Soap Box

One of my biggest heroes was my maternal grandfather or "Granddaddy" as I called him. He was born in 1895 and I never knew anyone who fit the description of "man's man" any better than he did.

He could build a house, a boat, grow crops, handle livestock and supervise the work of other men, a natural leader, master hunter and fisherman, a big man with a heart full of charity and a head full of common sense.

He worked all his life, until he was in his middle 80s, didn't ask for or receive assistance, feeding his family, weathered his storms and raised his children with nothing more than his own ingenuity and an abiding faith in his Creator and the amazing thing is that he was by no means an anomaly, most of his generation, give or take a little, had the same work ethic and the same abilities and the same sense of responsibility as him.

You could literally have left these men and their families in the wilderness with some seed, some tools, a mule and plow and a bushel of shotgun shells and they could have made it.

They were not only capable they were pragmatic, practical and willing to accept the responsibility for the wellbeing of them and their's. They didn't waste time whining about what might have been and knew how to make do with what they had.

They feared little besides Almighty God and believed they had the right to protect their families from any danger that presented itself.

This United States of America has gone from a nation of men like this to a generation of whiners who would rather fake an injury and draw a disability check than hold down an honest job and people who are so dependent on the government that instead of trying to escape a flood they simply sit and wait for somebody to come and get them.

Back during the aftermath of Katrina when the Superdome in New Orleans was basically a refugee camp with thousands of displaced persons who had to be housed and fed, an acquaintance of one of my band members, out of the goodness of his heart, took a big load of chicken sandwiches and bottled water to the Dome to help in the effort only to be told by many people, "I don't want a chicken sandwich, I want a Big Mac and fries".

What would happen to these people if they were just required to show up for work every day and be paid for only what they produce, much less to go out in the world and fend for themselves?

What would happen if, God forbid, a national catastrophe would interrupt the flow of goods and services for an extended length of time, what would happen to these totally dependent citizens and what would the millions of illegal immigrants roaming America do?

Such has become the mentality of the much of the entitlement society of today it's somebody else's place to give me what I want when I want it. And make sure my check gets here on time.

Lyndon Johnson's Great Society was presented as the greatest humanitarian political undertaking of the century, but when you get to the bottom of it's true intent, I think you would find mostly politics designed to sway the vote for generations to come.

The provisions of the Great Society legislation may look good on paper but when the ramifications reach street level it fosters laziness, irresponsibility, drug and alcohol dependence and the wholesale birth of children whose father's are never identified, have to be supported by the state and stand at least a 50-50 chance of becoming a street criminal.

The cesspool our government has turned in to has neither the honesty nor the will to confront the root of this problem and on it goes, worsening with every passing day, unabated until we finally reach the tipping point when this nation is flat broke, no longer able to send the monthly checks, pick up the abortion bill, provide the food stamps or subsidize housing.

So folks, cinch up your saddle and make sure your feet are in the stirrups, because when this thing finally blows, it's going to be a wild ride.

I sure hope some of Granddaddy's genes passed on to me.

What do you think?

Pray for our troops and the peace of Jerusalem

God Bless America

Charlie Daniels​