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What country does this president live in?

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By COL. DONALD J. MYERS

A Mind of My Own

Published: September 25, 2009

I have lived long enough, listened to enough presidents and spent enough time in formal education along with extensive reading of various topics to be wary of misinformation and lies.

This week our president has again attacked our country before an international audience at the United Nations. If you listened, you would think this particular president was the first in untold years to be concerned about people. He sounded more like a world king rather than the president of the United States. He again accused us of acting unilaterally rather than encouraging friends to assist us. He talked about ordering the closing of Gitmo and stopping torture of prisoners. You would assume that it was national policy to torture before this president came into office.

The president spoke about the coming destruction of the world unless something was done about global warming, and he stated that this country would do its utmost to reduce this threat, and he talked about what had been done during the past nine months.

Too bad he is not as concerned about our national security since he has drastically reduced our missile defense. Our Polish friends are especially upset since they thought we would provide missile defense for them until the president canceled it.

The Iranians are snubbing their nose at us and the world, and they intend to continue their quest for nuclear weapons. Venezuela has stated it will provide gasoline to Iran, since Iran has almost no refinery capability. Russia is planning to provide missile defense weapons. Iran is supplying weapons to our enemies in Afghanistan and has been doing the same in Iraq for years.

Our response is to talk with the leaders of Iran and possibly implement sanctions. Gee, I wonder if Venezuela and Russia will comply? In another part of the world, North Korea continues to improve its nuclear capabilities and missile technology in open defiance.

I doubt if much American history was covered when the president went to school in Indonesia, and the same applied when he went to school in the new state of Hawaii. In his own words, he sought out rebels as he grew older and then Marxists as instructors in college.

According to his speech on Tuesday, no nation should try to be better than others. He spoke about nations and groups of nations mired in the cleavages of the Cold War. I suspect that he does not realize that it was the United States that prevented all of Europe from falling under the sway of the Soviet Union after World War II. The Marshall Plan rebuilt Europe, and it was the only time in history a victorious country was so generous to those it had defeated.

He went on to talk about Israel and the fact that the United States did not support the "continued" establishment of settlements in "Occupied Territories." After that, he said the peace talks between the Palestinians and Israelis must begin with no pre-conditions. It sounded like he had just issued a precondition to the Israelis.

His speech was interrupted on several occasions by applause. Talking against the United States was great for a huge number of the countries in attendance. Muammar Gaddafi from Libya praised our president and wished that he could be president for life. That really made me feel great.

We have the best medical care in the world, but the president never mentions that. We are the most generous country in the world and the first to respond to disasters anywhere in the world. That is rarely mentioned. Most of the advances in science, medicine and engineering have been developed by Americans.

It seems when our actions are evaluated, they are evaluated against the perfect model while all others are provided excuses.

There is no perfect country, but when compared to all other countries in the history of the world, there is none comparable to the United States.

I am waiting for our president to praise this country while stating we are facing some difficult challenges rather than constantly debasing it.

Donald J. Myers, a retired colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps, is a regular columnist for Hernando Today. He can be contacted at dmyersusmc@aol.com.

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