Reclaiming America
Who will stand?
By T. Kepner
Online Journal Contributing Writer


Jan 7, 2005, 01:26

It is said that if you do not stand for something, then you will fall for anything. It must be true, because it appears as if most of us are lying flat on our backs, either unable or unwilling to stand. Is it because we are too comfortable, lying prone? Have we no energy left to lift ourselves onto our feet? Or is it that we are afraid that if we stand, we will be knocked down? Whatever the reason, it�s time to get up. Time to get on your feet. It�s time to stand. Question is, who will stand?

Who will stand for our fathers, our grandfathers and their fathers? Have the actions, sacrifices, and contributions of our ancestors all been in vain? Do their words have no meaning and is their legacy a lie? Are their ideals, meant to guide and govern, simply pieces of parchment to frame and hang on school walls? Are the truths no longer self-evident? The Right of the People to alter and abolish has been picked from our pockets and who among us will stand to take back that right?

Who will stand and refuse to surrender all that has been worked for and earned? At what price do we finally say that we cannot afford more? How many more coins will we feed the war machine so that the rich get richer and the poor lose all and those in the middle continue their downward spiral, clinging to the unraveling threads of the 401K? How much more do we need to lose before we realize that there are no winners in this game that they�re playing? Who will stand and say �enough!� to those whose pockets have been lined with gold forged with the sweat of the less fortunate?

Who among you truly believes in God and in the greatest story ever told? Who among you reads the story and comes away with a completely different account than what�s being fed to us by those who would persecute, pillage, and plunder in His name? Who will stand for Him, who gave his life so that we could have ours? The one who was loving, merciful, generous and kind in word and in deed? Does �forgive them Father for they know not what they do� apply to the men who do know what they are doing, know that it�s wrong, but do it anyway and justify it by any means?

Who will stand for those men in the pictures? Who among you looked at the pictures without really seeing? Did it not matter at the time because it wasn�t your father, or your brother, or your son? When it is, will you cry out in anger and vow revenge on those who would commit such atrocities? When it is those of your blood who are wasting away in confinement because of imagined and contrived aggressions, will you stand then and demand justice? And when it is your turn, will you simply cry, �do it to Julia, not me� (Orwell, 1950)?

Who will ask how many more must die before we stand and say no more? How many more sons and daughters do we condemn to death or dismemberment on the whim of an insane administration that conspires to rule the world? Who will put an end to the madness that has become policy and the lies that have become our truths? Who will look into the face of our enemy, to see only their own reflection, and realize that perhaps the face they�re seeing isn�t the enemy at all? Who will stand for the remaining few good men who just wanted the chance to be all that they could be?

Who in the media will stand? Who will once again bring dignity to the written and spoken words that reach the masses? Who that has been given the power to project their voices far and wide will stand and tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? Who will tear up the talking points and uphold their responsibility to inform? It is their words that can either inspire or inflame, and the words they choose are not taken lightly. They need to tell us the truth, even if the truth is not pretty; even if they don�t think we can handle it. They need to inform us so that we may take an informed stand.

Who will stand for those without shelter or food or the means to provide either? Who will share what is theirs with those who no longer have anything to share? Do you honestly believe that you can never lose what you have, that the rug can�t be pulled out from under you also? When your luck runs out, and it very well may some day, would you not hope that someone would offer his hand to you? Poverty is becoming the norm for way too many of us, while way too many of us have way too much more than we really need.

Who among you truly believes that you are unaffected, untouchable, or unaccountable? Will there not be a Judgement Day for each and every one of us, a time when we�ll have to answer for all that we have done or not done? Do you believe that perhaps good intentions absolve you from your responsibilities as a member of a much larger community? Do you realize that each action creates a ripple that soon grows to become a wave that washes over us all? Will we be cleansed by that wave, or will we be drowned beneath it?

And finally, who will stand against those who no longer have a leg to stand on, because they�ve lied, and stolen, and conned, and manipulated to the point where we have no choice but to make a stand. They very well may have driven us to what will be our final stand.

If you choose to stand, know that you will not stand alone, that there will be another at your shoulder. Stand straight and tall, for if you lean too far to the right, or too far to the left, you may topple us all. And if it is our true fate to be knocked down, then at least we will all fall together. All of us, with no man left standing.