Seven Years After 9/11 -- now what?

It seems to me, on the eve of 9/11 ... and two months prior to the November elections, that Americans have to face reality.

The word "Reality" seems, to me, to be associated with something negative ... a pulling back of the reins, a lowering of expectations.

That's not what I mean by reality.

What is America's positive reality, going into 2009?

• We have tremendous resources.  Should our representatives in Congress decide to listen to We the People, we will tap those resources and boost our economy in the process.  Oil drilling, Wind Farms, and the R&D necessary to produce new alternative fuels will create new jobs and careers.
  
  
• We have lots of land.
  
  
• We have lots of food ... so much so, that we use some of it for fuel.  This is idiotic and it WILL change in the coming years ... but the point is we are the breadbasket of the world.
  
  
• The greatest minds in the world come here to study, and work for our tech companies.
  
  
• Where once stood the Taliban and Saddam, now stand fledgling Democracies.
  
  
• As the mysterious Spengler points out in an article, Russia's acts in Georgia are desperation moves by a nation suffering from severe demographic problems.  Other nations in Europe suffer from this -- the United States does not.
  
  
• We have great technology.

• We have great wealth.
  
  
• Despite all our "Flaws," we have the best freedoms and opportunities in the entire world.
  
  
• We are the most giving, selfless nation on the planet.  Just this week, I read about U.S. aid going to Haiti after all the hurricanes have battered that tiny island.  What does the U.S. get for helping a poor nation -- credit, or praise?  How about nothing in return, or criticism for not doing enough.  I wonder if other free nations get criticized like the U.S. for not doing anything in Sudan or Rwanda.  Somehow, I doubt it.
  
  

Damian recently reminded me of how patriotic the nation was right after 9/11.  I recalled that you couldn't find an American flag in stores, and that all the cars on the road had the stars and stripes waving from their windows.

I'm still proud of this nation.  I'm proud of our military, and the hard work they do.  I'm proud of our nation's charitable giving.

There will be plenty of posts here and around the web about all the negative consequences of U.S. actions here, there, and everywhere ... today, I'd just like to remember the positive.

Here's a video a military family member shared with me.  Enjoy: