My wife and I went to a concert last night to see Brantley Gilbert and Eric Church. We had a great time and it was a great show. I'm actually listening to the album right now, as I did come home and download it from iTunes. It was great to spend the time with my wife on a date and quite honestly, I don't remember the last concert we had been to. (It was Motley Crue and Aerosmith, btw.) Had an interesting moment last night though that was the inspiration for this muse.
As we were walking in amongst all the cowboy hats and boots, belt buckles the size of hubcaps, sleeveless shirts, jeans with skoal rings in the back pockets, and huge-ass diesel trucks; I was initially rather judgmental and condescending toward most of these people and was laughing at most of them to myself. The shows in the stands were just as entertaining as the concert itself sometimes. I saw body parts on people that should've had to pay a cover in order to see. I'm not saying I would've paid a cover to see some of these, but I digress. The concert started and we were enjoying ourselves with each song that played. As Church was transitioning to a new song; two things happened simultaneously. The backdrop changed to a version of the American flag and the crowd went absolutely nuts.
One could say that the crowd knew which song was coming and this could explain the rise in spirit. The fact remains that Church had yet to play a note. One may try to attribute the excitement to the appearance of the flag. It was cool. It was basically a regular American flag with some evidence of wear and tear and scuffs one may see on a Mail Pouch Tobacco sign painted on the side of a barn. (That's what it looked like the artist designing it was going for.) That said, it wasn't overly done or amazing, so I didn't feel like that was the reason for the excitement either. I felt in my soul that the reason for the excitement was the patriotism and the love of these people for their country. I don't think that sentence is eloquent enough to express what I think or what these people feel. I don't think the depth of dedication and devotion to God, Family, and Country that these people embody can be described in just a few poorly chosen words.
When I was a little boy, I was taught to honor the flag. Take off your hats, cover your heart and be still and silent when the flag is raised or the anthem is played. I was taught to fold the flag. I was told that the red and white of the flag represented the blood and bones of the men and women who came before us to establish this great country. They represented the blood spilled and bones broken to build this nation. The stars were 50 to stand for the states, but also placed on a blue background to symbolize the blue sky over this nation and to represent the freedom that is the US of A. I see so often today people talking during the National Anthem or refusing to recite the Pledge of Allegiance. Forgive me, but I would love nothing more than to rip their hats off and knock them on their ass. Regrettably, one cannot beat something like honor, patriotism, devotion to God, Family and Country into another person. It is harder than that. It is a process of ingraining and training of that person that takes years, not minutes. The flag is not a symbol of oppression. It is not a symbol of hate or ridicule. It is not flown to show other countries they are less important than us or somehow worth less. It is flown as a banner of pride of this country. It's a banner of our "tribe" of Americans who threw off the oppression of king and fought tooth and nail to be free.
The people I saw last night seemed to "get" that. Most of the people there last night would be labeled rednecks, hillbillies, cowboys, farmers. They often times have farmer tans and more tattoos than teeth. Yes, they usually aren't the most eloquent, but there is no question of their willingness to work hard and dig deep for what they want. But these men and women love their country and are devoted to God, Family, and Country. When they saw that flag come up last night, they were getting "jacked up" out of pride. They are consummate patriots.
Which brought me to ponder: How dare someone, least of all our President, denigrate them and ridicule them for holding and believing the way they do. The rhetoric that our President and his party spew in order to make those who believe conservatively look or appear as inferior or less intelligent is insulting and shows how little he really does know about this nation. Conservatives happen to believe that you don't spend money you don't have. You take care of your own. You respect your neighbor and do not covet what he/she has. You don't steal what your neighbor has and drape the act in a banner of "social justice" or "distribution of wealth". You believe that hard work is what it takes to earn a paycheck. You don't ask for a handout or what you can get for free or what you haven't earned. You keep what you earn and you earn what you keep. You believe that people shouldn't fear their government, but the government should fear the people.
Our nation needs to take a good look at what we've become.
