The Wonderful Hero of Oz…

Writing and reading about politics as much as I do has really taught me that things are not always fair and that people in the political arena will let you down. I realize I have pretty high standards for the people I think should be in charge of our great nation, but lately just the basic traits of honesty and decency seems too much to ask.  Power clearly breeds corruption and as of late, power seems to be mating in overdrive. 

Currently we have two candidates running that appear to have an insatiable hunger for power and have no problem playing the political personal attack game.  Many days it can be quite challenging keeping my cool while watching the news.  I consider myself emotionally intelligent and in control of my emotions for the most part, however, there are a few things that let Matilda out of her cage.  For those of you that do not know me well, Matilda is my alternate ego that family and friends like to keep caged up.  You may have seen my husband, best friend or father-in-law jokingly refer to her in a comment or two on Facebook. Thankfully she stays in her cage most of the time, but, Matilda does sneak out on occasion when I hear stories about child or animal abuse, anti-American behavior, injustice and most assuredly when someone disrespects the military. Being the granddaughter of a WWII fighter pilot as well as having many other family and friends that have served in the military, I have zero tolerance when it comes to soldiers not getting the respect they  deserve.   

I get a big part of my inspiration on what to write about from things I see on Facebook.  Since I have over 900 Facebook friends, I have a wide variety of different points of view and opinions to reflect on.  Most of the time, if there is a difference of opinion on a post or comment I read, we will debate it in a healthy, friendly and constructive way; that was not the case a couple days ago. Matilda busted out of her cage on this one.

It all started after I had shared a video on Facebook and had written “Hell ya!” on top. It was a video titled: US Marine Destroys Hillary Clinton at Donald Trump Rally. Those headlines are a dime a dozen and most of the time referring to the candidates themselves attempting to destroy each others creditability; but this marine was sharing his opinions on why he would never vote for Hillary based on his firsthand experience he has had with her. His points were valid, based on personal experience and his story was moving.  A liberal Facebook friend decided to comment, which is not unusual for her, she is an attorney and likes to argue frequently with me on many of my anti-Hillary posts, however, this particular comment took me off guard and unleashed Matilda. Now it was immediately clear to me who that particular marine was on the video not only from the title and what he looked liked but his speech made it ever so obvious, especially to any adult that watches the nightly news or has a Facebook account. I still do not know for sure if she did or did not know who she was listening to, but it really did not matter in my eyes. Why? because 1. she did know he was a marine and 2. she did know that he had fought in combat. Enough said.  I would expect that would have been enough to treat him with respect regardless of the political party she aligns herself with or candidate she supports. Apparently not, since this was her commit:

“Did you watch this? I just watched it and he provided no facts, no foundation, just simple ill spoken (using incorrect words at times) opinions. So I’m just curious why you thought it was so impressive.”

Immediately after the first four words I felt Matilda start scratching at the cage door. What did she mean? Of course I watched it, does she think I would share something and comment on something I did not even watch? She knows me better than that, and it was just a simple passive aggressive little dig that did nothing more than wake up Matilda and rattle her cage a little.  That being said, the next few sentences made her cage swing wide open, nearly off of the hinges, grab her phone and start typing a response with passion.  Matilda’s reply went something like this: I was impressed because that marine is Mark Geist, otherwise known as OZ, and he was talking about his personal account of what happened in Benghazi. He was making points on why he did not think Hillary was a good leader due to the fact that she left them there to die, and why he did not trust her due to him watching her lie over and over, right to the victims’ families. You cannot get a better foundation for your words than the fact that he was personally in Benghazi or more factual than actually living through that awful night.  Those are not opinions based on hearsay or political gossip. That is an incredibly brave United States Marine relaying his real life account of living through a brutal terrorist attack with no help in sight from the people in charge. That marine, who you say accidently fumbled a few words while speaking in front of thousands and thousands of people at a Trump rally, was accredited for saving more than 25  lives. That marine, had his arm almost completely blown off and still went back in shooting to try and save more Americans. That marine, is nothing short of an American hero that deserves the upmost respect and appreciation.

Its comments like those that show how really far off we are as nation.  How ANY American whether Republican, Democrat or Independent, can listen to a soldier speak about their experiences, whether it was a brutal attack at Benghazi or a training exercise at their base and not feel extreme gratitude, pride, security and respect absolutely disgusts me. Our members of the military sign up to put their lives on the line in order to keep us safe. On many occasions, especially as of late, with little support from the higher ups and yet they keep on fighting and many dying to protect you, me and all the liberals that don’t think they are factually impressive or speak like professional public speakers.  I would venture to say she would not have the courage to switch places with him. I am impressed, because well…I should be impressed, as should you. The men and women of our armed forces put their lives at risk to give people like my liberal friend the very freedom that allows her to watch videos, to vote in an election and to have an opinion. You would think that would make a difference to someone that promotes free thinking and claims to be ever so compassionate.  It makes a difference to Matilda and certainly makes a difference to me.

[embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYMZj0DPwGg[/embedyt]