FOOD FOR THOUGHT (Spoken by Dick Cheney)
From: "Bruce K. Melson" <doc32751@cookeville.com>SPOKEN
BY DICK CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT of U. S. A.
On
my way to work last week, I stopped behind a purple Geo Metro with my least
favorite bumper sticker ever plastered adross the back. It read, "It'll
be a great day when schools have all the money they need and the Air Force has
to have a bake sale to buy a bomber."
At
that moment, I realized who the most undervalued and underappreciated segment
of our society is. And it ain't the teachers. Teachers, I believe, rank second
on that list. Heading that list are the men and women of the armed forces,
who, throughout history, have protected our country from the Hitlers and
Stalins - they who would have had our white children marching to school in
jackboots and our minority children locked up in laboratories and labor camps.
The
U. S. Military - the most powerful and influential group of people in the
world, hands down, gets an awfully bad rap these days. Many Americans seem to
think that simply because the communist Soviet Union no longer exists, the
world is as safe as Beaver Cleaver's neighborhood. This, of course, ignores
three facts:
(1)
Dozens of countries have nuclear weapons that could kill millions of people
with the turn of a key.
(2)
Leaders of several countries (e.g. North Korea, Iraq, Iran. Lybia, Lebanon,
and perhaps China and Russia) would love to see the US and its people blown to
bits, and most importantly, (3) The US has the greatest collection of human,
economic, natural and technological resources on Earth, making it the greatest
natural targer for military aggression.
Though
some would like to fashion the US of the 21st century as a flowery feel-good
fantasy where war and violence are mere after thoughts of a time gone by, that
can never be the case. As bad as our crime and drug problems are, we're still
considered the jewel of the planet by the half of the world that has yet to
make its first phone call.
In
ancient Greece, the people of Athens were unparalleled world leaders in art,
philosophy, and technology. Theiur rival in Sparta were not; instead the
Spartans built massive well-trained armies. When the two city-states fought,
who won? Sparta! And guess who lost their entire civilization because they
didn't think it important to build an appropriate army? Athens! Right now, the
US has the best of Athens and Sparta. We are the most cultured and most
well-defended country in the world.
As
we continue to lower our defenses by reviewing the military, we open ourselves
wider and wider to a takeover. A takeover of the US? Ridiculous, one might
say. But does it seem so unlikely? Because the power and protection of the US
military ahve been so overwhelming in the last century that Americans have
been free to enjoy a comfort level unlike any in the world. We all take it for
granted that we will never be invaded by another country, but few other
countries can afford to be so sure of themselves. It's not only Americans who
can go to bed feeling safe. Children everywhere from Isarel to England, from
Brazil to Japan - know that. if tjeir country is attacked, the US will be
there to help.
On
TV, the military is often represented by stiff button-down generals or the
occasional drill sergeant who is accused of feeling up a female recruit. In
reality, things are very much different. The men and women of the armed forces
are, in most ways, just like everyone else: they are mechanics, pilots, cooks,
photographers, engineers, secretaries and X-ray technicians. They work from 8
to 5 and then come home to their families. The one diffwerence comes when the
US or any of its allies is threatened by a foreign power. In that case,
military people pack up and ship out, off to fight - and many times die - so
the rest of the world, including teachers, can continue their lives without
interruption.
Teachers
mold young minds into intellligent, independent people, and they should be
admired for the job they do; however, I don't know of any teachers who are
required to catch bullets and swallow shrapnel if so ordered by the principal.
So, old-fashioned as it may seem, I'm happy to give my taxes to the military
and tell the tots and teachers to fire up the oven if they want extra dough.
Make muffins, cookies and candy and be happy you're allowed to. Because, as
the old saying goes, "If it wasn't for the US Military, we'd all be
speaking German now." "IT'S EASY TO TAKE LIBERTY FOR GRANTED, WHEN
YOOU HAVE NEVER HAD IT TAKEN FROM YOU."
Dick
Cheney