Hotdogs and Lech Walesa

There are certain triggers for me that will bring me back to a place in time or an event of special significance. When ever I see a pile of bottle caps ( I save em ) I am back as a little kid in Wiley, Colorado where I discovered a treasure trove of bottle caps in a stash behind Millers little grocery store. They were like gold doubloons from a pirate's chest. When I see a store bought cherry pie, I am riding my bike to King Soopers to redeem pop bottles for store tokens to buy one of their pies. Hot dogs take me back to Nairobi where Pan Am Airlines fed all Americans in attendance of the 1963 July Fourth Independance Day Celebration a real honest to gosh American hot dog. I still choke up when I hear the National Anthem because of that day.

There are a host of triggers that prompt emotions or memories that are part of our makeup. Remebering an event and where we were and what we were doing at the time are important and some events are so powerful that we never forget, like the day JFK died. I still have the old portable radio my family listened to for news of the tragedy  from Voice of America that day. 

Voice of America. What a powerful and important form of communication,  not just for those of us living abroad but for citizens of other countries, especially those that looked to America for hope. Today, the electronic media is immediate and works both ways. I can receive an e-mail or tweet and communicate back instantly. Its astounding!

Today, I heard a name that is one of those memory triggers. Lech Walesa. Remember him? For me, his name is part of my whole memory of the fall of the USSR and the power of the individual taking a stand against the government. For a revisit to the history of this man go to Wikipedia. Quite an interesting fellow. I like this quote" Liberty is not only a right, but also our common responsibility and duty." He said this during his acceptance speech after receiving the Liberty Medal in Philidelphia on July 4th 1989.

Today I heard him onTV in an interview where he said we have lost our Moral leadership. He said we are still a leader militarially and to a lesser degree economically but we are losing ground. I sensed he was warning us that when we are no longer the world's super power, we won't be the only ones to have lost, the world loses with us. Watch his speech on You -Tube at the 4min 30sec point at www.youtube.com/watch?v=q19xd0amxSg&feature=player_embedded#

It is an amazing thing to hear someone like Lech Walesa worry for the future of America. Why can't our own leaders see the light? Why won't they listen? What does this president want and why is he so bent on changing our country into something we won't recognize? Our Liberty is Our Responsibility. It is time to be more like Lech Walesa and take a stand. We need to listen to the new Voice Of America and this time it is being broadcast through the new electronic media, not to the outside world but to Americans.

It is also time for a Pan Am hotdog.