers, and there is no neutral ground. You either choose to fight for that which is good or fight for evil and when you do nothing, well you might as well start adjusting to the rule of evil men.

Edmond Burke said, "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." This idea of remaining neutral is not just a worthless hope, it is an instrument in which the forces of darkness use in order to deceive us into apathy. And unfortunately to many have fallen to this snare. Our lack of action as proved to be invaluable to the enemy and they have used that in order to gain momentum and ground, and we can not allow them to move forward any farther. It is time to make a stand, it is time to heed the call, it is time to take back what is ours.

I for one refuse to allow evil to triumph, the question is will you?

Valkyrie