As I sit here in my comfortable recliner on this muggy Saturday afternoon on Memorial Day weekend I am struck by the sense of danger I feel for our nation and at the same time the hope.As a nation we were birthed in fire and death but while at the time it was a cause for personal grief, it was also a time for celebration and great rejoicing across our new nation, The United States of America.

We were tested just 29 years later.Britain sought to reestablish her rule over her former colonies and the war of 1812 began.Americans young and old again were called into the cauldron of war and withstood the test.A poet named Francis Scott Key penned a little note called the Star Spangled Banner,written as he watched the Battle of Baltimore as a prisoner on a British man'o war.

A short lived republic again showed America the way when a group of Texans broke from Mexico and made an ill fated last stand at the Alamo.Former american congressman Davy Crockett,another man famous for his knife Jim Bowie and others gave their lives so that Texas may exist. General Sam Houston defeated the army of General Antonio Lopez De Santa Anna at the battle of San Jacinto which eventually paved the way for Texas to become a member of the Unites States.

The next chapter of our growth as a nation was also our darkest and most painful.Fathers fought sons,brothers fought brothers in the Civil War which was anything but.At no other time in our history would there be such horrific casualties of Americans.The disputes which led to the war were many and varied.Slavery is often cited as the main cause but it was just the straw that broke the camels back.Hundreds of thousands of brave,honorable men died in this catastrophic war.There were heroes on both sides fighting for causes that were noble all around.Though the union won the war and brought an end to the mass casualties occurring in battle the wounds would take a long time to heal.Some are still not quite gone.

As I sit back down from grabbing an ice cold drink I am reflecting on where our nation was at this point. Just out of a horrible cataclysm and struggling with putting herself back together.What were the emotions of our citizens?Possibly the northern citizens were smug and superior over their defeated southern cousins.those in the ravaged south possibly mired deep in personal and economic depression.It took a very long time for stability to return to our nation.

Manifest Destiny!!!!It was the buzzword and the rage sweeping the country.Native American Tribes were swept aside as settlers pushed into the west claiming the manifest destiny of all Americans.A short sharply fought war with Spain gave us the Phillipines and other former Spanish possessions.We were feeling our oats at this point and the nation settled into a period of relative peace and grew as a world power.We built a new navy and it was dubbed the Great White Fleet.Although still not quite up there with the other powers we were making our mark.President Woodrow Wilson was swept into office on the strength of his promise to keep us out of the war consuming Europe.

World War I was another example of just how willingly we as people march to the drums and guns.Europe was crisscrossed with nations who had treaties of mutual defense with one another and it was those treaties which plunged the continent into war. More than 9 million military and 6 million civilian deaths later the war ended and the world and a war weary United States entered into another era of peace.The Roaring Twenties.Fortunes were made and the nation grew again.we suffered through the years of the great depression and watched as Germany grew again as a threat to peace in the world.Japan was becoming a threat to our interests in the Pacific.President Roosevelt at first tried to keep America out of war but he saw Britain in danger of being ground under the boot heel of Germany.We lent our historical ally many needed weapons,ships and credit.

December 7,1941.A date that will live in infamy. These word were spoken after a sneak attack by the Empire of japan caught the American Navy by surprise on a sleepy sunday morning.More than 3000 sailors died and again the maelstrom of war swept us up.
We lost almost a half million of our fathers, brothers and sons.the world wide cost of the war was nearly 60 million dead both civilian and military.

We have had several smaller wars since then. Korea,Vietnam and the Persian Gulf area twice. Afghanistan is still going.

Over the long course of history of our still young nation we have lost millions of lives to war and despair.Yet those lives so freely given and so dearly missed have given us the chance to have and to appreciate what we are able to do.Your cookout on this wonderful weekend,the freedom to dispute what our leaders say,the freedom to vote them out if that is your choice, all these were bought and paid for with the blood of patriots.

So as you eat your burger and grab an ice cold drink this Memorial Day,please, take a moment to reflect soberly on this weekend and find a soldier in your home town.Thank him or her for their service.Tell them you will be there for them if they are ever called to the drums and the guns.
Have a safe and happy Memorial day.

The Korean Nightmare

Now that I have your attention...Late March a North Korean submarine torpedoed and sunk a South Korean Navy corvette killing 100 South Korean naval personnel.Since the sinking there has been a very tepid response from our Dear Leader and very little in the way of international condemnation.There may be hope for at least a strongly worded letter to Kim Jong Il.China is showing signs of not standing in the door if a resolution is passed in the United Nations security council,officially censuring North Korea for the sinking.

The North Koren response to this?They have expelled all South Koreans from a the country and closed down a joint North/South factory.There are no flights from anywhere in the South to the North.The North is threatening all out war.This could be very bad or it could be a smokescreen.Kim Jong Il's son Kim Jong Un is primed to take his father's place as leader when his father steps down or dies.Jong Un has been groomed for this position by his father with his latest posting being the shadowy National Defense Council.The North Korean Workers Party were notified of the planned succession after the North's second nuclear test.

So what we have here is a very dangerous situation:the South has a responsibility to respond or risk looking weak and ineffective,a new leader in the North who has to flex his military muscles to cement his position as the new Brilliant Leader, and here on the home front we have a president taking a beating in the polls over the oil spill,illegal immigration,Obamacare and government bailouts of Wall street.What our weak leaders have typically done to refocus national attention away from their domestic struggles is to look for a winnable foreign war to unite the country behind them and boost their chances for re-election.

So as I said...a very fluid and dangerous situation that can only get worse.This could very well turn into the Korean Nightmare.

Welcome!!!!

Welcome to America Watch!!!The place to be to watch our country grow and prosper.My aim is to educate,debate and hopefully have a little fun along the way.

A little about me. I am 37 with a beautiful wife and four children. We are of modest means but are highly conservative in our views.To us being conservative is God first always.Next in line is family.You can never love your family too much.Next is Country.We love America with every bit of our souls.This is the greatest country ever created.We are and will always be the great arsenal of democracy and freedom.We believe in a fiscally conservative smaller government with the emphasis on personal responsibility.What you earn should be yours not ours.We should always assist those nations whose freedom is at stake no matter the cost.We are Americans and it is what we do.

Again,welcome to America Watch and enjoy!!!!!