Courage Is a Two-Way Street

What a great Fourth of July I enjoyed with my family and friends, a celebration courtesy of the courage and sacrifices that many have made over the past 245 years that we too often take for granted. I hope that you had the opportunity to celebrate your freedoms in a meaningful way. 

That freedom means different things to each of us. Some will celebrate their patriotism while others will use their freedoms to protest what they authentically believe still needs to change in our country. Nonetheless, the one thing we share here in these United States of America is the freedom to express ourselves and to make choices. Having the courage to either celebrate or protest in the name of that freedom, can result in jubilation, or consequences.

To Celebrate

I love to celebrate the Fourth of July. It is one of my favorite holidays of the year because it’s usually warm and sunny, includes great food and music, and it’s a time to reflect on the blessings of living in a great country. I was feeling especially patriotic this year because, like many of you, I am so tired of the pandemic and was ready to bust loose. 

My wife got up early on Sunday to display our flag, then we took an early morning bike ride to Tudek Park to sit and drink a coffee and to take in the amazing views of Mount Nittany and Happy Valley. We then met two of our children to play pickleball at the brand-new State College YMCA pickleball courts off Waupelani Drive (the courts are awesome!). We did our obligatory yard and housework then headed to the State College Spikes game to meet friends and to see the fireworks show produced by Central Pennsylvania 4th Fest.  

There was a record crowd of 7,183 at Medlar Field and during the seventh inning stretch the crowd enthusiastically joined in to sing “God Bless America” and “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.” While the Spikes didn’t win, it didn’t deter the very patriotic crowd from enjoying a rousing rendition of the National Anthem as the fireworks began. Two songs stood out to me during the fireworks. When Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA” played a vast majority of the crowd was singing like no one was watching.  It gave me chills.

The other song was the 2018 hit “The Middle” by Zedd, Maren Morris, and Grey.  Yeah, you know that traditional Fourth of July song with the catchy, “So why don’t you meet me in the middle?” lyric. OK, we’ll get back to that in a little bit.

To Protest

While I didn’t march on Washington D.C. or organize a formal protest of my own, I was in a pretty fired up mood going into this particular Fourth of July weekend. Why? Because of how divided we continue to be as a nation and the way that the divide is being manifested and the portrayal in the national media and on social media. And quite frankly, it’s from my belief that the flames of that divide continue to be fanned by people from countries who are stated enemies of the United States. 

Check out CBS’s “60 Minutes” report on the Russian Solarwinds hack. It describes in detail how Russian government-backed hackers used software updates embedded with code that loaded malware and how U.S. technology companies Microsoft and FireEye failed to detect it. Take a look at this article from The Atlantic on Chinese disinformation and propaganda in the United States.

Wake up, my fellow Americans. We may just be being played like a fiddle. Use your common sense and critical thinking skills and engage in debate and dialogue. Let’s not end up like Nero watching Rome burn.

Our freedom of speech and our right to protest are what make America a nation that people willingly risk their lives to migrate to in the hopes of finding a better life.  I don’t see that spirited and dangerous migration going into China or Russia or any number of other countries who are purposely trying to divide us. In fact, we know many stories of people risking their lives to leave those countries.

One incident that really got me going recently was the news out of the U.S. Olympic trials that U.S. Olympic hopeful stated that she wants to win so she can burn our flag on the podium.  Whoa, she said what? Well, that really took some courage to say. 

Sorry, this just doesn’t pass the common sense test for me. Wrong place and wrong time. The since deleted Facebook post (by the way, I am so much happier since I deactivated my Facebook account) has been disputed as being misrepresented. Not buying it.  Here is a Newsweek article, “Transgender Athlete Chelsea Wolfe Says Goal Is To ‘Burn a US Flag’ at Olympic Podium,” that discusses it and Wolfe’s explanation that she cares about her country.

It took courage for Chelsea Wolfe to say what she truly felt.  While I may vehemently disagree with her intentions, I respect the fact that she has the freedom to speak her mind because she lives in a country where we can express ourselves. Try getting away with that in Russia or China.

Courage is a Two-Way Street

You see, Chelsea and I actually have something in common: the courage to speak up about something we strongly believe in, realizing we will be criticized by those who disagree with us. Freedom of speech does not come without consequences.

There is an old saying that “discretion is the better part of valor.” It means that often we are better off avoiding a confrontation or taking risks by using situational awareness and exercising restraint before taking an action we may regret. Sometimes the courage to stand up for your beliefs comes with unintended consequences. Well, I do believe that sooner or later you must stand for something, and you must have the courage to make a stand.

I know I am going to be criticized for this article and that’s OK. But before you condemn Chelsea or me because we don’t align 100% with you, let’s agree to have a mature and constructive dialogue first. Empathy requires listening to those who you disagree with.

So, getting back to that lyric I discussed earlier, “Meet me in the middle.” If our politicians weren’t beholden to a party or campaign contributors and were more willing to “meet in the middle” can you imagine the great solutions we could come up with if they just all worked together?

I am a common sense advocate — socially responsible and fiscally prudent. I favor some solutions offered by members of both parties and mostly like those where there is bipartisan collaboration, cooperation and compromise for the greater good. Unfortunately, we only really have two choices in our current political arena, which is why in previous columns I have promoted the creation of the Commonsense Party. 

It’s time for people with common sense to stand up to greedy and selfish personal agendas. We are too often being bullied by special interest groups from the far left and the far right.  Enough already. Where are all the reasonable people with commonsense in both parties to reach across the aisle and be both socially and fiscally responsible?

We want to be known as the greatest country in the world, then find a commonsense solution to provide affordable health care for all. 

Defund the police? It makes no sense on any level. Common sense does however dictate that we need better recruiting, training and continuing education methods for our law enforcement officers.

Shut down all fossil fuels? You don’t just shut down energy sources without having a commonsense (and realistic) plan in place to properly transition to sustainable renewable energy.  There are risks and problems with all forms of energy. Let’s take a commonsense approach to finding workable solutions to transitioning to cleaner energy including cleaner burning fossil fuels. 

Open borders? You can’t allow the unchecked flow of immigrants into any country. You do find a commonsense solution to improving the process for legal immigration. 

What I personally believe in is teaching people critical thinking skills. Teaching compassion and caring. Teaching people to be open minded enough to have meaningful conversations with the greater good in mind. 

I have the right to speak my beliefs and I recognize that I must live with the consequences of my beliefs. I hope that what I say resonates and can get people to think and have meaningful dialogue. I hope we can all find it in our hearts to say things like, “I was wrong.” “I’m sorry.” “Can you forgive me?” “Help me to better understand your position and reasoning on this matter.”

Perhaps I am being naïve, but I hope I always have the courage to be authentic and true to myself. It doesn’t mean I am always right. It doesn’t mean you have to agree with me.  But what I am asking is that before you condemn me and make me an enemy, engage me in a dignified and respectful conversation. I continue to hope, and pray, that common sense will prevail. 

We are not perfect here in the United States, but we offer freedoms and opportunities that other countries simply do not.  I personally have no interest in seeing our country become Venezuela. What I hope for is common sense to prevail. I hope that people will have the courage to allow collaboration, cooperation, and compromise to be a common goal.